# man > mail(1)

> **TLDR:** Operate on the user's mailbox.
>
- Open an interactive prompt to check personal mail:
  `mail`
- Send a typed email message with optional CC. The command-line below continues after pressing `<Enter>`. Input message text (can be multiline). Press `<Ctrl d>` to complete the message text:
  `mail --subject "{{subject line}}" {{to_user@example.com}} --cc "{{cc_email_address}}"`
- Send an email that contains file content:
  `mail < {{path/to/file.txt}} --subject "{{$HOSTNAME filename.txt}}" {{to_user@example.com}}`
- Send a `.tar.gz` file as an attachment:
  `tar cvzf - {{path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2}} | uuencode {{data.tar.gz}} | mail --subject "{{subject_line}}" {{to_user@example.com}}`
- Display help:
  `mail {{-h|--help}}`

*Source: tldr-pages*

---

[_MAIL_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/MAIL/1/markdown)                                General Commands Manual                               [_MAIL_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/MAIL/1/markdown)

## NAME
       mail, mailx, Mail — send and receive mail

## SYNOPSIS
       **mail  **[**-dEIinv**]  [**-a  _**header_]  [**-b  _**bcc-addr_]  [**-c  _**cc-addr_] [**-r _**from-addr_] [**-s _**subject_] [**--**]
            _to-addr_ _..._
       **mail **[**-dEIiNnv**] **-f **[_file_]
       **mail **[**-dEIiNnv**] [**-u _**user_]

## DESCRIPTION
       **mail **is an intelligent mail processing system which has a command syntax reminiscent of [_ed_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ed/1/markdown)
       with lines replaced by messages.

       The options are as follows:

### -a      
               It  can  be  also used to override MIME headers **mail **adds by default to each outgoing
               mail, see “Character sets and MIME” below.  You have to use quotes if the string con‐
               tains spaces.  This argument may be specified more than once, the headers  will  then
               be concatenated.

### -b _
               Send blind carbon copies to _bcc-addr_.

### -c _
               Send  carbon  copies  to  list of users.  _cc-addr_ should be a comma separated list of
               names.

### -d      

### -E      

### -f      
               quit, **mail **writes undeleted messages back to this _file_.

### -I      
               ticular,  the  special **~ **command character, used when sending mail, is only available
               interactively.

### -i      
               phone lines.

### -N      
               folder.

### -n      

### -r _
               Use _from-addr_ as the from address in the message and envelope.   Overrides  any  _from_
               options in the startup files.

### -s _
               Specify subject on command line (only the first argument after the **-s **flag is used as
               a subject; be careful to quote subjects containing spaces).

### -u _
               Equivalent to:

                     **$ mail -f /var/mail/user**

               except that locking is done.

### -v      

       **--      **End of options. Any further argument is treated as a direct receipient address.

               _Note:_  For security reasons the **-- **separator is strongly recommended for scripts that
               need to send mails to addresses obtained from untrusted sources (such as web forms).

### Startup actions
       At startup time, **mail **will execute commands in the system command file, _/etc/mail.rc_,  unless
       explicitly  told  not  to  by using the **-n **option.  Next, the commands in the user's personal
       command file _~/.mailrc_ are executed.  **mail **then examines its command line options  to  deter‐
       mine whether the user requested a new message to be sent or existing messages in a mailbox to
       be examined.

### Sending mail
       To  send  a  message  to one or more people, **mail **can be invoked with arguments which are the
       names of people to whom the mail will be sent.  You are then expected to type  in  your  mes‐
       sage,  followed  by  a  control-D  (‘^D’)  at  the  beginning  of a line.  The section below,
       “Replying to or originating mail”, describes some features of **mail **available to help you com‐
       pose your letter.

### Reading mail
       In normal usage, **mail **is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the post office, then
       prints out a one line header of each message found.  The current message is initially set  to
       the  first  message (numbered 1) and can be printed using the **print **command (which can be ab‐
       breviated **p**).  Moving among the messages is much like moving between lines in [_ed_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ed/1/markdown); you  may
       use  **+  **and  **-  **to shift forwards and backwards, or simply enter a message number to move di‐
       rectly.

### Disposing of mail
       After examining a message, you can **delete **(**d**) or **reply **(**r**) to it.  Deletion causes  the  **mail**
       program  to forget about the message.  This is not irreversible; the message can be **undeleted**
       (**u**) by giving its number, or the **mail **session can be aborted by giving the **exit **(**x**)  command.
       Deleted messages, however, will usually disappear, never to be seen again.

