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Default mail folder "Main" not working

Hi, Have used PMail since 2008 and never ran into this before: Had to reinstall or "reset" Win10 operating system, but chose option to keep all files and settings. All seems pretty normal, except default mail folder "Main" no longer worked. Everything read in New Mail Folder just stayed there, until I changed the name of "Main" to "Main-2021". Then read mail shifted when New Mail Folder was closed to "Main-2021" per normal. But Search function within "Main-2021" just doesn't work. Search works for all other folders, and I have every folder going back yearly from "Main-2008" to present (14 of them, each with around 3000 emails in each) and 14 equivalents folders for each year of "Copies to self". Spamhalter works well (have to delete every year or so). Home mailbox location is Path: <DEFAULT>. So, what do I edit to get "Main" recognized and working with search function again? Thanks in advance for all suggestions


Hi, Have used PMail since 2008 and never ran into this before: Had to reinstall or &quot;reset&quot; Win10 operating system, but chose option to keep all files and settings. All seems pretty normal, except default mail folder &quot;Main&quot; no longer worked. Everything read in New Mail Folder just stayed there, until I changed the name of &quot;Main&quot; to &quot;Main-2021&quot;. Then read mail shifted when New Mail Folder was closed to &quot;Main-2021&quot; per normal. But Search function within &quot;Main-2021&quot; just doesn&#039;t work. Search works for all other folders, and I have every folder going back yearly from &quot;Main-2008&quot; to present (14 of them, each with around 3000 emails in each) and 14 equivalents folders for each year of &quot;Copies to self&quot;. Spamhalter works well (have to delete every year or so). Home mailbox location is Path: &lt;DEFAULT&gt;. So, what do I edit to get &quot;Main&quot; recognized and working with search function again? Thanks in advance for all suggestions

First make certain that the Main-2021 folder file (Main-2021.pmm) is not larger that 2GB. If it is, deal with that, otherwise you can follow the steps below.


  • Make sure all messages are moved out of Main and into Main-2021.
  • Once Main is empty close Pegasus Mail.
  • Use a file explorer to navigate to the mailbox directory.
  • Move the existing main.pmm and main.pmi files to a temporary location pending deletion once all is well.
  • Now copy the default main.pmm and main.pmi files from \Programs\DEFAULTS and paste them into the mailbox directory effectively replacing bad ones with fresh ones.
  • Start Pegasus Mail
  • Go to Tools | Options | Basic settings and use the 'Select folder' button to select the Main folder now showing in the folder list regardless that it may already say "Main folder". Click 'Ok' to save and close that window.
  • Now open the Main-2021 folder and copy all of the messages to the Main folder.
  • Close Pegasus Mail then reopen it. This should trigger an indexing of the Main folder. Now test the search function. If it doesn't work reindex the Main folder.
  • Once all is well you can delete the Main-2021 folder and the main.pmm and main.pmi files previously moved out of the mailbox directory.

First make certain that the Main-2021 folder file (Main-2021.pmm) is not larger that 2GB. If it is, deal with that, otherwise you can follow the steps below. - Make sure all messages are moved out of Main and into Main-2021. - Once Main is empty close Pegasus Mail. - Use a file explorer to navigate to the mailbox directory. - Move the existing main.pmm and main.pmi files to a temporary location pending deletion once all is well. - Now copy the default main.pmm and main.pmi files from \Programs\DEFAULTS and paste them into the mailbox directory effectively replacing bad ones with fresh ones. - Start Pegasus Mail - Go to Tools | Options | Basic settings and use the &#039;Select folder&#039; button to select the Main folder now showing in the folder list regardless that it may already say &quot;Main folder&quot;. Click &#039;Ok&#039; to save and close that window. - Now open the Main-2021 folder and copy all of the messages to the Main folder. - Close Pegasus Mail then reopen it. This should trigger an indexing of the Main folder. Now test the search function. If it doesn&#039;t work reindex the Main folder. - Once all is well you can delete the Main-2021 folder and the main.pmm and main.pmi files previously moved out of the mailbox directory.
edited Dec 7 '21 at 2:37 am

Thank you, Brian! My folder had indeed grown to 3.2 GB. Reduced it, but the magic seemed to be in copying the main.pmm and main.pmi files from the \DEFAULTS subdirectory to the mailbox directory. The only odd behavior left is that I used to be able to move folders up or down in the folders view pane, but everything is now fixed in place and mainly alphabetized, with the exception of "New mail" at top of list and "Recent Search Results". Again, many thanks. This worked!


Thank you, Brian! My folder had indeed grown to 3.2 GB. Reduced it, but the magic seemed to be in copying the main.pmm and main.pmi files from the \DEFAULTS subdirectory to the mailbox directory. The only odd behavior left is that I used to be able to move folders up or down in the folders view pane, but everything is now fixed in place and mainly alphabetized, with the exception of &quot;New mail&quot; at top of list and &quot;Recent Search Results&quot;. Again, many thanks. This worked!
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