I have not had to do this for more years than I care to number! How do I define the folder to which DELETEd messages will be transferred?

DavidTC44 (aka David Tarbox-Cooper)

The only way I know of to have deleted messages end up in a different folder is to attach a folder-open or folder-close filter set to the Deleted Messages folder. In that filter set would be an 'always triggers' filter rule that moves messages to the desired folder.

Many thanks, Brian. I do not know what happened or my Delete folder to have disappeared. I was sure that I had found where to rename the Deleted file many years ago, but it must be the best part of twenty years since I did that. It has been working perfectly for that long. No longer!
Isn't there an option somewhere to rename the Delete folder, just as you can the Mail folder?

DavidTC44.

Many thanks, Brian. I do not know what happened or my Delete folder to have disappeared. I was sure that I had found where to rename the Deleted file many years ago, but it must be the best part of twenty years since I did that. It has been working perfectly for that long. No longer!
Isn't there an option somewhere to rename the Delete folder, just as you can the Mail folder?

DavidTC44.

Not that I know of. The Deleted messages folder is a dynamic folder, configurable to either stay between sessions or to be deleted at the end of each session and be recreated on the next message deletion.

I am curious what you are doing that makes you want to have a different destination folder for deleted messages. Perhaps there is another way to accomplish it.

Wonder what your settings are at?
Two that seem apply to this.
Tools/Options/Basic Is preserve delete message till Pegasus Closes checked?
Tools/Options/Advance Is Delete messages folder persists between sessons checked?

No 100% clear on how these options work with each other.
I've always had the first one checked, and the second unchecked.
So, I see deleted messages go to the deleted folder, and during the session they remain, and can be moved somewhere else if wanted, but once Pegasus is closed all the contents is removed..

If first one is unchecked, would assume that deleting a message would immediately delete the message? But not sure if that would happen if 2nd option is checked?

If the 2nd one is checked, but not the first, not sure what it would do.
If both checked, seems would be a conflict, since first says they will delete when Pegasus closes, but perhaps 2nd one overrides the deleting process..

At moment, my HIERARCH.PM file has:
0,256,"GI9CJKIE:25C5:FOL0722F","024B349:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20
But with no delete messages it didn't actually exist.
Had a dup email in a folder, and deleted it, and the folder was created, but once I close Pegasus it will be gone, but the line in HIERARCH.PM will actual remain..

Another thing came to mind. If you did have it set to preserve the deleted folder, wondering in unchecking the option would cause it to be delete. Or perhaps a virus scanner had looked at the Deleted Folder and found what it thought was a virus in it, and deleted it.

Do you have any .PMI files in folder without matching .PMM file?
See what HIERARCH.PM shows for deleted messages and it that folder exists..

Hi Brian, I don't necessarily want to generate a Deleted File with a different name. My problem is that I do not have a Deleted file anymore. It just disappeared from my Files Folder. If I create a file called Deleted, will PMAIL know where to put the deleted files, or would I have to point to it somehow?

David, the "Deleted messages" folder can be dynamic, appearing only when messages have been deleted during that session, then being removed at the close of that session. Optionally, it can appear all of the time. That setting is Tools > Options > General settings > Advanced settings > Deleted messages folder persists between sessions.

If it is currently not ticked and you tick it, you will not see the Deleted messages folder until a message is deleted but from that point forward it should always be there.

This setting is identity specific.

Hello Brian, like the chewing gum on your shoe, I am very hard to get rid of! I have set the marker to make the Deleted folder remain when I sign off, and I have generated a file called Deleted in my folders, BUT nothing appears in it. Does the folder that I generate have to be associated with the function "Delete" somehow? if it does, how do I do it? At the moment, my Deleted emails are just disappearing and the folder remains empty!

Delete the "Deleted" folder that you created, you do not need it because a folder named "Deleted messages" will be created automatically when it is needed. It is a system folder so will always be near the top of the folder list, not sorted with the rest of the folders. That said, if you have created a folder named "Deleted messages" at some point in the past, that folder may be interfering with the listing of either "Deleted messages" folder in the folder list because of the duplicate names. If this is a possibility skip down to the HIERARCH.PM section of this post. Otherwise...

