Delete Mail Based on Subject Pattern [mail-command]

Is it possible to delete all mail in which the subject matches a regex pattern?

For example, to delete message 1, you do:

d 1

But to delete all mail with subject starting with, say, [SPAM], I can't do:

d -s "^[SPAM].*$"

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

1

Can you use mutt? That can match-and-then-delete by pattern.

– thrig
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

2

Use another mail program, e.g. mutt: D to delete all messages matching a pattern, and you can more generally and flexible tag messages according to your needs, and then apply some action to them.

– dirkt
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

@thrig @dirkt Thanks for the suggestion! I will check out mutt.

– nehcsivart
Jan 17 '17 at 18:28

add a comment |

Is it possible to delete all mail in which the subject matches a regex pattern?

For example, to delete message 1, you do:

d 1

But to delete all mail with subject starting with, say, [SPAM], I can't do:

d -s "^[SPAM].*$"

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

1

Can you use mutt? That can match-and-then-delete by pattern.

– thrig
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

2

Use another mail program, e.g. mutt: D to delete all messages matching a pattern, and you can more generally and flexible tag messages according to your needs, and then apply some action to them.

– dirkt
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

@thrig @dirkt Thanks for the suggestion! I will check out mutt.

– nehcsivart
Jan 17 '17 at 18:28

add a comment |

Is it possible to delete all mail in which the subject matches a regex pattern?

For example, to delete message 1, you do:

d 1

But to delete all mail with subject starting with, say, [SPAM], I can't do:

d -s "^[SPAM].*$"

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

Is it possible to delete all mail in which the subject matches a regex pattern?

For example, to delete message 1, you do:

d 1

But to delete all mail with subject starting with, say, [SPAM], I can't do:

d -s "^[SPAM].*$"

mail-command

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

asked Jan 17 '17 at 18:18

nehcsivart

363311

1

Can you use mutt? That can match-and-then-delete by pattern.

– thrig
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

2

Use another mail program, e.g. mutt: D to delete all messages matching a pattern, and you can more generally and flexible tag messages according to your needs, and then apply some action to them.

– dirkt
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

@thrig @dirkt Thanks for the suggestion! I will check out mutt.

– nehcsivart
Jan 17 '17 at 18:28

add a comment |

1

Can you use mutt? That can match-and-then-delete by pattern.

– thrig
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

2

Use another mail program, e.g. mutt: D to delete all messages matching a pattern, and you can more generally and flexible tag messages according to your needs, and then apply some action to them.

– dirkt
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

@thrig @dirkt Thanks for the suggestion! I will check out mutt.

– nehcsivart
Jan 17 '17 at 18:28

Can you use mutt? That can match-and-then-delete by pattern.

– thrig
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

Use another mail program, e.g. mutt: D to delete all messages matching a pattern, and you can more generally and flexible tag messages according to your needs, and then apply some action to them.

– dirkt
Jan 17 '17 at 18:24

@thrig @dirkt Thanks for the suggestion! I will check out mutt.

– nehcsivart
Jan 17 '17 at 18:28

add a comment |

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

I am answering this in case anyone comes by the same question.

It does not appear there is any way to do bulk deletion by pattern matching using mail.
An alternative is to use the mutt mail client, which does have such feature:

D [SPAM]

Thanks to @thrig and @dirkt for suggesting the alternative.

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

Please accept your answer.

– Tripp Kinetics
May 21 '18 at 18:30

1

@TrippKinetics Okay, I have accepted the answer.

– nehcsivart
May 21 '18 at 18:32

add a comment |

According to "man mail" there are plenty of different patterns to specify the messages on which the command like "d" for deletion will work on. For the asked subject line, you can use

(subject string)
 All messages that contain string in the Subject: field.

In the mail command you would write:

& d (subject Happy Birthday)

This will delete every mail that has the string "Happy Birthday" in its subject. There are also patterns for other fields and different date related criterions (It was tested with "Heirloom Mail version 12.4 7/29/08.")

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

add a comment |

I was looking for the same without success, so I decided to try like this:

echo 'f 1-$' | mail -N | grep 'SPAM' | awk 'print $1'

Or print $0 to see the full header to show the mail number with the string 'SPAM'.

So if you think is ok you can delete all of this.

echo 'd #1 #2 #3 ...' | mail -N

Or make a full script.

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

add a comment |

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3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

I am answering this in case anyone comes by the same question.

It does not appear there is any way to do bulk deletion by pattern matching using mail.
An alternative is to use the mutt mail client, which does have such feature:

D [SPAM]

Thanks to @thrig and @dirkt for suggesting the alternative.

