Since when does "Don't Save" [draft] mean delete any instance of it permanently from the email client so it cannot be recovered?
This is proposterous - if I had changed a single character I'd expect to be asked for confirmation, and so maybe deem it unecessary to save after all - but to select "Don't save" and then watch horrified as all instances of the draft are removed completely from any of all folders I'd expect to be able to go retrieve from, is just plain heart-stopping!!
It's one thing when you press Ctrl+R instead of Shift+R during completion of a webform and the page reloads from the server and all is definitely lost. But this shouldn't have happened, I'm even looking at an Activity Manager dialogue with the 'delete' event I did not knowingly specify but without any means of clicking it for options to restore/undo, I just didn't want to revise the draft..., please help me get it back. I'm still in the same session.
Chosen solution
I have had a degree of success locating the folder in AppData/Roaming~
The draft I've recovered is by no means complete, but it will save bothering with so much retyping from a sorely racked brain - many thanks for this, just an additional note to add that the file I opened was searched in notepad using the date format so that I could easily get to the email header. The only real drawback here was that all the drafts are stored in this one file in whatever source is used, so it has the potential to be a huge amount of text and scrolling through it trying to make best use of the scrollbar, arrows, slider, page up/down, mouse scroll, etc. - or even in the case of Notepad++ just doing another find operation for the specific line number, is still not as user friendly for those less savvy as one could hope [where, after clicking & dragging the scrollbar button, fairly rapid page scrolling can be achieved by clicking the area the scrollbar button is in, but this is eventually too small to get the mouse pointer to find, so next slowest is keyboard page up/down, etc.] - but thankfully all is not lost, what I have retrieved is all I could have hoped for :)Read this answer in context 👍 0
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Your being asked to save or not to save. You say no to saving a draft then none is saved. Perhaps Ctrl +Z might undo your decision. or the undelete add-on. https://freeshell.de//~kaosmos/index-en.html#recDelMsg
A draft was already saved, one would simply assume it means 'save any revisions?', rather than 'delete the draft if you click don't save?', and so, yes, I used undo until there was no further option [menu item became ghosted], this didn't have any effect on the event that took place...
So, I'm about to restart the email client with the 'recover deleted messages' extension installed, not holding my breath though as I've already searched extensively for where the draft may have ended up, I will give it ten minutes first and see if there's any reason given on this thread to not restart, and then will report back on the outcome.
I guess I could also be looking for a dump file from the operating system - any pointers there?
Nup! [nope], in a word - returns message,
Unsupported type folder (newsgroup or Imap not set for offline use)
Important - Do not compact folders.
Try this.
Make hidden files and folders visible.
In Thunderbird.
- Help > TRoubleshooting Information
- click on 'show folder' button
a new window opens showing contents of the profile folder name
* Close thunderbird now - this is important.
If the 'Drafts' folder is in a POP mail account:
- click on 'Mail' folder
If the 'Drafts' folder is in a Imap mail account:
- click on 'Imap Mail' folder
- click on account name folder
- Look for 'Drafts' file - not 'Drafts.msf' file.
- Open 'Drafts' file using Notepad
In the 'Drafts' file. Each email will start with these lines: this is an example
- From - Sun Dec 28 18:14:40 2014
- X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
- X-Mozilla-Status2: 00800000
Use 'Edit' > 'Find' Starting at the top use the look for this line: X-Mozilla-Status: 0008
Make sure each X-Mozilla-Status: has the number 0001 edit the number as required working down through the document. Save the file.
delete the 'Drafts.msf' file. A new one will be auto created.
Open Thunderbird.
select the 'Drafts' folder in Folder Pane and report on results.
The info in my previous response may help to fix the loss, if you use Pop or imap subscribed and synchronised folders.
If you are talking about an IMAP mail account, If you cannot see a 'Drafts' file in the Profile folder mail account. but you can only see a 'Drafts.msf' file.
This means you are accessing a remote folder on the server to save drafts and although you are subscribed to see that drafts' folder, you have not chosen to synchronise that folder, so no copy is kept in your profile on your computer.
If you do not need to keep copies of drafts on the server, you could use the 'Drafts' folder in 'Local Folders' account to keep copies of Drafts.
Chosen Solution
I have had a degree of success locating the folder in AppData/Roaming~
The draft I've recovered is by no means complete, but it will save bothering with so much retyping from a sorely racked brain - many thanks for this, just an additional note to add that the file I opened was searched in notepad using the date format so that I could easily get to the email header. The only real drawback here was that all the drafts are stored in this one file in whatever source is used, so it has the potential to be a huge amount of text and scrolling through it trying to make best use of the scrollbar, arrows, slider, page up/down, mouse scroll, etc. - or even in the case of Notepad++ just doing another find operation for the specific line number, is still not as user friendly for those less savvy as one could hope [where, after clicking & dragging the scrollbar button, fairly rapid page scrolling can be achieved by clicking the area the scrollbar button is in, but this is eventually too small to get the mouse pointer to find, so next slowest is keyboard page up/down, etc.] - but thankfully all is not lost, what I have retrieved is all I could have hoped for :)
Just install the add-on and it will recover things for you. no manual editing. it resets the X-mozilla status and they appear in a sub folder of the one they were originally in.