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Searching and Filtering Email

Searching and Filtering Email#

This tutorial teaches the basic search and limit workflow in the index. If you’re new to reading mail in NeoMutt, start with Reading Your First Email.

Filter the Message List with Limit#

  1. Press l in the index to limit the view.

  2. Enter a pattern like ~f alice@example.com.

  3. Press <Enter> to apply the limit.

  4. Press l again and enter * to clear the limit.

Expected result: the index shows only matching messages while the limit is active.

NeoMutt’s Pattern Matching Language#

Try these common patterns:

~f alice@example.com     (from)
~s "build report"        (subject)
~d <1w                  (date within 1 week)
~b "error code"          (body)

Expected result: you can target specific message fields using patterns.

Search by Sender, Subject, Date, and Body#

  1. Limit to a sender with ~f.

  2. Limit to last week with ~d <1w.

  3. Limit to a keyword in the body with ~b.

Expected result: you can filter messages by common criteria.

Combine Patterns#

  1. Combine with AND by listing patterns:

~f alice@example.com ~s report

  1. Use OR with |:

(~f alice@example.com | ~f bob@example.com)

  1. Exclude with !:

~s report !~b draft

Expected result: you can build precise queries.

Save and Reuse Search Patterns#

  1. Create a macro for a frequent search:

macro index ,r "<limit>~f alice@example.com ~s report<Enter>" "Limit to reports from Alice"

  1. Use ,r in the index.

Expected result: you can repeat complex searches quickly.

Full-Text Search with Notmuch#

Notmuch adds full-text search and tag-based queries. If you need whole-mailbox searching, set up Notmuch and use notmuch:// virtual mailboxes.

See How to Use Notmuch.

Next Steps#