(PowerShell) Search IMAP Mailbox for Email Matching Criteria

Searching an IMAP mailbox for messages that match search criteria.

Chilkat .NET Downloads Chilkat .NET Assemblies

Add-Type -Path "C:\chilkat\ChilkatDotNet47-9.5.0-x64\ChilkatDotNet47.dll"

# This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
# See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

$imap = New-Object Chilkat.Imap

# Connect to an IMAP server.
# Use TLS
$imap.Ssl = $true
$imap.Port = 993
$success = $imap.Connect("imap.someMailServer.com")
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($imap.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# Login
$success = $imap.Login("myLogin","myPassword")
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($imap.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# Select an IMAP mailbox
$success = $imap.SelectMailbox("Inbox")
if ($success -ne $true) {
    $($imap.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
$fetchUids = $true

# Here are examples of different search criteria:

# Return all messages.
$allMsgs = "ALL"

# Search for already-answered emails.
$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.
$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.
$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:
$complexSearch1 = "UNANSWERED SENTSINCE 04-Mar-2007 Subject `"Problem`""

# Find messages with a specific string in the body:
$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:
$orSearch = "OR SUBJECT Help SUBJECT Question"

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

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

# Find emails with the RECENT flag set:
$recentSearch = "RECENT"

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

# Find all emails marked for deletion:
$markedForDeleteSearch = "DELETED"

# Find all emails having a specified header field with a value
# containing a substring:
$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:
$headerExistsSearch = "HEADER DomainKey-Signature `"`""

# Find NEW emails: these are emails that have the RECENT flag
# set, but not the SEEN flag:
$newSearch = "NEW"

# Find emails larger than a certain number of bytes:
$sizeLargerSearch = "LARGER 500000"

# Find emails marked as seen or not already seen:
$seenSearch = "SEEN"
$notSeenSearch = "NOT SEEN"

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

# Find emails smaller than a size in bytes:
$smallerSearch = "SMALLER 30000"

# Find emails that have a substring anywhere in the header
# or body:
$fullSubstringSearch = "TEXT `"Zip Component`""

# Pass any of the above strings here to test a search:
$messageSet = $imap.Search($orSearch,$fetchUids)
if ($imap.LastMethodSuccess -eq $false) {
    $($imap.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# Fetch the email headers into a bundle object:

$bundle = $imap.FetchHeaders($messageSet)
if ($imap.LastMethodSuccess -eq $false) {

    $($imap.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

# Display the Subject and From of each email.
$i = 0
while ($i -lt $bundle.MessageCount) {

    $email = $bundle.GetEmail($i)

    $($email.GetHeaderField("Date"))
    $($email.Subject)
    $($email.From)
    $("--")

    $i = $i + 1
}

# Disconnect from the IMAP server.
$success = $imap.Disconnect()