1. Close Pegasus Mail.
2. Start Pegasus Mail (I recommend starting it in offline mode by adding the /o option to the command line. This will prevent any new mail filters from affecting the test).
3. Copy a message to another folder. (This copy will serve as a delete test so, as a copy, is disposable so it won't make any difference what message or what folder you copy it to.)
4. Open the destination folder and delete the message using the Delete icon in the folder toolbar.
5. You should now see a folder named "Deleted messages" near the top of the folder list that contains the deleted message.
6. Restart Pegasus Mail and confirm that the "Deleted messages" folder is still there and that message remained in it.

HIERARCH.PM

If you suspect duplicate folders named "Deleted messages" you should look inside HEIRARCH.PM for multiple lines that contain the text "Deleted messages". Here is how:

1. Double check your folder list for a "Deleted messages" folder. If there, DO NOT PROCEED!
2. Close Pegasus Mail.
3. Use a file explorer to navigate to your mailbox directory.
4. Locate the file named HEIRARCH.PM and make a safety copy. Even better would be to backup the entire mailbox directory but make a safety copy at the very least.
5. Use Notepad to open the HIERARCH.PM file.
6. Use the Find function to search for "Deleted messages" (no quotes). Delete and lines that are found. Don't leave any blank lines. Search again, both down and up to insure all entries get searched.
7. Once you are sure that there are no entries containing "Deleted messages" save the file then close Notepad.
8. Start Pegasus Mail.
9. Look at your folder list to make sure it looks normal and that your tray structure (if you had any) remains intact. A problem with the folder list indicates a corruption of some kind occurred during the editing of the HEIRARCH.PM file. Immediately close Pegasus Mail and restore the safety copy.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing how you make out.

As a test I took one of the users in my test setup of Pegasus to test issue.
Changed option to keep deleted folder between sessions and deleted a message. On closing Pegasus crashed, but I believe my test setup didn't have a C:\TEMP directory, so created it, and then it worked and delete folder contained the deleted message and had the FOLxxxxx PMM and PMI files.

I then closed Pegasus and renamed the FOLxxxxx files on the Delete folder from HIERACH.PM to DELETEDM file names. Kept it same 8 characters. Then used hexedit on the DELEDTEDM.PMM file and changed the folder name in there to the same DELETEDM.

Have used shorter names for some mail folders with no issues, just make characters after nulls. Never tried it longer names would work or not. Seems to be plenty of room, but never wanted to mess with it. Don't know if version 5 will continue to use 8.3 filenames.

The delete folder seems to work just fine, but only was curious if it would work..

Remember old DOS PMAIL had option to just rename folders, but somewhere that disappeared with windows version. Wrote program to autorename folders with FOL at beginning.. But that was something I've always like to know exactly which folder was which.

So, it seems it can be done.
Modified the HIERACH.PM file to this.

2,1,"33321093:My mailbox","","My mailbox"
0,0,"D388VM11:1180:copyself","33321093:My mailbox","Copies to self",0,20
0,0,"G559K9AL:1181:junk","33321093:My mailbox","Junk or suspicious mail"
0,0,"EN2F6GVV:1182:main","33321093:My mailbox","Main Folder"
0,0,"Q7AY6ADB:5F9AELETEDM","33321093:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

But would recommend being careful. Won't do it on my real mail folder, since I don't have delete messages after closing Pegasus, but just had to see if it would or wouldn't work..

My thanks to Brian and msetzerii for their sound advice. My apologies for not having come back earlier. I'm afraid that I have been preoccupied elsewhere.

I have tried exactly what you both suggest but to no avail. I still do not have a Deleted folder in my Folders panel. Anything that I delete just disappears, not surprisingly. I have both the options regarding the Delete folder set in the Tools settings, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I am beginning to think that I need to do a Pmail update or even re-instal, much as I face this task with trepidation as I always seem to have lost something when I have done this in the past.

Any further suggestions will be gladly, nay eagerly, received.

David T-C.

Confirm that the follow option is ticked:
Tools/Options/General/Basic settings/Preserve deleted messages until Pegasus Mail closes

If you use multiple identities, confirm it in each one.

