Sidebar#
The Sidebar shows a list of all your mailboxes. The list can be turned on and off, it can be themed and the list style can be configured.
📷 Screenshot Needed
Subject: Sidebar overview with mailbox list
Description: NeoMutt index view with the sidebar visible on the left side, showing a list of mailboxes (Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, and several mailing list folders). The sidebar shows mailbox names with unread/total message counts. One mailbox is highlighted (the cursor), another is indicated (the currently open mailbox). The divider character separates the sidebar from the index panel on the right.
Highlights: The overall layout — sidebar panel on the left with the divider character, the highlight bar on one mailbox, the indicator on the open mailbox, and message counts displayed via $sidebar_format.
If you want a simple introduction with examples see the Sidebar Howto. If you just want to get started, you could use the sample neomuttrc below.
Variables#
Name |
Type |
Default |
|---|---|---|
|
number |
|
|
string |
|
|
string |
|
|
boolean |
|
|
string |
|
|
string |
|
|
boolean |
|
|
boolean |
|
|
boolean |
|
|
boolean |
|
|
boolean |
|
|
enum |
|
|
boolean |
|
|
number |
|
For more details, and examples, about the $sidebar_format, see the Sidebar Intro.
📷 Screenshot Needed
Subject: Sidebar with short paths and folder indentation
Description: NeoMutt sidebar showing mailboxes with sidebar_short_path=yes
and sidebar_folder_indent=yes enabled — nested IMAP folders or Maildir
subfolders appear with abbreviated names and indentation showing their hierarchy
(e.g. “lists” at the top level, then “ neomutt-devel” and “ neomutt-users”
indented beneath it).
Highlights: The indented folder hierarchy in the sidebar — how sidebar_short_path abbreviates long paths and sidebar_folder_indent with sidebar_indent_string creates a visual tree of nested mailboxes.
Functions#
Sidebar adds the following functions to NeoMutt. By default, none of them are bound to keys.
Menus |
Function |
Description |
|---|---|---|
index,pager |
Move the highlight to next mailbox |
|
index,pager |
Move the highlight to next mailbox with new mail |
|
index,pager |
Open highlighted mailbox |
|
index,pager |
Scroll the Sidebar down 1 page |
|
index,pager |
Scroll the Sidebar up 1 page |
|
index,pager |
Move the highlight to previous mailbox |
|
index,pager |
Move the highlight to previous mailbox with new mail |
|
index,pager |
Make the Sidebar (in)visible |
Commands#
Usage:
sidebar-pin <mailbox> [<mailbox> ...]
sidebar-unpin { * | <mailbox> [<mailbox> ...] }
Note
Before 2026-01-13, these commands were called sidebar_pin and sidebar_unpin.
This command specifies mailboxes that will always be displayed in the sidebar, even if $sidebar_new_mail_only is set and the mailbox does not contain new mail.
The :sidebar-unpin command is used to remove a mailbox from the list of always displayed mailboxes.
Use sidebar-unpin * to remove all mailboxes.
Colors#
Name |
Default Color |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
default |
The entire sidebar panel |
|
default |
The dividing line between the Sidebar and the Index/Pager panels |
|
default |
Mailboxes containing flagged mail |
|
underline |
Cursor to select a mailbox |
|
neomutt |
The mailbox open in the Index panel |
|
default |
Mailboxes containing new mail |
|
default |
Mailboxes that have no new/flagged mails, etc. |
|
default |
Mailbox that receives incoming mail |
|
default |
Mailboxes containing unread mail |
If the sidebar_indicator color isn’t set, then the default NeoMutt indicator color will be used (the color used in the index panel).
📷 Screenshot Needed
Subject: Sidebar colour scheme
Description: NeoMutt sidebar with a custom colour theme applied — mailboxes with new mail appear in green (sidebar_new), flagged-mail mailboxes in red (sidebar_flagged), the currently open mailbox is highlighted with sidebar_indicator, the cursor/highlight bar is visible on a different mailbox (sidebar_highlight), and the divider line uses a contrasting colour (sidebar_divider).
Highlights: The distinct colour coding — how different sidebar colour objects (new, flagged, indicator, highlight, ordinary, divider) work together to convey mailbox status at a glance.
