Organise Multiple Virtual Mailboxes

Prerequisites

1. Two or more Notmuch virtual mailboxes already configured (see Getting Started with Notmuch Virtual Mailboxes).

Use Clear, Consistent Names

1. Choose short, descriptive labels:

virtual-mailboxes "Inbox"   "notmuch://?query=tag:inbox"
virtual-mailboxes "Unread"  "notmuch://?query=tag:inbox and tag:unread"
virtual-mailboxes "Flagged" "notmuch://?query=tag:flagged"
virtual-mailboxes "Sent"    "notmuch://?query=tag:sent"

Expected result: the sidebar and browser show a readable list.

Group by Prefix

1. Prefix related mailboxes to create visual groups:

virtual-mailboxes "Work/Inbox"   "notmuch://?query=tag:work and tag:inbox"
virtual-mailboxes "Work/Unread"  "notmuch://?query=tag:work and tag:unread"
virtual-mailboxes "Work/Flagged" "notmuch://?query=tag:work and tag:flagged"
virtual-mailboxes "Personal/Inbox"  "notmuch://?query=tag:personal and tag:inbox"
virtual-mailboxes "Personal/Unread" "notmuch://?query=tag:personal and tag:unread"

Expected result: the sidebar shows mailboxes grouped under Work/ and Personal/.

If the sidebar is configured with $sidebar_short_path and $sidebar_delim_chars, it can shorten these paths into an indented tree.

Control the Order

Virtual mailboxes appear in the sidebar and browser in the order they are declared in your config.

1. Put the most-used mailboxes first:

virtual-mailboxes "Inbox"   "notmuch://?query=tag:inbox"
virtual-mailboxes "Unread"  "notmuch://?query=tag:inbox and tag:unread"
virtual-mailboxes "Flagged" "notmuch://?query=tag:flagged"
virtual-mailboxes "Archive" "notmuch://?query=tag:archive"

Expected result: the mailboxes you check most often are at the top.

Hide Low-Traffic Mailboxes

1. Use $sidebar_new_mail_only to show only mailboxes with new or flagged mail:

set sidebar_new_mail_only

2. Pin important mailboxes so they always appear:

sidebar-pin "Inbox" "Flagged"

Expected result: quiet mailboxes are hidden until they receive new mail.

Move Mailbox Definitions to a Separate File

1. Create ~/.config/neomutt/virtual-mailboxes:

virtual-mailboxes "Inbox"   "notmuch://?query=tag:inbox"
virtual-mailboxes "Unread"  "notmuch://?query=tag:inbox and tag:unread"
virtual-mailboxes "Flagged" "notmuch://?query=tag:flagged"

2. Source it from your main config:

source ~/.config/neomutt/virtual-mailboxes

Expected result: your main config stays short and mailbox definitions are easy to edit separately.

See Sidebar for display options and Sidebar Workflows for navigation tips.