Have a user Jack and Jill, Jack has deleted folder set to remain after sessions
but Jill has default set so folder be deleted

Differences in PMAIL.INI files. Just seems 1 value diff.
Jack PMAIL.INI (has retain deleted)
< Default settings values = 00000001000041000000000000000000
Jill PMAIL.INI (has delete deleted on exit)

Default settings values = 00000001000040000000000000000000

Jack HIERARCH.PM - Have renamed deleted folder that remains.
2,1,"33321093:My mailbox","","My mailbox"
0,0,"D388VM11:1180:copyself","33321093:My mailbox","Copies to self",0,20
0,0,"G559K9AL:1181:junk","33321093:My mailbox","Junk or suspicious mail"
0,0,"EN2F6GVV:1182:main","33321093:My mailbox","Main Folder"
0,0,"Q7AY6ADB:5F9AELETEDM","33321093:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

JILL HIERARCH.PM - Have default PMAIL created Delete folder that is recreated
2,1,"77DF6492:My mailbox","","My mailbox"
0,0,"Q0VVHJUB:67E2:copyself","77DF6492:My mailbox","Copies to self",0,20
0,0,"BKR0RTFO:67E3:junk","77DF6492:My mailbox","Junk or suspicious mail"
0,0,"9KN1EFQ3:67E4:main","77DF6492:My mailbox","Main Folder"
0,256,"IKH2PF6F:3CA6:FOL0251A","77DF6492:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

This is a test setup under root user, so is not real accounts.
Don't know details of default setting values, but think the option is linked to settings.
Wonder what yours is showings.
Then just the Delete Message line in HIERARCH.PM what does is show.
On Jack I have
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 236 Oct 9 14:43 DELETEDM.PMI
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 896 Oct 9 14:43 DELETEDM.PMM

00000000 44 65 6C 65 74 65 64 20 4D 65 73 73 61 67 65 73 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 Deleted Messages........
00000018 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........................
00000030 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........................
00000048 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 51 37 41 59 36 41 44 42 3A 35 ..............Q7AY6ADB:5
00000060 46 39 41 3A 44 45 4C 45 54 45 44 4D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F9AELETEDM............
00000078 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 46 72 6F 6D 3A 20 61 64 6D 69 6E 0D 0A 54 6F 3A ........

Note colon followed by D is showing as an emoji above?? That is begining of DELETED.PMM in hexeditor.
File has a null padded fields.

Michael, who's supposed to understand this confusing stuff? Yes, there's a bit flag indicating the deleted messages folder setting in PMAIL.ini, I assume you wanted to compare it like this?

Default settings values = 00000001000041000000000000000000
Default settings values = 00000001000040000000000000000000

This is Unix/Linux style file system information I suppose?

And what do you expect to find in DELETED.PMM's file header?

Just wondering what settings he has?
Since he said that at moment, if he deletes messages they just disappear??
So, not sure if this means his configuration is set to not save the deleted folder after closing Pegasus.

Pegasus has some folders that are created with fixed names, but others are created with the FOL* names. I remember that the old DOS version had an option that would let you rename folders, but it was lost in the Windows version??

For many many years, I've got a program that does the renaming process that requires modifying the PMM file header, and making changes to HIERARCH.PM file to match.

Few lines from my HIERARCH.PM file
0,0,"019AFDF7:669CMAIL","024B349:My mailbox","Pegasus Mail List"
0,0,"E8OJWE5E:571DMAIL2020","024B349:My mailbox","PMAIL2020"
0,0,"EM1LN1WP:571EMAIL2021","024B349:My mailbox","PMAIL2021"

Again the E colon is being change to an emoji??

I just like having the folder names better names than the Random names.
My deleted folder that is not set to save with my primary email is:
0,256,"DHV3OUAG:720D:FOL05598","024B349:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

So, don't have a use for saving deleted messages, but just curious why it doesn't seem to be working for this user, while it does seem to work fine for my test user Jack? Must be something that is causing issue.

Here's something I tried (all done in preview mode): I renamed my existing Deleted messages folder containing 5 messages to simply Deleted, then deleted another message and here's what happened:

IOW: The Deleted folder is gone and another Deleted messages folder has apparently been auto-created, both of them only containing the single newly deleted message after renaming the previous Deleted messages folder, i.e. the five previously deleted messages appear to be gone with the Deleted folder. NB: This is with the "'Deleted messages' folder persists ..." option disabled.

