diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-helpers.el b/mu4e/mu4e-helpers.el
index bcf32ca1..15f2d794 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-helpers.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-helpers.el
@@ -86,8 +86,6 @@ marked as read-only, or non-nil otherwise."
           function)
   :group 'mu4e-view)
 
-
-
 
 
 (defun mu4e-select-other-view ()
@@ -240,7 +238,32 @@ Function returns the cdr of the list element."
 
 ;;; Server properties
 (defvar mu4e--server-props nil
-  "Metadata we receive from the mu4e server.")
+  "Metadata we receive from the mu4e server.
+Use `mu4e--update-server-props' to update.")
+
+;; XXX: we could make these session-persistent
+
+(defvar mu4e--baseline-query-results nil
+  "Some previous version of the query-results.
+This is used as the baseline to track updates by comparing it to
+the latest query-results.")
+
+(defvar mu4e--baseline-query-results-tstamp nil
+  "Timestamp for when the query-results baseline was updated.")
+
+(defun mu4e-reset-baseline-query-results ()
+  "Reset the baseline query-results."
+  (interactive)
+  (setq mu4e--baseline-query-results nil
+        mu4e--baseline-query-results-tstamp nil))
+
+(defun mu4e--update-server-props (props)
+  "Update server props and possibly the baseline query results."
+  (setq mu4e--server-props props)
+  (when-let ((queries (plist-get mu4e--server-props :queries)))
+    (unless mu4e--baseline-query-results
+      (setq mu4e--baseline-query-results queries
+            mu4e--baseline-query-results-tstamp (current-time)))))
 
 (defun mu4e-server-properties ()
   "Get the server metadata plist."
@@ -272,16 +295,38 @@ used to populated the read/unread counts in the main view. They
 are refreshed when calling `(mu4e)', i.e., when going to the main
 view.
 
+When available, the based-line results are added as well.
+
 The results are a list of elements of the form
    (:query \"query string\"
-            :count  <total number matching count>
-            :unread <number of unread messages in count>)"
-  (plist-get mu4e--server-props :queries))
+      :count  <total number matching count>
+      :unread <number of unread messages in count>
+      :baseline ( ;; baseline results
+         :count  <total number matching count>
+         :unread <number of unread messages in count>)) The
+baseline part is optional (see
+`mu4e-reset-baseline-query-results') for more details)."
+  (unless mu4e--baseline-query-results
+    (mu4e-reset-baseline-query-results))
+  (seq-map (lambda (qres)
+             (let* ((query (plist-get qres :query))
+                    (bres (seq-find ;; find the corresponding baseline entry
+                           (lambda (bq) (string= query (plist-get bq :query)))
+                           mu4e--baseline-query-results)))
+               (when bres
+                 (plist-put qres :baseline
+                            `(:count ,(plist-get bres :count)
+                                     :unread ,(plist-get bres :unread))))
+               qres))
+           (plist-get mu4e--server-props :queries)))
 
 (defun mu4e-last-query-result (query)
-  "Get the last result for some QUERY or nil if not found."
+  "Get the last result for some QUERY or nil if not found.
+See `mu4e-last-query-results' for the format."
   (seq-find
-   (lambda (elm) (string= (plist-get elm :query) query))
+   (lambda (elm) ;;; XXX do we need the decoding?
+     (let ((qstring (decode-coding-string (plist-get elm :query) 'utf-8 t)))
+       (string= query qstring)))
    (mu4e-last-query-results)))
 
 
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-main.el b/mu4e/mu4e-main.el
index dfa9239b..5ee82b44 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-main.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-main.el
@@ -44,15 +44,31 @@
 
 ;; Configuration
 
-(defvar mu4e-main-hide-personal-addresses nil
+(defcustom mu4e-main-hide-personal-addresses nil
   "Whether to hide the personal address in the main view.
 
