Sample code for 30+ languages & platforms
Java Requires Chilkat v11.0.0+

Search IMAP Mailbox for Email Matching Criteria

Searching an IMAP mailbox for messages that match search criteria.

Chilkat Java Downloads

Chilkat2 Java
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.ChilkatException;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.Email;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.EmailBundle;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.Imap;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.MessageSet;

public class ChilkatExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
        // See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

        Imap imap = new Imap();

        // Connect to an IMAP server.
        // Use TLS
        imap.setSsl(true);
        imap.setPort(993);
        try {
            imap.connect("imap.example.com");

            // Login
            imap.login("myLogin", "myPassword");

            // Select an IMAP mailbox
            imap.selectMailbox("Inbox");
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        // We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
        boolean fetchUids = true;

        // Here are examples of different search criteria:

        // Return all messages.
        String allMsgs = "ALL";

        // Search for already-answered emails.
        String answered = "ANSWERED";

        // Search for messages on a specific date.
        // The date string is DD-Month-YYYY where Month is
        // Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, or Dec.
        String onDate = "SENTON 05-Mar-2007";

        // Search for messages between two dates.  SENTBEFORE
        // finds emails sent before a date, and SENTSINCE finds
        // email sent on or after a date.  The "AND" operation
        // is implied by joining criteria, separated by spaces.
        String betweenDates = "SENTSINCE 01-Mar-2007 SENTBEFORE 05-Mar-2007";

        // Another example of AND: find all unanswered emails
        // sent after 04-Mar-2007 with "Problem" in the subject:
        String complexSearch1 = "UNANSWERED SENTSINCE 04-Mar-2007 Subject \"Problem\"";

        // Find messages with a specific string in the body:
        String bodySearch = "BODY \"problem solved\"";

        // Using OR.  The syntax is OR <criteria1> <criteria2>.
        // The "OR" comes first, followed by each criteria.
        // For example, to match all emails with "Help" or "Question" in the subject.
        // You'll notice that literal strings may be quoted or unquoted.
        // If a literal contains SPACE characters, quote it:
        String orSearch = "OR SUBJECT Help SUBJECT Question";

        // ----------------------------------------------
        // Strings are case-insensitive when searching....
        // ----------------------------------------------

        // Find all emails sent from yahoo.com addresses:
        String fromSearch = "FROM yahoo.com";
        // Find all emails sent from anyone with "John" in their name:
        String johnSearch = "FROM John";

        // Find emails with the RECENT flag set:
        String recentSearch = "RECENT";

        // Find emails that don't have the recent flag set:
        String notRecentSearch = "NOT RECENT";
        // This is synonymous with "OLD":
        String oldSearch = "OLD";

        // Find all emails marked for deletion:
        String markedForDeleteSearch = "DELETED";

        // Find all emails having a specified header field with a value
        // containing a substring:
        String headerSearch = "HEADER DomainKey-Signature paypal.com";

        // Find any emails having a specific header field.  If the
        // 2nd argument to the "HEADER" criteria is an empty string,
        // any email having the header field is returned regardless
        // of the header field's content.
        // Find any emails with a DomainKey-Signature field:
        String headerExistsSearch = "HEADER DomainKey-Signature \"\"";

        // Find NEW emails: these are emails that have the RECENT flag
        // set, but not the SEEN flag:
        String newSearch = "NEW";

        // Find emails larger than a certain number of bytes:
        String sizeLargerSearch = "LARGER 500000";

        // Find emails marked as seen or not already seen:
        String seenSearch = "SEEN";
        String notSeenSearch = "NOT SEEN";

        // Find emails having a given substring in the TO header field:
        String toSearch = "TO support@chilkatsoft.com";
        // A more long-winded way to do the same thing:
        String toSearch2 = "HEADER TO support@chilkatsoft.com";

        // Find emails smaller than a size in bytes:
        String smallerSearch = "SMALLER 30000";

        // Find emails that have a substring anywhere in the header
        // or body:
        String fullSubstringSearch = "TEXT \"Zip Component\"";

        // Pass any of the above strings here to test a search:
        MessageSet messageSet = new MessageSet();
        try {
            imap.queryMbx(orSearch, fetchUids, messageSet);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        // Fetch the email headers into a bundle object:
        EmailBundle bundle = new EmailBundle();
        boolean headersOnly = true;
        try {
            imap.fetchMsgSet(headersOnly, messageSet, bundle);
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        // Display the Subject and From of each email.
        Email email = new Email();
        int i = 0;
        while (i < bundle.getMessageCount()) {
            bundle.emailAt(i, email);

            System.out.println(email.getHeaderField("Date"));
            System.out.println(email.getSubject());
            System.out.println(email.getFrom());
            System.out.println("--");

            i = i + 1;
        }

        // Disconnect from the IMAP server.
        imap.disconnect();
    }
}