Lost draft message in Mail - help!

3 Jun 2017 17:44:42

Roy Rainford

Have just finished a lengthy draft message in Mail. Using an iMac with Mail v 9.3 in OS El Capitan. I 'saved' at various points (cmd-s). Didn't want to 'send' immediately so closed Mail app. On restart, the message doesn't show as a draft!
Have checked all Mailboxes, inc Draft but it's nowhere to be seen. Looked in Time Machine but can't see it there. Am not familiar with TM so may not be checking in the right way. Any help to save me retyping for another two hours will be appreciated.

Re: Lost draft message in Mail - help!

3 Jun 2017 22:56:59

Douglas Cheney

I think if you didn't save it to drafts it is most proble lost

Re: Lost draft message in Mail - help!

4 Jun 2017 11:06:55

Mick Burrell

I've just tried what you did Roy and it worked as expected - the draft was still there after quitting Mail - so although you don't need to manually save (Mail will do it for you at regular intervals) it is fine to do so if you wish.

You say you've checked all mailboxes which deals with the obvious possibility of it having been sent or trashed. You also say you "closed" the Mail app - do you mean you clicked the red ball to close the window or you quit Mail? Have you tried rebuilding the draft mailbox? Have you tried using the search function? You could try restarting the machine.

To check in Time Machine, with the Mail app open and the Draft mailbox selected, Enter Time Machine and step back looking for the message.

Re: Lost draft message in Mail - help!

4 Jun 2017 14:01:11

Roy Rainford

Thanks Mick. I closed the Mail window first, using the red ball. Shortly afterwards I wanted to 'tidy' the Finder so quit Mail. Later, on re-opening Mail, the draft was missing!
Following your reply today, I have tried all your suggested actions, without success. Now trying Time machine but am unsure about the procedure. With Mail open, I open TM, then select a folder dated yesterday with the time I was saving the draft. I open the Users folder, then open the folder with my name. Go down the list to Desktop and check the list of items there. No emails!
Looks like a re-typing of the draft looms, if I can remember the main points!

Re: Lost draft message in Mail - help!

4 Jun 2017 14:52:00

Derek Wright

Advice I wish I always kept:-

Always type major statements, replies, declaration of wars in a word processor and save them during the typing process. Then when you are happy with the text copy and paste the text to the mail window.

Re: Lost draft message in Mail - help!

4 Jun 2017 16:43:57

Roy Rainford

Thank you Derek for the very wise advice - as I have learned the hard way! I am about to follow your advice!