-This can be useful to avoid the noise when there are many, and
+  This can be useful to avoid the noise when there are many, and
 also hides the warning if your `user-mail-address' is not part of
-the personal addresses.")
+the personal addresses."
+  :type 'boolean
+  :group 'mu4e-main)
 
-(defvar mu4e-main-hide-fully-read nil
-  "Whether to hide bookmarks or maildirs without unread messages.")
+(defcustom mu4e-main-hide-fully-read nil
+  "Whether to hide bookmarks or maildirs without unread messages."
+  :type 'boolean
+  :group 'mu4e-main)
+
+(defcustom mu4e-main-hide-baseline-delta nil
+  "Whether to hide the baseline-from-delta from the message counts
+for bookmarks and maildirs."
+  :type 'boolean
+  :group 'mu4e-main)
+
+(defcustom mu4e-main-auto-reset-baseline t
+  "Automatically reset the baseline when explicitly (interactively)
+swiching to the main-view (using the `mu4e' command."
+  :type 'boolean
+  :group 'mu4e-main)
 
 
 ;;; Mode
@@ -83,6 +99,12 @@ the personal addresses.")
   (interactive)
   (mu4e-info (concat mu4e-doc-dir "/NEWS.org")))
 
+(defun mu4e--main-reset-baseline-query-results ()
+  "Main-view version of `mu4e-reset-baseline-query-results'.
+This version handles updating the current screen as well."
+  (interactive)
+  (mu4e-reset-baseline-query-results)
+  (revert-buffer))
 
 (defvar mu4e-main-mode-map
   (let ((map (make-sparse-keymap)))
@@ -95,6 +117,7 @@ the personal addresses.")
     (define-key map "f" #'smtpmail-send-queued-mail)
     ;;
     (define-key map "U" #'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
+    (define-key map "R" #'mu4e--main-reset-baseline-query-results)
     (define-key map  (kbd "C-S-u")   #'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
     ;; for terminal users
     (define-key map  (kbd "C-c C-u") #'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
@@ -102,7 +125,7 @@ the personal addresses.")
     (define-key map "S" #'mu4e-kill-update-mail)
     (define-key map  (kbd "C-S-u") #'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
     (define-key map ";"
-      (lambda()(interactive)(mu4e-context-switch)(revert-buffer)))
+                (lambda()(interactive)(mu4e-context-switch)(revert-buffer)))
 
     (define-key map "$" #'mu4e-show-log)
     (define-key map "A" #'mu4e-about)
@@ -122,7 +145,6 @@ the personal addresses.")
   (set (make-local-variable 'revert-buffer-function) #'mu4e--main-view-real)
   (add-hook 'mu4e-index-updated-hook #'mu4e--main-update-after-index))
 
-
 (defun mu4e--main-action-str (str &optional func-or-shortcut)
   "Highlight the first occurrence of [.] in STR.
 If FUNC-OR-SHORTCUT is non-nil and if it is a function, call it
@@ -163,7 +185,7 @@ clicked."
            maximize (string-width (plist-get b :name))))
 
 (defun mu4e--main-item (fullkey name qcounts max-length)
-  "Display one main bookmarks/maildir item.
+  "Display a main-view bookmarks/maildir item.
 - FULLKEY is a 2-character string describing the item's shortcut
 - NAME is the name of the of the item
 - QCOUNTS is a structure with unread information
@@ -175,22 +197,31 @@ clicked."
     (concat "\t* [" fullkey "] " name) fullkey)
    ;; append all/unread numbers, if available.
    (if qcounts
-       (let ((unread (plist-get (car qcounts) :unread))
-             (count  (plist-get (car qcounts) :count)))
-         (format
-          "%s (%s/%s)"
-          (make-string (- max-length (string-width name)) ? )
-          (propertize (number-to-string unread)
-                      'face 'mu4e-header-key-face)
-          count))
+       (let* ((unread (plist-get qcounts :unread))
+              (count  (plist-get qcounts :count))
+              (baseline (plist-get qcounts :baseline))
+              (baseline-unread
+               (or (when baseline (plist-get baseline :unread)) unread))
+              (delta (- unread baseline-unread)))
+         (format"%s (%s%s/%s)"
+                (make-string (- max-length (string-width name)) ? )
+                (propertize
+                 (number-to-string unread) 'face 'mu4e-header-key-face
+                 'help-echo "Number of unread messages")
+                (if (not mu4e-main-hide-baseline-delta)
+                    (propertize (format "/%+d" delta) 'face
+                                (if (> delta 0) 'mu4e-unread-face 'default)
+                                'help-echo "Unread messsages baseline-delta")
+                  "")
+                (propertize (number-to-string count)
+                            'help-echo "Total number of messages")))
      "") "\n"))
 
