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When an email is saved as a "Draft", where is it? It appears to save somewhere, but it's not obvious where.

  • 13 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

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When an email is saved as a "Draft", where is it? It appears to save somewhere, but it's not obvious where. The "Saved . . ." message box flashes by too quickly to read. The draft isn't saved in my main email Drafts folder, and there's no other Drafts folder. Is the draft actually saved, or has it been disappeared?

BTW, it's a Windows 7 PC, and Thunderbird is v60.0b11 (32-bit)

When an email is saved as a "Draft", where is it? It appears to save somewhere, but it's not obvious where. The "Saved . . ." message box flashes by too quickly to read. The draft isn't saved in my main email Drafts folder, and there's no other Drafts folder. Is the draft actually saved, or has it been disappeared? BTW, it's a Windows 7 PC, and Thunderbird is v60.0b11 (32-bit)

Modified by James Burke

Chosen solution

The 'Menu icon' is located on the 'Mail Toolbar'. The icon has three horizontal lines and is an icon commonly used in webpages to indicate a menu. In Thunderbrd it is automatically located on the far right, but I have moved mine to the far left as it seemed more logical for me. 'Folders' is in that menu and it also offers some options. select the 'All' option. See images as a guide.

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Void entry

Modified by James Burke

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Check your account settings which folder is designated as Drafts folder.

What is your account type - POP or IMAP?

If POP, do you use Global Inbox? http://kb.mozillazine.org/Global_Inbox

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It's a POP account. There are no "Drafts" folders in the mail account, even though the Settings shows: "Keep Draft messages in" o "Draft folder on" o [name of account]

I don't use the "Global Inbox" feature

Modified by James Burke

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Void entry

Modified by James Burke

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Have you completed the email and sent it ? If yes, then the draft will be deleted from the 'Drafts' folder and you should find a copy of the sent email in the 'Sent' folder.

The saved Draft is a copy of an unsent message that is in the process of being created. Usually, a copy is auto saved every x minutes depending upon what you got set up in 'Options'.

  • 'Menu icon' > 'Options' > 'Options' > 'Composition' > General' tab
  • 'Auto save every xx minutes.'

Selecting the checkbox enables this auto function and you can choose the number of minutes. I've got mine set to 2 minutes. click on OK when finished.

see image below as guide.

If you are creating a message but run out of time and need to come back later, when you want to exit you can choose to save the message. A copy is placed in the 'Drafts' folder. If you exit the 'Write' window and do not choose to save when prompted then all copies are deleted from drafts and you will lose that partially composed email.

Saving as a draft allows you to return to that saved draft email, click on 'Edit' and complete the email.


Why are you posting the comment 'Anybody out there?' only a couple of minutes after posting your comment ? You do understand that people volunteering helping on this forum can be anywhere in the world in different time zones.

Modified by Toad-Hall

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Thanks for the reply. If I omit details from my question, it's not possible to delete the details afterward so I'm left with an empty edit box and the Support Forum won't delete the extra info, nor save a blank response. Since I have to save something, I just fill in 'Anybody out there?'. I know it's clumsy. but I can't think of any other way to exit a blank form.

As for your other suggestions, that's just basic how-to information that assumes there's a "Drafts" folder. T'bird setup refers to the Drafts folder, but there isn't a Drafts folder, and no way to create a Drafts folder. A Drafts folder would be very useful, because T'bird offers to save to a Drafts folder, and looks like it's saving to a Drafts folder, but there is no Drafts folder. So my question (in the first query at the top) was: "When an email is saved as a "Draft", where is it? It appears to save somewhere, but it's not obvious where. The "Saved . . ." message box flashes by too quickly to read. The draft isn't saved in my main email Drafts folder, and there's no other Drafts folder. Is the draft actually saved, or has it been disappeared? "

Sorry about the confusion. I see that my question doesn't make sense to the responders because they assume that I have a 'Drafts' folder - but I don't.

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Sorry, I was confused and thought it was a draft email that was missing.

Please confirm you have this settings:

  • 'Menu icon' > 'Folders' > select 'All'
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'Menu icon' > 'Folders' > select 'All'

Where do I find this select sequence?

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Chosen Solution

The 'Menu icon' is located on the 'Mail Toolbar'. The icon has three horizontal lines and is an icon commonly used in webpages to indicate a menu. In Thunderbrd it is automatically located on the far right, but I have moved mine to the far left as it seemed more logical for me. 'Folders' is in that menu and it also offers some options. select the 'All' option. See images as a guide.

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Toad-Hall said

Have you completed the email and sent it ? If yes, then the draft will be deleted from the 'Drafts' folder and you should find a copy of the sent email in the 'Sent' folder. Hello, my draft emails are not being deleted from my 'Drafts' folder upon sending. The emails are being sent properly with a copy of the email appearing in my 'Sent' folder...but the draft message never goes away from the 'Drafts' folder. Is there a setting I can change to prevent this? TIA
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That's a different problem from the one I was dealing with. I'm sorry I don't know the answer.

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I have the same problem with my Drafts Folder. TBird worked fine untill the new update. Since a few days all my Draft mail from 2016 till now has gone. Just created new drafts gives the same flash as before but never reach the DraftsFolder

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Refox This question has already been marked as solved. If 'Menu icon' > 'Folders' > select 'All' does not solve the issue then you have an entirely different problem. Please note: When you post a reponse into a question, you are sending an email to the person who posted the original question. So, you are asking the original person who posted the original question to help solve your problem. They may not be able to help or willing to help.

Please create your own question stating whether you use pop or imap mail accounts.