The Mutt E-Mail Client : Getting Started : Editing Input Fields
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2.2. Editing Input Fields

Mutt has a builtin line editor which is used as the primary way to input textual data such as email addresses or filenames. The keys used to move around while editing are very similar to those of Emacs.

A or <Home>    bol             move to the start of the line
^B or <Left>    backward-char   move back one char
^D or <Delete>  delete-char     delete the char under the cursor
^E or <End>     eol             move to the end of the line
^F or <Right>   forward-char    move forward one char
^K              kill-eol        delete to the end of the line
^U              kill-line       delete entire line
^W              kill-word       kill the word in front of the cursor
<Up>            history-up      recall previous string from history
<Down>          history-down    recall next string from history
<BackSpace>     backspace       kill the char in front of the cursor
^G              n/a             abort
<Tab>           n/a             complete filename (only when prompting for a file)
<Return>        n/a             finish editing

You can remap the editor functions using the bind command. For example, to make the Delete key delete the character in front of the cursor rather than under, you could use

bind editor <delete> backspace


The Mutt E-Mail Client : Getting Started : Editing Input Fields
Previous: Moving Around in Menus
Next: Reading Mail - The Index and Pager