Any further deleted message after the above will go into both of the Deleted messages folders shown above, for the second one (as shown above) counters only being refreshed on click (still in preview mode). Next, after closing and reopening preview, ony a single Deleted messages folder is there and the renamed previous one simply named Deleted is back containing the five previously seemingly lost messages down in the tree hierarchy sorted alphabetically. If restarting Pegasus Mail instead of only closing preview Deleted messages would be completely gone but Deleted with its five messages would be back as well. I assume the closing and reopening preview simulates what would happen with preserving the Deleted messages folder between sessions enabled.

Take home message: Renaming the Deleted messages folder gets you into trouble and shouldn't be done in the first place. And I still believe this is the issue this thread is about ... unless it's some HIERARCH.PM issue ...

Wasn't talking about modify the PMAIL.INI file, but just looking at what it had?

Test HIERARCH.PM for Jack user has
cat HIERARCH.PM
2,1,"33321093:My mailbox","","My mailbox"
0,0,"D388VM11:1180:copyself","33321093:My mailbox","Copies to self",0,20
0,0,"G559K9AL:1181:junk","33321093:My mailbox","Junk or suspicious mail"
0,0,"EN2F6GVV:1182:main","33321093:My mailbox","Main Folder"
0,0,"Q7AY6ADB:5F9AELETEDM","33321093:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

In this case the copyself, junk, and main have fixed names for the folder.
In this case the deleted folder has been set in the PMAIL.INI to remain between sessions with fixed name where folder header has been modified.

HIERARCH.PM for user Jill has basic setup.
2,1,"77DF6492:My mailbox","","My mailbox"
0,0,"Q0VVHJUB:67E2:copyself","77DF6492:My mailbox","Copies to self",0,20
0,0,"BKR0RTFO:67E3:junk","77DF6492:My mailbox","Junk or suspicious mail"
0,0,"9KN1EFQ3:67E4:main","77DF6492:My mailbox","Main Folder"
0,256,"IKH2PF6F:3CA6:FOL0251A","77DF6492:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

The regular folders with fixed names and the "Deleted Mssages" folder with the random created folder, that doesn't actually still exist after Pegasus is closed, but remains in HIERARCH.PM.

Finally, I like have the folders filenames match with the folder rather than having a name that only links in Pegasus, but then having a lot of FOL* files that one doesn't know which is which.

