The Mutt E-Mail Client : Advanced Usage : IMAP Support (OPTIONAL)
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## 4.11. IMAP Support (OPTIONAL)

If Mutt was compiled with IMAP support (by running the configure script with the --enable-imap flag), it has the ability to work with folders located on a remote IMAP server.

You can access the remote inbox by selecting the folder `{imapserver}inbox`, where `imapserver` is the name of the IMAP server and `inbox` is the special name for your spool mailbox on the IMAP server. If you want to access another mail folder at the IMAP server, you should use `{imapserver}path/to/folder` where `path/to/folder` is the path of the folder you want to access (relative to your home directory if you aren't using Cyrus).

You can select an alternative port by specifying it with the server, ie: `{imapserver:port}inbox`.

You can also specify different username for each folder, ie: `{username@imapserver[:port]}inbox`.

If Mutt was compiled with SSL support (by running the configure script with the --enable-ssl flag), connections to IMAP servers can be encrypted. This naturally requires that the server supports SSL encrypted connections. To access a folder with IMAP/SSL, you should use `{[username@]imapserver[:port]/ssl}path/to/folder` as your folder path.

Note that not all servers use / as the hierarchy separator. Mutt should correctly notice which separator is being used by the server and convert paths accordingly.

When browsing folders on an IMAP server, you can toggle whether to look at only the folders you are subscribed to, or all folders with the toggle-subscribed command. See also the $imap_list_subscribed variable.

Polling for new mail is more expensive over IMAP than locally. For this reason the frequency at which Mutt will check for mail remotely can be controlled by the $imap_checkinterval variable, which defaults to every 60 seconds.

Mutt is designed to work with IMAP4rev1 servers, and was originally tested with both the UWash IMAP server v11.241 and the Cyrus IMAP server v1.5.14. Nowadays it is primarily developed against UW-IMAP 12.250. It appears to work more-or-less correctly against Cyrus 1.6.11 as well.

Note that if you are using mbox as the mail store on UW servers prior to v12.250, the server has been reported to disconnect a client if another client selects the same folder.

### 4.11.1. The Folder Browser

### 4.11.2. Authentication

The Mutt E-Mail Client : Advanced Usage : IMAP Support (OPTIONAL)
Previous: POP3 Support (OPTIONAL)
Next: The Folder Browser