Deleting and Undeleting Messages and Attachments

When you press `d' in the index or pager views to delete a message mutt will flag it with a `D' in the index view (it may also reflect the deletion using color: my mutt is configured to show deleted messages in red. We'll look at the options available to you in sec. 5.1) - but doesn't actually delete the message until you either change to a new folder or sync the mailbox to commit the changes. To make the deletion permanent, press the $ key, which is the default command to sync the index with the server and actually deletes all messages flagged for deletion. Up until that moment, you still have the option to undelete those messages.

Undelete a message by putting the cursor over the desired message and pressing the `u' key. You can navigate there either by using the message number, or by holding down shift as you type `J' and `K.' Otherwise, the cursor will cavalierly jump right over all deleted messages as you navigate.

It's often convenient to remove an attachment from your inbox but not the message itself. To delete an attachment from a message without deleting the message itself, open a message and then press `v' to see the list of attachments. Put the cursor over the one you'd like to delete and press `d.' When you return to the index, the index will show a lowercase `d' next to the message to indicate the change, and when you sync the mailbox by pressing $, the change will be committed (and the index will reflect the changed size of the message). This is a good way of reducing the size of mail in your mailbox without having to delete any message text, and once you get used to being able to do this, you'll miss it in other software.