"Lost" at least one email in Draft folder

[krs]

I somehow "lost" at least one email in Draft folder.....

Trying to figure out what happened and how to recover - specifically because I'm now wondering if other emails in the draft folder somehow disappeared, emails that I have not missed yet.

The email that disappeared had the subject line
© USA Trains Registry, LGB

I have had this in my Apple Mail draft folder for years and copied information from that email regularly, the last time two days ago.
When I opened my draft folder yesterday, that email was missing.
I sort emails by date with the most recent date at the top, so this email should have been towards the top of the list.
I checked the Apple Mail trash and junk folders - nothing there, did a search- nothing, ran FAF nothing,
Then tried rebuilding the Draft folder - that just duplicated most emails that were in the draft folder,but only the addressee, subject and dates, not the content.
I also closed and restarted Apple Mail and also shut down the Mac and rebooted several times - emsil is still missing.
I wonder what else I could try to recover that email and any others that might have disappeared but where I have not recognized that yet.

I'm running Mojave with a recently installed (maybe two month ago) 1TB Crucial SSD, not that I think that has anything to do with it (but I just want to mention it); I also recovered that email from a back up so I do have the information again - but still - emails in a folder should not just disappear.

I vaguely remember someone else complaining about that a while back in this forum, but a forum search brought up nothing.

 

[ferrarr]

Do you run different OS versions? Did this happen with a specific OS, or across multiple OS versions? Or is the drift stored in iCloud?

Could this email have been sent, by accident?

 

[krs]

Thanks for the reply.

I just run Mojave on my Mini.
I still have the previous macOS I was running, ElCapitan from a few months ago on a separate harddrive - that's where I recovered that email in the draft folder of Apple Mail on ElCapitan.
So that email just disappeared in Mojave Apple Mail - it's there on ElCapitan Apple Mail.

I have looked at and copied and added items in the body of that "lost" email in the draft folder in Apple Mail on Mojave until a couple of days ago; everything seemed fine then.
I don't do iCloud
And if it had been sent by accident, it should then be in the sent folder on Mojave Apple Mail

 

[ferrarr]

What I meant when I asked about iCloud, was if the drafts were syncing to all your devices, or if the Drafts folder was just "On Your Mac"?

 

[krs]

The drafts folder is just on my Mac.
Nothing is synchronized anywhere

 

[chscag]

I have had this in my Apple Mail draft folder for years and copied information from that email regularly, the last time two days ago.

Why would you leave an email in your drafts folder for years? If you needed to use it as a template to create or copy to other email, why not put it in a separate folder in "On My Mac"?

 

[MacInWin]

Do you have a Time Machine backup? If so, open Mail, go to the Drafts folder and then invoke TM and scroll back to before the template disappeared to restore it. Then leave TM and then move the template OUT of drafts to a separate folder, maybe named "Templates" and retrieve it from there when you need it. Drafts is for Mail to use as you are drafting an email, not for the storage of templates you might one day want to use somehow.

 

[krs]

Why would you leave an email in your drafts folder for years?

Mostly for convenience.
It's actually a list that I add to on a regular basis and copy specific items on a regular basis.

If you needed to use it as a template to create or copy to other email, why not put it in a separate folder in "On My Mac"?

I could do that, I actually have quite a few folders there as well - "On My Mac" has its own problems when trying to create a second level subfolder.
But regardless - I would never expect an email just to disappear. I assume it's there somewhere, just not accessible for some reason.
The draft folder seems to work differently with Apple Mail on Mojave than even in ElCapitan. I keep finding emails in that folder that I never expected to be there. It seems if one starts an email, rgeb gets distracted and only finishes the email say an hour later, the first partial one gets copied to the draft folder automatically.

 

[krs]

Do you have a Time Machine backup? If so, open Mail, go to the Drafts folder and then invoke TM and scroll back to before the template disappeared to restore it. Then leave TM and then move the template OUT of drafts to a separate folder, maybe named "Templates" and retrieve it from there when you need it. Drafts is for Mail to use as you are drafting an email, not for the storage of templates you might one day want to use somehow.

I don't have a TM backup but I retrieved this email from my backup.
AsI mentioned in my previous post, I use the draft folder for convenience.
Sure, I could create another folder with a text edit file, but that doesn't explain where my draft email went.
It should not just disappear.
I wonder if reindexing would do anything?
I tried the Apple Mail rebuild option of the draft folder, that just messes things up more it seems.

 

[MacInWin]

Mostly for convenience.
It's actually a list that I add to on a regular basis and copy specific items on a regular basis.

I could do that, I actually have quite a few folders there as well - "On My Mac" has its own problems when trying to create a second level subfolder.
But regardless - I would never expect an email just to disappear. I assume it's there somewhere, just not accessible for some reason.
The draft folder seems to work differently with Apple Mail on Mojave than even in ElCapitan. I keep finding emails in that folder that I never expected to be there. It seems if one starts an email, rgeb gets distracted and only finishes the email say an hour later, the first partial one gets copied to the draft folder automatically.

The function of the draft folder is to keep incomplete and unsent emails until you decide to finish and send them. By putting this template in that folder, Mail assumes you want to eventually send and complete it. If you then opened the draft, added something to it and then sent it to someone, the draft is no longer needed and is eliminated from the draft folder. So, if you were working on an email, opened this draft for some reason, it may have been associated with the email you had started and got eliminated when you sent it.

I seriously doubt it there somewhere. Maybe in "sent" but no where else. And you are correct that if you start an email and then stall on it, the draft can be put in the Drafts folder and then not eliminated when you return to the partially finished open email window and complete the action. That is, I think, a bug rather than a feature, but it's not serious as you can select any message in Draft and delete it.

Did you try what I suggested with TM to see if you can get an older version of this draft?

EDIT: Nevermind, I see you don't have a TM backup