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Thunderbird Leaves Partial Copy of Sent Emails in Drafts Folder

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by curls

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Since initial v60 release I've noticed that Thunderbird is leaving copies of emails I've sent in the Drafts folder. These email get there by virtue of the auto save setting. They are typically emails that take longer than the auto-save time (5 mins) to complete. Usually I notice them the next time I invoke Thunderbird as it bolds the Drafts folder indicating an unread email in that folder. I constantly have to check the Sent folder to reassure myself the message was actually sent (which always turns out to be the case).

This is not a big issue since the emails are sent, no emails are lost. It is just irritating because it makes me feel like I need to check each email to see that it shows up whole in the Sent folder and appears to have been processed properly. So, can this be addressed in an upcoming release, please?

Since initial v60 release I've noticed that Thunderbird is leaving copies of emails I've sent in the Drafts folder. These email get there by virtue of the auto save setting. They are typically emails that take longer than the auto-save time (5 mins) to complete. Usually I notice them the next time I invoke Thunderbird as it bolds the Drafts folder indicating an unread email in that folder. I constantly have to check the Sent folder to reassure myself the message was actually sent (which always turns out to be the case). This is not a big issue since the emails are sent, no emails are lost. It is just irritating because it makes me feel like I need to check each email to see that it shows up whole in the Sent folder and appears to have been processed properly. So, can this be addressed in an upcoming release, please?

All Replies (5)

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Is the Drafts folder defined on a remote IMAP server or in Local Folders? If you don't need to access drafts from other devices, storing them in Local Folders will probably eliminate the issue.

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This particular account, which I use for my main email account is a POP3 set to "Get [and send] Messages" when I click the "Get Messages" button. IOW, "manual" email retrieval.

There is another account I seldom use (check maybe once every 10 days) that is an IMAP account, but I don't send email from this account, only from my main POP3 account.

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The Drafts folder might be corrupted, making it not able to delete autosave copies. Try setting a new subfolder in Local Folders as the location for drafts (in Account Settings, Copies & Folders) and see if the problem remains.

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Did as suggested, but the same thing occurs. Any email that takes a while to compose gets left behind in any folder I designate for "drafts"; then when re-open Thunderbird for a new session subsequently the composed and sent message shows up in the folder marked as "unread". It seems to be a Thunderbird proper problem, not a mis-configured folder situation.

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Same thing happens for me. Stuff I sent is in drafts in partial form. Doesn't bother me. I check sometimes to see if it sent, but since it did, I'm not worried.

But I can report that I see the same thing, and then have to delete drafts.