Can I recover auto-saved Draft emails lost in a TBird crash
I think my issue relates to the difference between "Save this message to Drafts folder" that happens when you close the Write window and are asked whether to save the draft or discard it, versus the drafts that are just saved via the "Auto Save" feature. (My autosave is set at every 5 minutes, in the Settings > Composition). I am hoping to recover a draft that I know was auto-saving, but in some apparently only in a temporary way that doesn't fully post to the Drafts folder.
I had 4-5 email windows open in TBird, under composition. They lingered as draft emails for several days, as I worked through a bookkeeping job and compiled lists of questions to email out. In particular, one "Draft" is actually a long to-do file of notes, which I continuously update. I regret not closing it more frequently in order to Save its latest version to the Drafts folder. Instead, I got behind in my work and just left that "write window" open for weeks. TBird abruptly closed/crashed last night, and those draft-emails I had open are gone, and not in the Drafts folder. They are not Sent of Deleted/Trash either. So its like they never existed since I didn't specifically say "Save a Draft," but I believe they still auto-saved.
Only my to-do list with is a longstanding "Draft email" is still existing, but it's the version from a couple weeks ago, which I guess is the last time I actually closed its "write" window! (yes, I probably should restart TBird and my laptop more often). I would like to recover the latest version of that draft, and ideally the handful of other emails I had open.
So would those auto-saved drafts exist in some mozilla hidden-folders or something?? It seems to me that the auto-saved drafts interact with the email server (1and1, via IMAP) somehow, because if my internet is out, any draft-email that I have sitting open keeps bugging me that it can't auto-save. So it must autosave on a server, not just locally in a TBird file, right?
I contacted 1and1 and they restored things deleted over the last few days, but that didn't help at all, probably because I hadn't actually deleted the drafts. It's like they didn't get formally deleted because they were never formally saved as drafts, yet they existed :)
So where to look? Thank you all!!
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A draft is a draft. Autosave just automates the menu clicking really. With an IMAP account drafts are saved to the IMAP account on the server.
But they may be in the drafts folder, just marked as deleted. It will depend if the IMAP expunge has occurred and I can only guess about that.
Are you familiar with the file system?
Hi Matt! I might be slightly familiar with the file system; I don't understand the question real well. I have poked around some with limited and possibly-obsolete knowledge and online tips, looking for hidden folders; opening the notepad version of the Drafts folder within my TBird profile folder, etc. I also got deleted messages recovered from 1and1 which hosts our email, but that didn't help anything-- hardly anything there cuz I hadn't actually emptied trash in a while. I fear it is too late to find whatever sort of digital residue may remain?
I'm not sure what it means that Autosave automates the menu-clicking. A version of my draft exists, but dated May 28, rather than June 23 when the crash happened. My sense is that correlates to the last time I closed the "write" window and truly saved the current version of the draft; auto-save doesn't seem to update the earlier version of the draft that's in the Drafts folder. (Like if I opened my email in a different app, the draft I have open woudln't be available on the other device, even tho it is supposedly auto-saving. It wouldn't be available on the Drafts folder on other devices until I close the write window on the 1st device and say "yes, save the draft")
It's not a huge loss of essential data, just a setback on my workflow, and some details may fall through the cracks. By now I may have put more time trying methods to retrieve the lost drafts than what it takes to just move on and re-do work where needed. If there is anywhere else to look, I would try it.