iPad mail draft disappeared

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Level 1

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iPad mail draft disappeared

I was drafting an e-mail on my iPad when I had little or no internet connectivity. I have done this before and I would save as a draft by selecting "cancel" then "save as draft". I would then come back and modify if necessary and send it when connected to the internet. Recently when I did that the email was not in the draft folder, so I re-created it. It showed up in the drafts on my iPad, and I could see the first part of the text in the list of draft items, but when I selected it, although all the recipients were there the body of the email would not show up. I tried several times, checked the drafts on the server from other devices, could not find it. Finally in desperation I killed the mail app, restarted the iPad, and now it no longer shows up in the iPad drafts folder!

I am on an iPad pro running iOS 11.4.1 and AOL IMAP. Any idea why this has happened or if the draft is recoverable?

iPad Pro Wi-Fi, iOS 11.4.1

Posted on Oct 13, 2018 8:09 PM

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Answer 1

LotusPilot

Level 10

302,306 points

Oct 14, 2018 2:57 AM in response to Ray Earley

This may help you find the folder where your draft has gone - but it will certainly help you with understand (and configure) the best place to keep your mail folders. You have some flexibility, for each configured mail account, as to where your content is stored...

Settings > Accounts & Passwords > (select email account) > Account > Advanced

Here you can configure your Drafts, Sent, Deleted and Archive mailboxes (by mailbox, think FOLDER) - and choose between Trash and Archive mailbox (i.e., folder) for the delete action. Available locations for each with be on your device - or on the mail server. If using an IMAP mailbox (in this context - your email account from your email provider), the available folders on the server should match those configured in your providers mailbox).

It sounds more complex than it really is. As for recovering your missing draft, if it was transfered to you email server when you recovered internet connectivity on your device, it may be there. Try logging-in to your email account using a web browser - and look through your folders from the browser (You may need to use a full-fat brower on a PC or Mac).

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iPad mail draft disappeared

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