So, in my primary user I have
2,1,"024B349:My mailbox","Michael Setzer II","Michael Setzer II"
0,0,"16D6FBC5:663A:ACCOUNT","024B349:My mailbox","Account"
0,0,"5A1ACD52:097A:AFT","024B349:My mailbox","AFT"
0,0,"778BEE16:656D:ALUMNI","024B349:My mailbox","Alumni"
0,0,"3BF8FBD0:663B:AMAZON","024B349:My mailbox","AMAZON"
0,0,"O0DY2II5:023F:AMZOLD","024B349:My mailbox","AMZOLD"
0,0,"1C84FBD0:663C:ANALOGX","024B349:My mailbox","Analogx"
0,0,"67D0FBDF:663F:BACKUP","024B349:My mailbox","Backup"
0,0,"64D8FB72:662F:BILL521","024B349:My mailbox","Bill521"
0,0,"1B9DFC75:6659:BLOODBAN","024B349:My mailbox","Blood Bank"
0,0,"0QB2VFK2:7BE5:BOYCOTT","024B349:My mailbox","Boycott"
0,0,"01D5FBEC:6641:BRAIN","024B349:My mailbox","Brain Share"
0,0,"AFML8EUK:0F8A:C","024B349:My mailbox","C"
0,0,"069EAFD6:5A1A:COLLECTZ","024B349:My mailbox","CollectZ"
0,0,"5OUTNTZZ:5CC5:COPY1314","024B349:My mailbox","Copy1314"
0,0,"UAPFMJM3:7A58:COPY2000","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2000"
0,0,"NP13X71Y:6176:COPY2001","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2001"
0,0,"4EP2LN9Z:6177:COPY2002","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2002"
0,0,"CE0LCQIN:6178:COPY2003","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2003"
0,0,"RJGEYE3R:6179:COPY2004","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2004"
0,0,"ZJRXOHCF:617A:COPY2005","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2005"
0,0,"SBFWUL0V:7536:COPY2006","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2006"
0,0,"IWHKVB32:6174:COPY2007","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2007"
0,0,"AY8RGEMX:6175:COPY2008","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2008"
0,0,"C7X7CSP5:23BE:COPY2009","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2009"
0,0,"QOOZDVTD:5599:COPY2010","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2010"
0,0,"0O3QIVY7:559A:COPY2011","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2011"
0,0,"YMOG8BN4:46D0:COPY2012","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2012"
0,0,"5MDK54HK:72D0:COPY2015","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2015"
0,0,"YXBMYZ2F:72D1:COPY2016","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2016"
0,0,"DACD8HA4:72D2:COPY2017","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2017"
0,0,"J39XXZ1C:72D3:COPY2018","024B349:My mailbox","Copy2018"
0,0,"2BD83F9D:0DF4:COPYSELF","024B349:My mailbox","CopySelf",0,20
0,0,"48F3FCE3:666F:CUSTCARE","024B349:My mailbox","Customer Care"
0,0,"184DFC15:6648AD","024B349:My mailbox","Dad"
0,0,"583E7B7A:113FHARRIS","024B349:My mailbox","DHarris"
0,0,"705FFC25:664BISNEY","024B349:My mailbox","Disney"
0,0,"0757FB99:6637ONNA_SU","024B349:My mailbox","Donna Summers"
0,0,"69C71ECB:7D08:EBAY","024B349:My mailbox","Ebay"
0,0,"1R7XUGGN:2C66:EBAYOLD","024B349:My mailbox","EbayOld"
0,0,"262EFB99:6638:ELAINE","024B349:My mailbox","Elaine"
0,0,"HJA1BB1D:556E:ELAINE1","024B349:My mailbox","Elaine1"
0,0,"UO9ISKVO:556F:ELAINE2","024B349:My mailbox","Elaine2"
0,0,"PR4BDCNE:5901:ELAINE3","024B349:My mailbox","Elaine3"
0,0,"0948B824:3D1B:FEDORA","024B349:My mailbox","Fedora"
0,0,"DIIIDMTU:0AFD:G4L","024B349:My mailbox","G4L"
0,0,"3KSSC1HB:6771:G4L0408","024B349:My mailbox","G4L0408"
0,0,"83DWN76M:7E6A:G4L0909","024B349:My mailbox","G4L0909"
0,0,"3KDTLD71:6772:G4L1011","024B349:My mailbox","G4L1011"
0,0,"7Z6IHUB1:6773:G4L1213","024B349:My mailbox","G4L1213"
0,0,"3H0Q9YJ9:042F:G4L1418","024B349:My mailbox","G4L1418"
0,0,"LW7GN12F:31AE:G4U","024B349:My mailbox","G4U"
0,0,"1B807959:5B63:GFT","024B349:My mailbox","GFT"
0,0,"4060FD28:667D:GRC","024B349:My mailbox","GRC"
0,0,"O2WCFHFD:10C2:GRUB","024B349:My mailbox","Grub"
0,0,"BF64HBCK:35D9:HARLEY","024B349:My mailbox","Harley"
0,0,"2BA4FCC7:6668:HERC-XEN","024B349:My mailbox","Herc-Xena"
0,0,"15B7FCBB:6666:IBM","024B349:My mailbox","IBM"
0,0,"478E975C:16D1:JAY","024B349:My mailbox","Jay"
0,0,"00C0FD35:667E:JUNK","024B349:My mailbox","Junk"
0,0,"C1UU809Q:5FC2:KERNEL","024B349:My mailbox","Kernel"
0,0,"25EDFD89:668C:KEVIN","024B349:My mailbox","Kevin"
0,0,"0D44FCF3:6670:KUENTOS","024B349:My mailbox","Kuentos"
0,0,"UDCKE6GE:7DD0:LIBRE","024B349:My mailbox","Libre Office"
0,0,"6FB3FD95:668F:LINUX","024B349:My mailbox","Linux"
0,0,"556CFDB1:6690:LYNDAE","024B349:My mailbox","LyndaE"
0,0,"0694FC35:664D:MAIN","024B349:My mailbox","Main Folder"
0,0,"DJHBYUKV:5478:MAIN2003","024B349:My mailbox","Main2003"
0,0,"DVM87FYO:5479:MAIN2004","024B349:My mailbox","Main2004"
0,0,"60TOHB32:4255:MAIN2005","024B349:My mailbox","Main2005"
0,0,"5Y00PGC7:5D6D:MAIN2006","024B349:My mailbox","Main2006"
0,0,"E5JG7AV3:5D6E:MAIN2007","024B349:My mailbox","Main2007"
0,0,"ZA2JSAID:3FA2:MAIN2008","024B349:My mailbox","Main2008"
0,0,"1AD6FCBB:6667:MERCURY","024B349:My mailbox","Mercury"
0,0,"12DDFE72:66AE:MOM","024B349:My mailbox","Mom"
0,0,"Z6A3JHPE:28AA:OPENCOB","024B349:My mailbox","Open Cobol"
0,0,"264FFDF7:669DM-NEWS","024B349:My mailbox","PM-News"
0,0,"019AFDF7:669CMAIL","024B349:My mailbox","Pegasus Mail List"
0,0,"E8OJWE5E:571DMAIL2020","024B349:My mailbox","PMAIL2020"
0,0,"EM1LN1WP:571EMAIL2021","024B349:My mailbox","PMAIL2021"
0,0,"2BB74576:0A72:REDHAT","024B349:My mailbox","RedHat"
0,0,"3TMH6SFS:19C1ALIVE","024B349:My mailbox","Salive"
0,0,"52C4FE03:669FETI","024B349:My mailbox","Seti"
0,0,"3B8BA31E:0943PAM","024B349:My mailbox","Spam"
0,0,"IK1H7AZT:54C9PAMH","024B349:My mailbox","SpamH"
0,0,"2UE9GFDF:75EFQUID","024B349:My mailbox","Squid"
0,0,"BP4JRIND:32D5YSLINUX","024B349:My mailbox","Syslinux"
0,0,"0D5DFB57:1E25:TIGHTVNC","024B349:My mailbox","TightVnc"
0,0,"ECHSJGQS:3985:TISHAWNN","024B349:My mailbox","Tishawnna"
0,0,"FDI909TU:4AC0:USPS","024B349:My mailbox","USPS"
0,0,"FUIF553Y:23DE:USPS2018","024B349:My mailbox","USPS2018"
0,0,"8QM3VKXP:3337:USPS2019","024B349:My mailbox","USPS2019"
0,0,"V3VV7J9V:3338:USPS2020","024B349:My mailbox","USPS2020"
0,0,"MRHQQDQ7:3873:USPS2021","024B349:My mailbox","USPS2021"
0,0,"5721FE56:66A9:WATT","024B349:My mailbox","Watt"
0,0,"5C8F36E1:170C:WEBCAL","024B349:My mailbox","WebCal"
0,0,"25CC2EA6:27EF:ZHAOPEI","024B349:My mailbox","Zhaopei"

