Mutt: BCC to /var/mail/myself instead of out via IMAP?

Mutt is a popular email client for Unix-like systems that allows users to manage their emails efficiently. One common question that arises for Mutt users is how to send a blind carbon copy (BCC) of an email to the /var/mail/myself directory instead of sending it out via IMAP. In this article, we will explore this topic and provide a step-by-step guide for achieving this configuration.

Understanding BCC and /var/mail/myself

Before we dive into the configuration process, let's briefly explain what BCC and /var/mail/myself are.

BCC, or blind carbon copy, is a feature in email clients that allows you to send a copy of an email to someone without the other recipients knowing about it. This can be useful when you want to keep certain recipients confidential or when you want to send a copy of the email to yourself for record-keeping purposes.

/var/mail/myself is a directory on Unix-like systems that stores incoming mail for the user "myself". When an email is sent to this directory, it can be accessed and read using a local mail reader, such as Mutt.

Configuring Mutt to BCC to /var/mail/myself

To configure Mutt to send a BCC of your emails to /var/mail/myself, you will need to make some changes to your Mutt configuration file. Here's how you can do it:

1. Open your Mutt configuration file using a text editor. The default location for this file is usually ~/.muttrc.
2. Locate the send-hook section in the configuration file. This section contains settings that are applied when sending emails.
3. Add the following line to the send-hook section:

This line tells Mutt to automatically BCC a copy of every email you send to the /var/mail/myself directory.

Save the changes to your Mutt configuration file and exit the text editor. From now on, whenever you send an email using Mutt, a copy of it will be automatically saved in the /var/mail/myself directory.

Accessing BCCed Emails in /var/mail/myself

Now that you have configured Mutt to BCC your emails to /var/mail/myself, you may wonder how to access and read these BCCed emails. Here's how you can do it:

1. Open a terminal or command prompt on your Unix-like system.
2. Use a mail reader program, such as mail or mutt, to access the /var/mail/myself directory. For example, you can run the following command:

This command opens the Mutt mail reader and reads the emails stored in the /var/mail/myself directory.

You can now navigate through the emails using the Mutt interface and read the BCCed emails that you have sent to yourself.

Conclusion

In this article, we have explored how to configure Mutt to send a BCC of your emails to the /var/mail/myself directory instead of sending them out via IMAP. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily set up this configuration and access your BCCed emails using a local mail reader program like Mutt. This can be particularly useful for keeping a record of your sent emails or for maintaining confidentiality when sending emails to multiple recipients.

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