MikeMargolis
Level 1 (5 points)

Q: Mac Mail won't delete drafts

Frustrated beyond belief.

 

I now have nine mails in my Drafts folder that simply will not delete.

 

They are like Zombies, I kill them, and they come back a little while later.

 

Here is what I have tried, and this has been going on for over a month now:

 

  1. I have tried to delete them in different ways
    1. Highlight them and press the Delete key
    2. Highlight them and click on the Delete box
    3. Highlight them and drag them to the Trash in the dock
    4. Highlight them and drag them to another folder like Junk or Trash, wait a minute and empty that folder.
  2. Yes, I have searched for other people with this issue, and about the only thing I can discover is that rebuilding the mailbox helps some people. So I have:
    1. Rebuilt the Drafts mailbox before I deleted the emails
    2. Rebuilt the Drafts mailbox after I deleted the emails
    3. Rebuilt the Inbox for this account before I deleted the emails
    4. Rebuilt the Inbox for this account after I deleted the emails
  3. I went into the Drafts box, opened the undeletable email, changed the TO name to myself, and resent the email. I received it from myself, but the draft stays.

 

I am one of the few people who likes MacMail, and I really don't want to dump it for AirMail or Thunderbird etc... but this is driving me crazy!

 

This particular inbox has about 22K messages. Using Mail 7.3 (1878.6) and OS 10.9.4. If it matters, I am on a MacBook Air with plenty of room on the hard drive.

Posted on Aug 19, 2014 7:58 AM

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MikeMargolis

Q: Mac Mail won't delete drafts

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Aug 19, 2014 2:03 PM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 10 (207,925 points)
    Applications
    Aug 19, 2014 2:03 PM in response to MikeMargolis

    Quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.

    Back up all data before proceeding.

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

    ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

              Go â–¹ Go to Folder

    from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V, then press return.

    A folder window will open. Inside it there should be files with names as follows:

              Envelope Index

              ExternalUpdates.storedata

    Move those files to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have longer names that begin as above. Move those files, if any, to the Trash.

    Relaunch Mail. It should prompt you to re-import your messages. You may get a warning that the index is damaged and that Mail has to quit. ClickOK. Typically, the process takes a few minutes, but it may take hours if you have gigantic mailboxes. In that case, you may be able to speed things up by temporarily adding your home folder to the Privacy list in the Spotlight preference pane. Remove it when Mail has finished importing.

    Test. If Mail now works as expected, you can delete the files you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, post your results.

  • by MikeMargolis,Helpful

    MikeMargolis MikeMargolis Aug 20, 2014 5:07 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 20, 2014 5:07 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I did more googling, and found this, which solved the issue:

     

    Mail, Accounts, Highlight the account with the issue, Mailbox Behaviours, UNCHECK Store draft messages on the server.

  • by we04ndy,

    we04ndy we04ndy Feb 3, 2015 4:06 PM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 3, 2015 4:06 PM in response to MikeMargolis

    This worked great for me. I've been struggling with this for the past few weeks. Thanks!

  • by we04ndy,

    we04ndy we04ndy Feb 13, 2015 6:29 AM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 13, 2015 6:29 AM in response to MikeMargolis

    This also worked for me. Thanks.

  • by SamSlay,

    SamSlay SamSlay Apr 3, 2015 9:19 AM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 3, 2015 9:19 AM in response to MikeMargolis

    This tip was simple, on point and solved my problem instantly -  Thank You 

  • by Ace2008,

    Ace2008 Ace2008 May 18, 2015 5:44 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    May 18, 2015 5:44 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Hi Linc,

     

    I liked your response to this question, and as I had tried the other suggestions and not succeeded, I tried yours. This too did not succeed.

     

    In my case, the draft email is a response of mine to a scam/spam email relating to WhatsApp. My response did get sent, and the person responded to say that it was a scam or spam and to not open it, which I hadn't. Now I have this draft for weeks. Is it an infection on my system?

     

    Thanks

     

    Alan

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root May 18, 2015 11:24 AM in response to Ace2008
    Level 9 (69,630 points)
    iTunes
    May 18, 2015 11:24 AM in response to Ace2008

    What happens if you try to delete the draft?

  • by Ace2008,

    Ace2008 Ace2008 May 18, 2015 11:51 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    May 18, 2015 11:51 AM in response to Eric Root

    Hi Eric,

     

     

    The draft email disappears for a few minutes and then reappears. I've opened my mail in icloud (browser) and there is no sign of it there.

  • by James Dwyer,

    James Dwyer James Dwyer May 21, 2015 9:01 AM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 21, 2015 9:01 AM in response to MikeMargolis

    Great! Thanks.  Works for Mail.app 8.2!

  • by 170967,

    170967 170967 Jun 25, 2015 3:45 AM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 3:45 AM in response to MikeMargolis

    where is the mailbox behaviours?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jun 25, 2015 10:41 AM in response to 170967
    Level 9 (69,630 points)
    iTunes
    Jun 25, 2015 10:41 AM in response to 170967

    Mail/Preferences/Accounts - select an account and it should be there.

  • by Noel Heads,

    Noel Heads Noel Heads Mar 20, 2016 9:56 AM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2016 9:56 AM in response to MikeMargolis

    Hey this worked for me. I got into this problem by trying to send too big of a music file I dragged music file into email and tried sending it the loading circle wouldnt go away .I tried deleteing draft but the loading cicle would come back.I managed to force quit by going on tool bar and clicking anything that was not mail. Then hit the force quit .

    Noel

  • by mmpap,

    mmpap mmpap May 2, 2016 8:19 AM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 2, 2016 8:19 AM in response to MikeMargolis

    i don't seen to have an option for changing DRAFT mailbox behavior ... just sent/trash and junk mailboxes

  • by clearasil,

    clearasil clearasil Jul 20, 2016 6:18 PM in response to MikeMargolis
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Jul 20, 2016 6:18 PM in response to MikeMargolis

    That's fab - thanks Mike - it's been driving me nuts too!  Hopefully gone for good for me as well.

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