So, all the files are easily identified with names.
Perhaps no one else cares, but I find it useful....

So, with my Jack user, it does have a Deleted folder with a fixed name that does stay, and delete messages go to it, and stay. So, not sure why other user is saying his deleted messages are just disappearing.

Agree the Deleted folder has issues. Since by default it is created with a random name in each session, and deleted by default config, but then remains listed in HIERARCH.PM file? But if one selects for it to remain between sessions it is kept and does point to a file..

Wondering if you could do the following in your mail directory to see exactly had it shows.
Don't modify file manually..

For my test user Jack that has the delete folder remain after sessions, and has name stay.

find "Default settings" PMAIL.INI

---------- PMAIL.INI
Default settings values = 00000001000041000000000000000000

Recall at one point seeing something that explained what each character was linked to, but can't find it now?? Seems the 1 after the 4 is the option to have the deleted folder remain.

C:\PMAIL\MAIL\Jack>find "Delete" HIERARCH.PM

---------- HIERARCH.PM
0,0,"Q7AY6ADB:5F9AELETEDM","33321093:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

That should show what the "Deleted Messages" folder is pointing too.
In the case of this user DELETEDM.PMM an DELETEDM.PMI are the folder files.
Without renaming they would have a name like this from Jill user.
ind "Delete" HIERARCH.PM

---------- HIERARCH.PM
0,256,"IKH2PF6F:3CA6:FOL0251A","77DF6492:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20

The filename is last part of the 3rd parameter.
For Jack - DELETEDM.
For Jill - FOL0251A.

For Jack it exist, but Jill if Pegasus is closed it does not exist after closing Pegasus, but does exist if Pegasus is actively running, but name changes with every session.