### Specifying messages
       Commands  such as **print **and **delete **can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to ap‐
       ply to a number of messages at once.  Thus **delete 1 2 **deletes messages 1 and 2, while  **delete**
       **1-5 **deletes messages 1 through 5.

       Messages may also be selected using one of the following categories:

             *       all messages
             $       last message
             :d      deleted messages
             :n      new messages
             :o      old messages
             :r      read messages
             :u      unread messages

       Thus  the  command **top**, which prints the first few lines of a message, could be used in **top ***
       to print the first few lines of all messages.

### Replying to or originating mail
       You can use the **reply **command to set up a response to a message, sending it back to the  per‐
       son  who  it  was from.  Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file, defines the contents of
       the message.  While you are composing a message, **mail **treats lines beginning with  the  tilde
       (‘~’)  character  specially.   For instance, typing **~m **(alone on a line) will place a copy of
       the current message into the response, right shifting  it  by  a  single  tab-stop  (see  the
       _indentprefix_  variable, below).  Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete re‐
       cipients to the message, and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the message or  to  a
       shell to run some commands.  (These options are given in the summary below.)

### Ending a mail processing session
       You  can  end a **mail **session with the **quit **(**q**) command.  Messages which have been examined go
       to your _mbox_ file unless they have been deleted, in which case they are  discarded.   Unexam‐
       ined messages go back to the post office (see the **-f **option above).

### Personal and system wide distribution lists
       It is also possible to create personal distribution lists so that, for instance, you can send
       mail  to “**cohorts**” and have it go to a group of people.  Such lists can be defined by placing
       a line like

             **alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory**

       in the file _.mailrc_ in your home directory.  The current list of such  aliases  can  be  dis‐
       played  with  the  **alias  **command  in **mail**.  System wide distribution lists can be created by
       editing _/etc/aliases_, (see [_aliases_(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/aliases/5/markdown)); these are kept in a different syntax.   In  mail  you
       send,  personal  aliases will be expanded in mail sent to others so that they will be able to
       **reply **to the recipients.  System wide aliases are not expanded when the mail is sent, but any
       reply returned to the machine will have the system wide  alias  expanded  as  all  mail  goes
       through an MTA.

### Recipient address specifications
       Recipient  addresses  (any of the “To”, “Cc” or “Bcc” header fields) are subject to expansion
       when the **expandaddr **option is set.

       An address may be expanded as follows:

       **•       **An address that starts with a pipe (‘|’) character is treated as a  command  to  run.
               The  command  immediately following the ‘|’ is executed with the message as its stan‐
               dard input.

       **•       **An address that starts with a ‘+’ character is treated as a folder.

       **•       **An address that contains a ‘/’ character but no ‘!’, ‘%’, or ‘@’ characters  is  also
               treated as a folder.

       **•       **If  none  of the above apply, the recipient is treated as a local or network mail ad‐
               dress.

       If the **expandaddr **option is not set (the default), no expansion is performed and the  recipi‐
       ent is treated as a local or network mail address.

### Character sets and MIME
       Generally  **mail  **does not handle neither different character sets nor any other MIME feature.
       Especially it does not perform any any conversions between character sets while displaying or
       sending mails.

       Starting from April 2017, however, as a Debian extension this version of **mail **adds a few MIME
       headers to every outgoing mail in order to indicate that the mail is sent as 8-bit plain text
       data that uses character set encoding detected from the current [_locale_(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/locale/7/markdown) settings.   The  **-a**
       command-line option can be used to override those headers, for example:
             **$ mail -a 'Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"'**
       sets header indicating legacy character encoding.

## SUMMARY
       (Adapted from the “Mail Reference Manual”.)

       Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments following the command word.
       The  command  need  not  be typed in its entirety — the first command which matches the typed
       prefix is used.  For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no  message  list  is
       given,  then the next message forward which satisfies the command's requirements is used.  If
       there are no messages forward of the current message, the search proceeds backwards,  and  if
       there  are  no  good messages at all, **mail **types “No applicable messages” and aborts the com‐
       mand.

       **-       **Print out the preceding message.  If given a numeric argument _n_, goes to the _n_th pre‐
               vious message and prints it.