Sort#
Sort |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Alphabetically by path or label |
|
Total number of messages |
|
Descriptive name of the mailbox |
|
Number of flagged messages |
|
Alphabetically by path or label |
|
Number of unread messages |
|
Alphabetically by path (ignores label) |
|
Number of unread messages |
|
Order of the |
neomuttrc#
# Example NeoMutt config file for the sidebar feature.
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# VARIABLES – shown with their default values
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Should the Sidebar be shown?
set sidebar_visible = no
# How wide should the Sidebar be in screen columns?
# Note: Some characters, e.g. Chinese, take up two columns each.
set sidebar_width = 20
# Should the mailbox paths be abbreviated?
set sidebar_short_path = no
# Number of top-level mailbox path subdirectories to truncate for display
set sidebar_component_depth = 0
# When abbreviating mailbox path names, use any of these characters as path
# separators. Only the part after the last separators will be shown.
# For file folders '/' is good. For IMAP folders, often '.' is useful.
set sidebar_delim_chars = '/.'
# If the mailbox path is abbreviated, should it be indented?
set sidebar_folder_indent = no
# Indent mailbox paths with this string.
set sidebar_indent_string = ' '
# Make the Sidebar only display mailboxes that contain new, or flagged,
# mail.
set sidebar_new_mail_only = no
# Any mailboxes that are pinned will always be visible, even if the
# sidebar_new_mail_only option is enabled.
set sidebar_non_empty_mailbox_only = no
# Only show mailboxes that contain some mail
sidebar-pin '/home/user/mailbox1'
sidebar-pin '/home/user/mailbox2'
# When searching for mailboxes containing new mail, should the search wrap
# around when it reaches the end of the list?
set sidebar_next_new_wrap = no
# Show the Sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen
set sidebar_on_right = no
# The character to use as the divider between the Sidebar and the other NeoMutt
# panels.
set sidebar_divider_char = '|'
# Enable extended mailbox mode to calculate total, new, and flagged
# message counts for each mailbox.
set mail_check_stats
# Display the Sidebar mailboxes using this format string.
set sidebar_format = '%B%<F? [%F]>%* %<N?%N/>%S'
# Sort the mailboxes in the Sidebar using this method:
# count – total number of messages
# flagged – number of flagged messages
# unread – number of unread messages
# path – mailbox path
# unsorted – do not sort the mailboxes
set sidebar_sort = 'unsorted'
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# FUNCTIONS – shown with an example mapping
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Move the highlight to the previous mailbox
bind index,pager \Cp sidebar-prev
# Move the highlight to the next mailbox
bind index,pager \Cn sidebar-next
# Open the highlighted mailbox
bind index,pager \Co sidebar-open
# Move the highlight to the previous page
# This is useful if you have a LOT of mailboxes.
bind index,pager <F3> sidebar-page-up
# Move the highlight to the next page
# This is useful if you have a LOT of mailboxes.
bind index,pager <F4> sidebar-page-down
# Move the highlight to the previous mailbox containing new, or flagged,
# mail.
bind index,pager <F5> sidebar-prev-new
# Move the highlight to the next mailbox containing new, or flagged, mail.
bind index,pager <F6> sidebar-next-new
# Toggle the visibility of the Sidebar.
bind index,pager B sidebar-toggle-visible
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# COLORS – some unpleasant examples are given
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Note: All color operations are of the form:
# color OBJECT FOREGROUND BACKGROUND
# Color of the current, open, mailbox
# Note: This is a general NeoMutt option which colors all selected items.
color indicator cyan black
# Sidebar-specific color of the selected item
color sidebar_indicator cyan black
# Color of the highlighted, but not open, mailbox.
color sidebar_highlight black color8
# Color of the entire Sidebar panel
color sidebar_background default black
# Color of the divider separating the Sidebar from NeoMutt panels
color sidebar_divider color8 black
# Color to give mailboxes containing flagged mail
color sidebar_flagged red black
# Color to give mailboxes containing new mail
color sidebar_new green black
# Color to give mailboxes containing no new/flagged mail, etc.
color sidebar_ordinary color245 default
# Color to give the spool_file mailbox
color sidebar_spool_file color207 default
# Color to give mailboxes containing no unread mail
color sidebar_unread color136 default
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# vim: filetype=neomuttrc
📷 Screenshot Needed
Subject: Fully configured sidebar
Description: NeoMutt with the complete sidebar configuration from the neomuttrc example applied — sidebar visible on the left with custom width, format string showing flagged counts and new/total (%B%<F? [%F]>%* %<N?%N/>%S), colour-coded mailboxes, key bindings active, and the divider separating sidebar from the index panel showing a threaded mailbox.
Highlights: The complete sidebar experience — formatted mailbox names with conditional flagged counts, new/total message numbers right-aligned, colour-coded status, and the spatial relationship between the sidebar panel, divider, and index panel.
See Also#
Regular Expressions
Patterns
notmuch feature