When I am in mail and I hit the delete key my message is instantly erased. Is there any way to configure mail so that when I hit delete it moves that message to the trash?
Go to Mail Preferences --> Accounts and select the account. Then click the Mailbox Behaviors subpane. Under the Trash section, make sure the check box for "Move deleted messages to a separate folder" is checked. And set the erasure preference however you want.