       **=       **Prints the currently selected message number.

       **?       **Prints a brief summary of commands.

       **!       **Executes the shell (see [_sh_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sh/1/markdown) and [_csh_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/csh/1/markdown)) command which follows.

       **alias   **(**a**) With no arguments, prints out all currently defined aliases.  With one  argument,
               prints  out  that alias.  With more than one argument, creates a new alias or changes
               an old one.

### alternates
               (**alt**) The **alternates **command is useful if you have accounts on several machines.   It
               can  be used to inform **mail **that the listed addresses are really you.  When you **reply**
               to messages, **mail **will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses  listed
               on  the  **alternates  **list.   If the **alternates **command is given with no argument, the
               current set of alternate names is displayed.

       **chdir   **(**cd **or **ch**) Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given.   If  no
               directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory.

       **copy    **(**c**) The **copy **command does the same thing that **save **does, except that it does not mark
               the messages it is used on for deletion when you quit.

       **delete  **(**d**) Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted.  Deleted mes‐
               sages will not be saved in _mbox_, nor will they be available for most other commands.

       **dp      **(also  **dt**)  Deletes  the current message and prints the next message.  If there is no
               next message, **mail **says “**No more messages.**”

       **edit    **(**e**) Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in turn.  On  re‐
               turn from the editor, the message is read back in.

       **exit    **(**ex  **or **x**) Effects an immediate return to the shell without modifying the user's sys‐
               tem mailbox, _mbox_ file, or edit file in **-f**.

       **file    **(**fi**) The same as **folder**.

       **folder  **(**fo**) The **folder **command switches to a new mail file or folder.  With no arguments, it
               tells you which file you are currently reading.  If you give it an argument, it  will
               write  out  changes (such as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in
               the new file.  Some special conventions are recognized for the  name.   #  means  the
               previous  file,  %  means  your  system mailbox, %user means user's system mailbox, &
               means your _mbox_ file, and +folder means a file in your folder directory.

### folders
               List the names of the folders in your folder directory.

       **from    **(**f**) Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers.

### headers
               (**h**) Lists the current windowful of headers.  To view the next or  previous  group  of
               headers, see the **z **command.

       **help    **A synonym for **?**.

       **hold    **(**ho**,  also  **preserve**) Takes a message list and marks each message therein to be saved
               in the user's system mailbox instead of in _mbox_.  Does not override the  **delete  **com‐
               mand.

       **ignore  **Add the list of header fields named to the _ignored_ _list_.  Header fields in the ignore
               list are not printed on your terminal when you print a message.  This command is very
               handy for suppression of certain machine-generated header fields.  The **Type **and **Print**
               commands  can  be  used to print a message in its entirety, including ignored fields.
               If **ignore **is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of ignored fields.

       **inc     **Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail is  being  read.   The  new
               messages  are  added to the end of the message list, and the current message is reset
               to be the first new mail message.  This does not renumber the existing message  list,
               nor does it cause any changes made so far to be saved.

       **list    **(**l**) List the valid **mail **commands.

       **mail    **(**m**)  Takes  as  argument  login  names and distribution group names and sends mail to
               those people.

       **mbox    **Indicate that a list of messages be sent to _mbox_ in  your  home  directory  when  you
               quit.   This  is  the  default action for messages if you do _not_ have the **hold **option
               set.

       **more    **(**mo**) Takes a message list and invokes the pager on that list.

       **next    **(**n**) (like **+ **or CR) Goes to the next message in sequence and types it.  With an  argu‐
               ment list, types the next matching message.

### preserve
               (**pre**) A synonym for **hold**.

       **Print   **(**P**)  Like  **print  **but also prints out ignored header fields.  See also **print**, **ignore**,
               and **retain**.

       **print   **(**p**) Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal.

       **quit    **(**q**) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in the  _mbox_  file
               in  the  user's login directory, preserving all messages marked with **hold **or **preserve**
               or never referenced in the user's system mailbox, and  removing  all  other  messages
               from the user's system mailbox.  If new mail has arrived during the session, the mes‐
               sage “**You have new mail**” is given.  If given while editing a mailbox file with the **-f**
               flag, then the edit file is rewritten.  A return to the shell is effected, unless the
               rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user can escape with the **exit **command.

       **Reply   **(**R**) Reply to originator.  Does not reply to other recipients of the original message.

       **reply   **(**r**) Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all recipients of the spec‐
               ified message.  The default message must not be deleted.

