New Outlook (Windows Desktop) — Deleting leftover draft after sending also removes email from Sent Items

Question

New Outlook (Windows Desktop) — Deleting leftover draft after sending also removes email from Sent Items

Victor Gayashan 0

Hello,

I am experiencing a critical issue with New Outlook on Windows Desktop that is affecting our business email operations.

ISSUE SUMMARY:

When a client sends an email, the message first moves to Drafts (as expected during composition). After the email is sent, a copy remains in the Drafts folder as a leftover. When we delete this leftover draft copy, the corresponding email in Sent Items is also deleted — permanently. It does not appear in Deleted Items either.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:

Compose a new email in New Outlook (Windows Desktop)
Send the email
Confirm the email appears in Sent Items ✓
Notice a leftover copy still remains in the Drafts folder
Delete the leftover draft copy
Check Sent Items — the sent email has now disappeared
Check Deleted Items — the sent email is NOT there either

ENVIRONMENT:

Application: New Outlook for Windows (Desktop)
Account type: Microsoft 365 Business
This affects multiple users in our organisation

WHAT I HAVE ALREADY CHECKED:

There is no "Save sent messages" option visible under Settings > Mail > Message handling in New Outlook
No rules are configured to move or delete sent emails
The issue is consistent and reproducible

IMPACT:

This is a serious issue for our business as we rely on Sent Items to track client communications. Losing sent email records without warning is unacceptable in a professional environment.

I have seen similar reports from other users in these threads:

Is this a known bug? Is there an official fix or workaround from Microsoft?

Thank you.

Hornblower409 14,915 Reputation points

2026-06-16T03:04:45.3866667+00:00

@Victor Gayashan said

I have seen similar reports from other users in these threads:

Both of the underlying links (not what is displayed) are to this Question. The displayed links are not enough for me to reach the actual Questions. You cut off the end of the URL after the number. Could you please update.

I think I found them:

New Outlook not removing email from drafts after sending (Sep 26, 2025)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5567364/new-outlook-not-removing-email-from-drafts-after-s

Sent item shows up as an open Draft again and disappears from Sent Items (Jan 2, 2024)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4624577/sent-item-shows-up-as-an-open-draft-again-and-disa
Hornblower409 14,915 Reputation points

2026-06-16T03:08:56.0233333+00:00

@Victor Gayashan said

After the email is sent, a copy remains in the Drafts folder as a leftover

I have seen a similar problem (but not exactly the same) when New Outlook Work Offline is enabled. Could you have one of your users test with Settings -> General -> Offline -> [ ] Allow offline access to email, calendar, and people.

1 answer

Your answer

Hornblower409 14,915 Reputation points

2026-06-16T03:04:45.3866667+00:00

@Victor Gayashan said

I have seen similar reports from other users in these threads:

Both of the underlying links (not what is displayed) are to this Question. The displayed links are not enough for me to reach the actual Questions. You cut off the end of the URL after the number. Could you please update.

I think I found them:

New Outlook not removing email from drafts after sending (Sep 26, 2025)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5567364/new-outlook-not-removing-email-from-drafts-after-s

Sent item shows up as an open Draft again and disappears from Sent Items (Jan 2, 2024)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4624577/sent-item-shows-up-as-an-open-draft-again-and-disa
Hornblower409 14,915 Reputation points

2026-06-16T03:08:56.0233333+00:00

@Victor Gayashan said

After the email is sent, a copy remains in the Drafts folder as a leftover

I have seen a similar problem (but not exactly the same) when New Outlook Work Offline is enabled. Could you have one of your users test with Settings -> General -> Offline -> [ ] Allow offline access to email, calendar, and people.

Answer 1

The behavior described is not documented in the provided material as a known or expected feature of Outlook, and there is no official fix or configuration-based workaround for New Outlook in this context.

The available documentation only covers:

How Outlook normally handles Sent Items (including IMAP duplication and how to disable local saving of sent items in classic Outlook for Windows).
How to ensure sent items are saved at all (via the Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder option and related Group Policy/registry settings in classic Outlook).
How to view and troubleshoot missing Sent Items in classic Outlook.
Registry-based behaviors for delegates and shared mailboxes (Deleted Items and Sent Items) in classic Outlook.

None of these address New Outlook for Windows deleting a sent message when a leftover draft is deleted, and none describe a setting that would change or prevent this behavior in New Outlook.

Because of this, the issue must be treated as an application defect rather than a configuration problem based on the available information. The only supported next step indicated by the documentation is to open a support case with Microsoft so the issue can be investigated and tracked as a bug at the service or client level.

Until Microsoft provides a fix, the only safe operational workaround implied by the documentation is procedural: do not delete the leftover draft copies if the corresponding sent messages must be retained, and instead rely on the Sent Items folder for record-keeping.

References: