This page describes how to *retrieve* and *read* email from within Emacs.

== Getting mail ==

Note: Some clients //delete// your mail from the server after downloading it. If you want to keep your mail on the server, you must tell your client to //preserve// it.

=== Rmail ===

Here's an example of an [[Rmail]] configuration:

{{{
(setq
  rmail-primary-inbox-list '("pop://me%40example.com@mail.example.com")
  rmail-preserve-inbox t
  user-full-name "Funky Turtle"
  user-mail-address "me@example.com")
}}}

* Rmail runs on its own, but it's recommended to install the `mailutils' package on your computer.
* `rmail-primary-inbox-list' uses the URL scheme: <code>protocol:// username @ hostname</code>
* The <code>%40</code> is an ANSI code representing the <code>@</code> symbol (see the note on movemail below)
* `rmail-preserve-inbox' tells rmail to copy the mail from the server (don't delete it).

=== Gnus ===

Here's an example of [[Gnus]] using the `nnml' backend with POP:

{{{
(setq
  gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml ""))
  mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.example.com"
                      :user   "me@example.com")))
}}}

=== MH-E ===

An example of [[MH-E]] using POP:

{{{
#: In ~/.mh_profile
Path: mail
inc: -host mail.example.com -user me@example.com
}}}

== Speeding Things Up ==

Emacs freezes up during sending / receiving if Emacs does it itself, so if you are downloading large emails, you will be unable to do ''multitasking''. It may be a better idea to use another program like *mpop* to retrieve mail.

=== mpop ===

Instead of making Emacs retrieve your mail, you can run a program like `mpop' outside of Emacs to download new mail to a folder, before managing it from inside Emacs.

The mpop config file is in <code>~/.mpop</code> and looks like this:

{{{
defaults
tls  on
keep on

account  default
host     mail.example.com
port     995
user     alex@example.com
password p4ssw0rd
delivery maildir "~/mail"
}}}

Running ##mpop## from the commandline fetches your mail and moves it into the inbox you provided.

For sending mail via SMTP, ##msmtp## was written by the same author, and is a popular alternative to sendmail.

== Other Tips ==

Emacs doesn't know which mail client you prefer, but you can tell it by setting the `read-mail-command' variable:

{{{
;; If you're using rmail
(setq read-mail-command 'rmail)

;; Or if you're using Gnus:
(setq read-mail-command 'gnus)

;; Or MH-E:
(setq read-mail-command 'mh-nmail)
}}}

There's a corresponding variable for /writing/ mail: `mail-user-agent', which tells Emacs which "compose" window should appear when you activate a "Mailto" link:

{{{
;; If you prefer rmail
(setq mail-user-agent 'sendmail-user-agent)

;; Or GNUS
(setq mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)

;; Or MH-E
(setq mail-user-agent 'mh-e-user-agent)
}}} 

== See Also ==

* WritingMail
* SendingMail
* [[Rmail]]
* [[Gnus]]
* [[MH-E]]
* [[WanderLust]]
* [[Mew]]
* [[VM]]


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CategoryMail