Draft in progress stuck in iOS mail app

By Luke, 5 March, 2022

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi,
Running the very latest version of iOS on my iPhone SE 2020 version. I have a minimized draft email message in the lower right hand corner of the Mail app that I cannot make go away. When I double tap the message, the two options I have are to minimize it again or to cancel. Hitting cancel should prompt me to delete the draft, but it doesn’t. It just goes back to being minimized. Does anybody know how to get rid of this thing? Thanks

Options

Comments

By Lielle ben simon on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 20:23

Hi, I have find another option: I m sending to myself and it gos away.

By Luke on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 20:23

Thanks for the replies and I am now hitting myself in the forehead because I didn’t think to actually go to the draft folder and simply delete it. 🤦‍♂️ Perfect example of overthinking a problem that actually has a simple solution. LOL. Thanks, guys

For what it’s worth, I still think the behavior I’m describing is a bug, but obviously not a serious one. Theoretically if you hit cancel on a draft in progress it should prompt you to delete that draft.

By The Tetris monster on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 20:23

Got the same problem, but clearing my drafts folder didn’t work. It says I’ve got no mail in that folder, But the message is still there.

By David Goldfield on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 20:23

I have also encountered this problem. Sometimes, my Drafts folder also reports as being empty even though the draft email exists. As another user in this thread has suggested I can eliminate the message by sending it to myself. I do consider this to be a bug.

By Dave Nason on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 20:23

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Yes this is definitely a bug. It’s been around for quite a while actually, it was on one of the versions last year too.
They seemed to have fixed it, but now it seems to have come back, albeit not as frequently.
I too find that the most reliable way to get rid of it is to send it to myself.

By Rodney on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 20:23

Progression: double tap compose. Don’t enter anything, just double tap Minimize Draft.
At this point the active draft indicator should appear at the bottom of the screen…1 draft in progress.

This is where you cannot get rid of the draft easily. Double tap on 1 draft in progress and the draft opens. Double tap in the body of the email, type any letter, and double tap on Cancel. Then double tap on Delete Draft. The draft window closes, but the 1 draft in progress still appears at the bottom of the screen. Rinse and repeat, but the draft does not go away.

My solution: Compose a new email, immediately double tap Minimize Draft. Now 2 drafts in progress appears at the bottom. Double tap on that and you have two close buttons. double tap on them both and all of the drafts go away.

I worked at length with Apple Support on this one.
One thing I am to test, is to remove my primary email account from the iPhone and then add it back in. And then see if I can reproduce the issue. I just have not yet tried that.

Disclaimer: There are multiple ways of creating a draft. I gave the simplest way I could think of as a progression.

Hope this helps.
Rodney