How to recover deleted draft

Question

How to recover deleted draft

Sigh. I was composing a masterpiece. I had saved the email as a draft. Today, I accidentally deleted it. AUGH! It's not in the trash folder in Mail. It's not in my trash can on the dock. Where did it go? Can I get it back? I haven't done a back-up since I started this msg.

I'm not sure if you need this info: Mail ver 3.6 (936)

I got into this mess because I was just looking at the mail, not intending to edit. So, I didn't open the draft mail. Unfortunately, I spotted a mistake and went to correct it....but selecting text and hitting delete will delete the draft email instead of deleting text in the email when you haven't opened the email in a separate window.

I would REALLY like to recover this draft email. A lot of work went into it. Please say it is possible.

And why doesn't Mail send a deleted draft to the trash folder????

Thanks in advance!

MacBookPro 13", Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 22, 2010 2:11 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Roger Wilmut1

Level 10

131,146 points

Aug 22, 2010 2:48 AM in response to forheavenssake

And why doesn't Mail send a deleted draft to the trash folder????

I does - I just tried it. I created a draft, and did exactly what you did. It disappeared from the Drafts folder but when I clicked on Trash in the Mail sidebar there it was. (It won't be in the System Trash).

If you managed somehow to delete it from the Mail Trash then I'm afraid it's gone: however it's just remotely possible that a recovery program might find it, but it's unlikely and you would really need to have not been using your Mac since you deleted it - the more you use it the more chance of it being overwritten.

You could try FileSalvage - it has a trial mode which will enable you to see but not recover files; it costs $89.95 for a fully working version. The file will appear as 'emix' followed by a number (at least it does in Snow Leopard, I don't remember whether it's different in Leopard), but there will one of these for every email you ever deleted which has not been overwritten and there is no way to know which is your draft unless you can do it by date - I don't know whether FileSalvage can do that. It's a lot of cost and hassle with, I'm afraid, a low chance of success.

Message was edited by: Roger Wilmut1

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Answer 2

Aug 22, 2010 8:51 AM in response to forheavenssake

I'm glad you found it. It's always horrible to have to rewrite something after you've lost it. Never works as well the second time.

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Answer 3

Aug 22, 2010 8:43 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Thanks, Roger!

I'm a goof. Yes, you're right. The message ends up in the trash folder. I was looking for the recipient's name when scanning my trash folder. And I only have the SENDER'S name listed in the trash folder. And thus, I totally missed it.

Thanks for reproducing my error, Roger.

And thanks for the other tips. I'll tuck away that info for later.

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Answer 4

Aug 22, 2010 8:45 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

One more thing Roger - you totally saved my butt!!! Thank you!!!!

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