-(defun mu4e--main-items (shortcut items queries max-length)
+(defun mu4e--main-items (shortcut items max-length)
   "Display the entries for the bookmark/maildir menu.
 - SHORTCUT is a single character which is the first
 character of the keyboard shortcut
 - ITEMS is a list of items, for format see `(mu4e-bookmarks)'.
-- QUERIES is the list of last query-results (or nil)
 - MAX-LENGTH is the maximum length for an item name
   (used for alignment)."
   (cl-loop for item in items
@@ -198,13 +229,7 @@ character of the keyboard shortcut
            for name = (plist-get item :name)
            for query = (funcall (or mu4e-query-rewrite-function #'identity)
                                 (plist-get item :query))
-           for qcounts = (and (stringp query)
-                              (cl-loop for q in queries
-                                       when (string=
-                                             (decode-coding-string
-                                              (plist-get q :query) 'utf-8 t)
-                                             query)
-                                       collect q))
+           for qcounts = (mu4e-last-query-result query)
            for unread = (and qcounts (plist-get (car qcounts) :unread))
            when (not (plist-get item :hide))
            when (not (and mu4e-main-hide-fully-read (eq unread 0)))
@@ -261,11 +286,10 @@ When REFRESH is non nil refresh infos from server."
         "\t* [C]ompose a new message\n" #'mu4e-compose-new)
        "\n"
        (propertize "  Bookmarks\n\n" 'face 'mu4e-title-face)
-       (mu4e--main-items ?b (mu4e-bookmarks) (mu4e-last-query-results) max-length)
+       (mu4e--main-items ?b (mu4e-bookmarks) max-length)
        "\n"
        (propertize "  Maildirs\n\n" 'face 'mu4e-title-face)
-       (mu4e--main-items ?j (mu4e--maildirs-with-query)
-                         (plist-get mu4e--server-props :queries) max-length)
+       (mu4e--main-items ?j (mu4e--maildirs-with-query) max-length)
        "\n"
        (propertize "  Misc\n\n" 'face 'mu4e-title-face)
 
@@ -274,7 +298,9 @@ When REFRESH is non nil refresh infos from server."
                                (mu4e-context-switch)(revert-buffer)))
 
        (mu4e--main-action-str "\t* [U]pdate email & database\n"
-                             'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
+                             #'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
+       (mu4e--main-action-str "\t* [R]eset query-results baseline\n"
+                              #'mu4e--main-reset-baseline-query-results)
 
        ;; show the queue functions if `smtpmail-queue-dir' is defined
        (if (file-directory-p smtpmail-queue-dir)
@@ -291,6 +317,11 @@ When REFRESH is non nil refresh infos from server."
        (mu4e--key-val "last updated"
                       (current-time-string
                        (plist-get mu4e-index-update-status :tstamp)))
+       (if (and (not mu4e-main-hide-baseline-delta)
+                mu4e--baseline-query-results-tstamp)
+           (mu4e--key-val "baseline"
+                          (current-time-string mu4e--baseline-query-results-tstamp))
+         "")
        (mu4e--key-val "database-path" (mu4e-database-path))
        (mu4e--key-val "maildir" (mu4e-root-maildir))
        (mu4e--key-val "in store"
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-server.el b/mu4e/mu4e-server.el
index e1955d87..214591a5 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-server.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-server.el
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ The server output is as follows:
 
          ;; received a pong message
          ((plist-get sexp :pong)
-	  (setq mu4e--server-props (plist-get sexp :props))
+          (mu4e--update-server-props (plist-get sexp :props))
           (funcall mu4e-pong-func sexp))
 
          ;; received a contacts message
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-update.el b/mu4e/mu4e-update.el
index 995e28e9..c38c8fcb 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-update.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-update.el
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ;;; mu4e-update.el -- part of mu4e, -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
 
-;; Copyright (C) 2011-2021 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema
+;; Copyright (C) 2011-2022 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema
 
 ;; Author: Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 ;; Maintainer: Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@ run in the background; otherwise, pop up a window."
   :lighter ""
   :keymap
   (let ((map (make-sparse-keymap)))
+    (define-key map (kbd  "C-c C-r") #'mu4e-reset-baseline-query-results)
     (define-key map  (kbd "C-S-u")   #'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
     ;; for terminal users
     (define-key map  (kbd "C-c C-u") #'mu4e-update-mail-and-index)
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e.el b/mu4e/mu4e.el
index 3eb2b008..94cecb15 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e.el
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ invoke
   (unless (mu4e-context-current)
     (mu4e--context-autoswitch nil mu4e-context-policy))
   (setq mu4e-pong-func (lambda (info) (mu4e--pong-handler info func)))
+  (when mu4e-main-auto-reset-baseline
+    (mu4e-reset-baseline-query-results))
   (mu4e--server-ping
    (mapcar ;; send it a list of queries we'd like to see read/unread info for
     (lambda (bm)