The Mutt E-Mail Client : Advanced Usage : Patterns
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## 4.2. Patterns

Many of Mutt's commands allow you to specify a pattern to match (limit, tag-pattern, delete-pattern, etc.). There are several ways to select messages:

> `

>     ~a              messages in threads that contain at least one tagged message;
>                     this is the same as ~(~T) [see below for ~(..)]
>     ~A              all messages
>     ~b EXPR         messages which contain EXPR in the message body
>     ~B EXPR         messages which contain EXPR in the whole message
>     ~c USER         messages carbon-copied to USER
>     ~C EXPR         message is either to: or cc: EXPR
>     ~D              deleted messages
>     ~d [MIN]-[MAX]  messages with ``date-sent'' in a Date range
>     ~E              expired messages
>     ~e EXPR         message which contains EXPR in the ``Sender'' field
>     ~F              flagged messages
>     ~f USER         messages originating from USER
>     ~g              cryptographically signed messages
>     ~G              cryptographically encrypted messages
>     ~H EXPR         messages with a spam attribute matching EXPR
>     ~h EXPR         messages which contain EXPR in the message header
>     ~k              message contains PGP key material
>     ~i ID           message which match ID in the ``Message-ID'' field
>     ~L EXPR         message is either originated or received by EXPR
>     ~l              message is addressed to a known mailing list
>     ~m [MIN]-[MAX]  message in the range MIN to MAX *)
>     ~n [MIN]-[MAX]  messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX *)
>     ~N              new messages
>     ~O              old messages
>     ~p              message is addressed to you (consults alternates)
>     ~P              message is from you (consults alternates)
>     ~Q              messages which have been replied to
>     ~R              read messages
>     ~r [MIN]-[MAX]  messages with ``date-received'' in a Date range
>     ~S              superseded messages
>     ~s SUBJECT      messages having SUBJECT in the ``Subject'' field.
>     ~T              tagged messages
>     ~t USER         messages addressed to USER
>     ~U              unread messages
>     ~v              message is part of a collapsed thread.
>     ~V              cryptographically verified messages
>     ~x EXPR         messages which contain EXPR in the `References' field
>     ~y EXPR         messages which contain EXPR in the `X-Label' field
>     ~z [MIN]-[MAX]  messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX *)
>     ~=              duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
>     ~$              unreferenced messages (requires threaded view)
>     ~(PATTERN)      messages in threads containing messages matching a certain
>                     pattern, e.g. all threads containing messages from you: ~(~P)

> `

Where EXPR, USER, ID, and SUBJECT are regular expressions. Special attention has to be made when using regular expressions inside of patterns. Specifically, Mutt's parser for these patterns will strip one level of backslash (\), which is normally used for quoting. If it is your intention to use a backslash in the regular expression, you will need to use two backslashes instead (\\).

*) The forms `<[MAX]`, `>[MIN]`, `[MIN]-` and `-[MAX]` are allowed, too.

### 4.2.1. Pattern Modifier

### 4.2.2. Complex Patterns

### 4.2.3. Searching by Date

The Mutt E-Mail Client : Advanced Usage : Patterns
Previous: Regular Expressions
Next: Pattern Modifier