### respond
               A synonym for **reply**.

       **retain  **Add  the list of header fields named to the _retained_ _list_.  Only the header fields in
               the retain list are shown on your terminal when  you  print  a  message.   All  other
               header  fields  are  suppressed.   The **Type **and **Print **commands can be used to print a
               message in its entirety.  If **retain **is executed with no arguments, it lists the  cur‐
               rent set of retained fields.

       **save    **(**s**)  Takes  a message list and a filename and appends each message in turn to the end
               of the file.  The filename in quotes, followed by the line count and character  count
               is echoed on the user's terminal.

### saveignore
               **saveignore  **is  to  **save **what **ignore **is to **print **and **type**.  Header fields thus marked
               are filtered out when saving a message by **save **or when automatically saving to _mbox_.

### saveretain
               **saveretain **is to **save **what **retain **is to **print **and **type**.  Header  fields  thus  marked
               are the only ones saved with a message when saving by **save **or when automatically sav‐
               ing to _mbox_.  **saveretain **overrides **saveignore**.

       **set     **(**se**)  With  no arguments, prints all variable values.  Otherwise, sets option.  Argu‐
               ments are of the form _option=value_ (no space before or after =) or _option_.  Quotation
               marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to  quote  blanks  or
               tabs, i.e., **set indentprefix="->"**.

       **shell   **(**sh**) Invokes an interactive version of the shell.

       **size    **Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each message.

       **source  **The **source **command reads commands from a file.

       **top     **Takes  a  message  list  and  prints  the top few lines of each.  The number of lines
               printed is controlled by the variable **toplines **and defaults to five.

       **Type    **(**T**) Identical to the **Print **command.

       **type    **(**t**) A synonym for **print**.

### unalias
               Takes a list of names defined by **alias **commands and discards the remembered groups of
               users.  The group names no longer have any significance.

### undelete
               (**u**) Takes a message list and marks each message as not being deleted.

       **unread  **(**U**) Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.

       **unset   **Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered  values;  the  inverse  of
               **set**.

       **visual  **(**v**) Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message.

       **write   **(**w**) Similar to **save**, except that **only **the message body (without the header) is saved.
               Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source program text over the
               message system.

       **xit     **(**x**) A synonym for **exit**.

       **z       mail  **presents  message headers in windowfuls as described under the **headers **command.
               You can move **mail**'s attention forward to the next window with the **z  **command.   Also,
               you can move to the previous window by using **z-**.

### Tilde/escapes
       Here  is  a  summary  of the tilde escapes, which are used when composing messages to perform
       special functions.  Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning of  lines.   The  name
       “tilde  escape” is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set by the
       option **escape**.

       **~b_**name_ _..._
               Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make  the  names
               visible in the Cc: line ("blind" carbon copy).

       **~c_**name_ _..._
               Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.

       **~d      **Read the file _dead.letter_ from your home directory into the message.

       **~e      **Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far.  After the editing session is
               finished, you may continue appending text to the message.

       **~F_**messages_
               Identical to **~f**, except all message headers are included.

       **~f_**messages_
               Read  the  named messages into the message being sent.  If no messages are specified,
               read in the current message.  Message headers currently being ignored (by the  **ignore**
               or **retain **command) are not included.

       **~h      **Edit  the  message  header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing the user to
               append text to the end or modify the field by using the current  terminal  erase  and
               kill characters.

       **~M_**messages_
               Identical to **~m**, except all message headers are included.

       **~m_**messages_
               Read  the  named  messages  into  the message being sent, indented by a tab or by the
               value of _indentprefix_.  If no messages are specified, read the current message.  Mes‐
               sage headers currently being ignored (by the **ignore **or **retain **command)  are  not  in‐
               cluded.

       **~p      **Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header fields.

       **~q      **Abort  the message being sent, copying the message to _dead.letter_ in your home direc‐
               tory if **save **is set.
       **~R_**string_
               Use _string_ as the Reply-To field.

       **~r_**filename_
       **~<_**filename_
               Read the named file into the message.

       **~s_**string_
               Cause the named string to become the current subject field.

       **~t_**name_ _..._
               Add the given names to the direct recipient list.

       **~v      **Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the VISUAL option) on the message collected so
               far.  Usually, the alternate editor will be a screen editor.  After you quit the edi‐
               tor, you may resume appending text to the end of your message.

