Outlook emails get moved to drafts folder as I'm composing the email

Anonymous
2024-03-01T17:27:04+00:00

As I type an email on my desktop, my Outlook app closes the email and moves it to my Drafts folder. I then have to open up my Drafts folder, open the email, and continue typing. This happens when I've had an email open for 30 seconds or many minutes (e.g., it's not like I've been drafting an email for 30 minutes and have stepped away and Outlook moves it to drafts). I'm often in the middle of typing a sentence and the email disappears and it's gone to Drafts. I then have to go do Drafts and manually reopen the email I was literally just typing. Sometimes it opens immediately, other times it opens and says the email is being edited in another window (which, why???).

It doesn't happen with every email but happens many times per week. A cursory review seems like many people in different environments are having the same issue. I've restarted my computer, all apps are fully updated.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-27T12:55:51+00:00

    Hi Belinda First I need to explain I'm not an employee of Microsoft but

    I feel your frustration. Perhaps I could suggest that you start a new thread on the topic of your problem. I've experienced the same problem before with emails ending up in drafts all the time and it was due to having it set to delay the sending of emails to enable me to edit or delete it before it went in case of accidental sending which I tend to do occasionally. I can't help with the settings on the Mac but I suggest you raise it as a new issue you might have more hope, best of luck. I put up with the problem of having to check in drafts and sent email and the occasional annoying editing conflict is a pain but is the lesser evil of the two issues.

    Steve

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-20T13:46:50+00:00

    Hi all,

    what fixed it for me was to go to Outlook Settings , click on Composing and check the box for 'Reply to new messages in a new window'. You can then work on the message on the new window and send it instead of going backwards and forwards to the Drafts folder.

    hope that helps!

    Anastasia

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-20T15:01:05+00:00

    Thanks, Anastasia! This is a good work-around that has the additional advantage that one can check one's calendar in full view while drafting the response. I'd been creating a separate reply window manually for each message by clicking the little icon in the top right-hand corner, but your's is a better way of doing it so it is automatic.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-01-28T16:26:58+00:00

    I'm having the exact same issue in the app for Mac. Where before I would hit "reply" or "forward" and start typing my email, now when I hit those functions I see a note at the bottom of my screen "saving to drafts". Now I have to go to drafts, find it, double click to open it and it doesn't give you the space at the top to begin composing. Besides the fact that now you are definitely cranky about the whole wasted 5 minutes for one email.

    My quick solutions, which SUCKS to have to do a workaround, is that I now double click and "open" any email I'm going to forward or reply to. Then when I reply or forward it turns that opened email into a real email that I can now type in.

    Really dumb though.

    Our company IT dept can't figure it out either and said it's because I have too many emails. Well, I've deleted, archived and done what I can, but I still have to work! Oy.

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-02-07T05:16:13+00:00

    Repetitive Draft emails in Ooutlook

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