# UNIX ProTips I realized today I wasn't getting mail notifications, and I hadn't set them up on this shell. So here are some things I do on my local machine that work here: To get the shell to tell you when you have new mail, after command executions, add this to your `.profile` or your `$ENV` files (or other shell RC file) in your home directory. ``` export MAILCHECK=0 ``` And, if you want, you can have a persistent notification when you have un-incorporated mail, or more specifically, when your `$MAIL` (`/var/mail/$USER` by default)` isn't empty. ``` PS1="$(test -s $MAIL ] && echo '* ')$PS1" ``` For maildir try this: ``` PS1="$(test -n "$(ls -A $HOME/Maildir/new)" && echo '* ')$PS1" ``` This works in `/bin/ksh`, I can't speak for other shells. If anybody else has some quick tips they would like to share, I encourage them to edit this page. Happy Unixing! [back](/)