       **~w_**filename_
               Write the message onto the named file.

       **~x      **Abort the message being sent.  No message is copied to _~/dead.letter_, even if **save **is
               set.

       **~?      **Prints a brief summary of tilde escapes.

       **~!_**command_
               Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message.

       **~|_**command_
               Pipe the message through the command as a filter.  If the command gives no output  or
               terminates  abnormally,  retain the original text of the message.  The command [_fmt_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/fmt/1/markdown)
               is often used as **command **to rejustify the message.

       **~:_**mail-command_
       **~__**mail-command_
               Execute the given mail command.  Not all commands, however, are allowed.

       **~~_**string_
               Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single ~.  If you have changed
               the escape character, then you should double that character in order to send it.

       **~.      **Simulate end of file on input.

### Mail options
       A number of options can be set in the _.mailrc_ file to alter the behavior of **mail**,  controlled
       via  the **set **and **unset **commands.  Options may be either binary, in which case it is only sig‐
       nificant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which case the actual value is  of
       interest.  The binary options include the following:

       _append_  Causes  messages saved in _mbox_ to be appended to the end rather than prepended.  This
               should always be set (perhaps in _/etc/mail.rc_).

       _ask_, _asksub_
               Causes **mail **to prompt you for the subject of each message you send.  If  you  respond
               with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent.

       _askbcc_  Causes  you  to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the end of
               each message.  Responding with a newline indicates your satisfaction with the current
               list.

       _askcc_   Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the  end  of  each
               message.   Responding  with  a  newline  indicates your satisfaction with the current
               list.

       _autoinc_
               Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives.   Setting  this  is
               similar to issuing the **inc **command at each prompt, except that the current message is
               not reset when new mail arrives.

       _autoprint_
               Causes the **delete **command to behave like **dp**; thus, after deleting a message, the next
               one will be typed automatically.

       _debug_   Setting  the binary option _debug_ is the same as specifying **-d **on the command line and
               causes **mail **to output all sorts of information useful for debugging **mail**.

       _dot_     The binary option _dot_ causes **mail **to interpret a period alone on a line as the termi‐
               nator of a message you are sending.

       _expandaddr_
               Causes **mail **to expand message  recipient  addresses,  as  explained  in  the  section
               “Recipient address specifications”.

       _from_    Causes  **mail  **to use the specified sender address in the “From:” field of the message
               header.  A stripped down version of the address is also used in the message envelope.
               If unset, the message will not include an explicit sender address and a default value
               will be added by the MTA, typically “user@host”.  This value  can  be  overridden  by
               specifying the **-r **flag on the command line.

       _hold_    This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox by default.

       _ignore_  Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as @'s.

       _ignoreeof_
               An  option  related to _dot_ is _ignoreeof_ which makes **mail **refuse to accept a control-D
               as the end of a message.  _ignoreeof_ also applies to **mail **command mode.

       _keep_    Setting this option causes **mail **to truncate your system mailbox instead  of  deleting
               it when it's empty.

       _keepsave_
               Messages  saved  with  the  **save **command are not normally saved in _mbox_ at quit time.
               Use this option to retain those messages.

       _metoo_   Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender,  the  sender  is  removed
               from  the  expansion.   Setting  this  option causes the sender to be included in the
               group.

       _noheader_
               Setting the option _noheader_ is the same as giving the **-N **flag on the command line.

       _nosave_  Normally, when you abort a message with two interrupt characters (usually control-C),
               **mail **copies the partial letter to the file _dead.letter_ in your home directory.   Set‐
               ting the binary option _nosave_ prevents this.

       _quiet_   Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.

       _Replyall_
               Reverses the sense of **reply **and **Reply **commands.

       _searchheaders_
               If  this  option is set, then a message-list specifier in the form “/x:y” will expand
               to all messages containing the substring ‘y’ in the header  field  ‘x’.   The  string
               search  is  case  insensitive.   If  ‘x’ is omitted, it will default to the “Subject”
               header field.  The form “/to:y” is a special case, and will expand  to  all  messages
               containing the substring ‘y’ in the “To”, “Cc” or “Bcc” header fields.  The check for
               “to”  is  case  sensitive, so that “/To:y” can be used to limit the search for ‘y’ to
               just the “To:” field.

       _skipempty_
               Don't send messages with an empty body.

