====== Checking multiple mailboxes ====== Simple: mailpath=($HOME/Mail/mbox'?new mail in mbox' HOME/Mail/tux.u-strasbg'?new mail in tux' $HOME/Mail/lilo'?new mail in lilo' $HOME/Mail/ldap-fr'?new mail in ldap-fr') Dynamic: for i in ~/Mail/Lists/*(.); do mailpath[$#mailpath+1]="${i}?You have new mail in ${i:t}." done Note, that this solution expects mboxes below ~/Mail/Lists/. I you have got Maildirs, change the globbing qualifier from (.) to (/).