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

Please accept your answer.

– Tripp Kinetics
May 21 '18 at 18:30

1

@TrippKinetics Okay, I have accepted the answer.

– nehcsivart
May 21 '18 at 18:32

add a comment |

I am answering this in case anyone comes by the same question.

It does not appear there is any way to do bulk deletion by pattern matching using mail.
An alternative is to use the mutt mail client, which does have such feature:

D [SPAM]

Thanks to @thrig and @dirkt for suggesting the alternative.

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

Please accept your answer.

– Tripp Kinetics
May 21 '18 at 18:30

1

@TrippKinetics Okay, I have accepted the answer.

– nehcsivart
May 21 '18 at 18:32

add a comment |

I am answering this in case anyone comes by the same question.

It does not appear there is any way to do bulk deletion by pattern matching using mail.
An alternative is to use the mutt mail client, which does have such feature:

D [SPAM]

Thanks to @thrig and @dirkt for suggesting the alternative.

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

I am answering this in case anyone comes by the same question.

It does not appear there is any way to do bulk deletion by pattern matching using mail.
An alternative is to use the mutt mail client, which does have such feature:

D [SPAM]

Thanks to @thrig and @dirkt for suggesting the alternative.

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

answered Jan 18 '17 at 22:56

nehcsivart

363311

Please accept your answer.

– Tripp Kinetics
May 21 '18 at 18:30

1

@TrippKinetics Okay, I have accepted the answer.

– nehcsivart
May 21 '18 at 18:32

add a comment |

Please accept your answer.

– Tripp Kinetics
May 21 '18 at 18:30

1

@TrippKinetics Okay, I have accepted the answer.

– nehcsivart
May 21 '18 at 18:32

Please accept your answer.

– Tripp Kinetics
May 21 '18 at 18:30

@TrippKinetics Okay, I have accepted the answer.

– nehcsivart
May 21 '18 at 18:32

add a comment |

According to "man mail" there are plenty of different patterns to specify the messages on which the command like "d" for deletion will work on. For the asked subject line, you can use

(subject string)
 All messages that contain string in the Subject: field.

In the mail command you would write:

& d (subject Happy Birthday)

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

add a comment |

According to "man mail" there are plenty of different patterns to specify the messages on which the command like "d" for deletion will work on. For the asked subject line, you can use

(subject string)
 All messages that contain string in the Subject: field.

In the mail command you would write:

& d (subject Happy Birthday)

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

add a comment |

According to "man mail" there are plenty of different patterns to specify the messages on which the command like "d" for deletion will work on. For the asked subject line, you can use

(subject string)
 All messages that contain string in the Subject: field.

In the mail command you would write:

& d (subject Happy Birthday)

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

According to "man mail" there are plenty of different patterns to specify the messages on which the command like "d" for deletion will work on. For the asked subject line, you can use

(subject string)
 All messages that contain string in the Subject: field.

In the mail command you would write:

& d (subject Happy Birthday)

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

answered Mar 1 at 10:04

user339460

add a comment |

I was looking for the same without success, so I decided to try like this:

echo 'f 1-$' | mail -N | grep 'SPAM' | awk 'print $1'

Or print $0 to see the full header to show the mail number with the string 'SPAM'.

So if you think is ok you can delete all of this.

echo 'd #1 #2 #3 ...' | mail -N

Or make a full script.

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

add a comment |

I was looking for the same without success, so I decided to try like this:

echo 'f 1-$' | mail -N | grep 'SPAM' | awk 'print $1'

Or print $0 to see the full header to show the mail number with the string 'SPAM'.

So if you think is ok you can delete all of this.

echo 'd #1 #2 #3 ...' | mail -N

Or make a full script.

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

add a comment |

I was looking for the same without success, so I decided to try like this:

echo 'f 1-$' | mail -N | grep 'SPAM' | awk 'print $1'

Or print $0 to see the full header to show the mail number with the string 'SPAM'.

So if you think is ok you can delete all of this.

echo 'd #1 #2 #3 ...' | mail -N

Or make a full script.

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

I was looking for the same without success, so I decided to try like this:

echo 'f 1-$' | mail -N | grep 'SPAM' | awk 'print $1'

Or print $0 to see the full header to show the mail number with the string 'SPAM'.

So if you think is ok you can delete all of this.

echo 'd #1 #2 #3 ...' | mail -N

Or make a full script.

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

edited Mar 1 at 20:42

Christopher

10.8k33249

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

answered Mar 1 at 20:05

Carlos

add a comment |

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