       _verbose_
               Setting the option _verbose_ is the same as using the **-v  **flag  on  the  command  line.
               When  **mail  **runs in verbose mode, the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the
               user's terminal.

### Option string values
       EDITOR        Pathname of the text editor to use in the **edit **command and **~e **escape.   If  not
                     defined, _/usr/bin/ex_ is used.

       LISTER        Pathname  of  the  directory  lister to use in the **folders **command.  Default is
                     _/bin/ls_.

       MBOX          The name of the _mbox_ file.  It can be the name of a  folder.   The  default  is
                     “**mbox**” in the user's home directory.

       PAGER         Pathname  of the program to use in the **more **command or when the _crt_ variable is
                     set.  The default paginator [_more_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/more/1/markdown) is used if this option is not defined.

       REPLYTO       If set, will be used to initialize the Reply-To field for outgoing messages.

       SHELL         Pathname of the shell to use in the **! **command and the  **~!  **escape.   A  default
                     shell is used if this option is not defined.

       VISUAL        Pathname of the text editor to use in the **visual **command and **~v **escape.  If not
                     defined, _/usr/bin/vi_ is used.

       _crt_           The  valued  option  _crt_ is used as a threshold to determine how long a message
                     must be before PAGER is used to read it.  If _crt_ is set without a  value,  then
                     the  height  of the terminal screen stored in the system is used to compute the
                     threshold (see [_stty_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/stty/1/markdown)).

       _escape_        If defined, the first character of this option gives the character  to  use  in
                     the place of ~ to denote escapes.

       _folder_        The name of the directory to use for storing folders of messages.  If this name
                     begins with a ‘/’, **mail **considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the
                     folder directory is found relative to your home directory.

       _indentprefix_  String used by the **~m **tilde escape for indenting messages, in place of the nor‐
                     mal  tab character (‘^I’).  Be sure to quote the value if it contains spaces or
                     tabs.

       _record_        If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record  all  outgoing  mail.
                     If not defined, then outgoing mail is not so saved.

       _screen_        Size of window of message headers for **z**.

       _sendmail_      Pathname to an alternative mail delivery system.

       _toplines_      If  defined,  gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out with the
                     **top **command; normally, the first five lines are printed.

## ENVIRONMENT
       **mail **utilizes the HOME, LOGNAME, USER, SHELL, DEAD, PAGER, LISTER, EDITOR,  VISUAL,  REPLYTO,
       MAIL, MAILRC, and MBOX environment variables.

       If  the  MAIL  environment  variable is set, its value is used as the path to the user's mail
       spool.

## FILES
       _/var/mail/*_                      post office (unless overridden by the MAIL environment vari‐
                                        able)
       _~/mbox_                           user's old mail
       _~/.mailrc_                        file giving initial mail commands; can be overridden by set‐
                                        ting the MAILRC environment variable
       _/tmp/R*_                          temporary files
       _/usr/share/bsd-mailx/mail.*help_  help files
       _/etc/mail.rc_                     system initialization file

## EXIT STATUS
       The **mail **utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

## SEE ALSO
       [_fmt_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/fmt/1/markdown), [_newaliases_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/newaliases/1/markdown), [_vacation_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/vacation/1/markdown), [_aliases_(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/aliases/5/markdown),  [_mail.local_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mail.local/8/markdown),  [_newaliases_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/newaliases/8/markdown),  [_sendmail_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sendmail/8/markdown),
       [_smtpd_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/smtpd/8/markdown)

       Kurt Shoens, “Mail Reference Manual”, _4.4BSD_ _User's_ _Supplementary_ _Documents_ _(USD)_.

## STANDARDS
       The **mailx **utility is compliant with the IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (“POSIX.1”) specification.

       The flags [**-iNnu**] are marked by IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (“POSIX.1”) as being optional.

       The  flags  [**-eFH**]  are marked by IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (“POSIX.1”) as being optional, and are
       not supported by this implementation of **mailx**.

       The flags [**-abcdEIrv**] are extensions to the specification.

## HISTORY
       A **mail **command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.  This man  page  is  derived  from  the  _Mail_
       _Reference_ _Manual_ originally written by Kurt Shoens.

## BUGS
       Usually, **Mail **and **mailx **are just links to **mail**, which can be confusing.

Debian                                     March 31, 2022                                    [_MAIL_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/MAIL/1/markdown)