5 Easy Ways | How to Recover a Deleted Draft Email in Gmail

How Do I Recover a Deleted Draft in Gmail?

"I was writing my mail, accidentally the draft email got deleted. Can you recover a draft email in Gmail that was deleted accidentally? Now I can't find it anywhere! How do I recover a deleted draft in Gmail? Thank you in advance."

Losing a draft email in Gmail can disrupt your day, especially if it contains important information or a deadline. If you are in a similar situation and want to recover deleted draft emails in Gmail, you are not alone. While Gmail automatically saves emails to a Drafts folder, users can discard them by mistake. Once a draft email is discarded, retrieving it can seem daunting.

Don’t worry, though – I’ve put together 5 reliable methods in this guide to help you recover deleted draft emails in Gmail efficiently. From a simple check in Gmail to using advanced data recovery tools like MyRecover, make sure you have the best chance of recovering your lost data.

5 Ways to Recover a Deleted Draft Email in Gmail (Effortlessly)

How to recover a draft email in Gmail? Before performing the recovery 5 methods below, please make sure that there are no deleted emails in other folders. Because many users forget that they have sent the draft or moved it to another folder.

In this case, browse all available folders in the sidebar of your Gmail account. Make sure to check your Sent, Scheduled, Trash, etc. folders as they may contain emails that you have discarded or sent.

#1. Recover Deleted Draft Email in Gmail Using the Undo Button

First, let’s try the easiest way to get back a mistakenly deleted draft email in Gmail. Have you ever noticed that when you abandon a draft in Gmail, you can see a small popup with an "Undo" button in the lower-left corner of the email. Just click this "Undo" button and your draft will be restored instantly.

Note⚠: The popup will only remain there for about 10 seconds and will be removed if you move to another section. So you have to act within this time. Once the pop-up disappears, there is no other way to bring it back to undo it.

#2. Recover Deleted Draft Emails from Gmail's Trash Folder

Continue with our second recovery method. When you delete a draft in Gmail, it doesn't disappear immediately; Instead, it will be saved in your Gmail trash. From here, you have 30 days to see deleted emails in Gmail before it is permanently deleted.

▶ To recover a deleted draft email from Trash, simply visit the Trash folder in Gmail, find the draft, and move it back to Drafts or another preferred folder.

Step 1. To recover a deleted draft email in Gmail from Trash, open Gmail on your PC and sign in to your Gmail account.

Step 2. Click Settings, scroll down to find More, and click Trash.

Step 3. Select the deleted draft emails you want to restore and click Move to.

#3. Recover Deleted Draft Emails on Your Phone

Didn't catch the undo option in time? Don't sweat it—there are still ways to recover your draft using another device, like your phone, where your Gmail account might still hold the lost data. If you have deleted the email on your desktop, then you may still be able to recover it from your phone if you act fast enough.

Step 1. Start by disabling the internet connection on your phone to prevent Gmail from syncing changes. You can switch off both WiFi and mobile data, or even better, put your phone in Airplane Mode.

Step 2. With the internet off, open the Gmail app and head to the "Drafts" folder. If your email hasn't synced yet, it may still be there. Quickly copy its contents to a secure location because once your phone reconnects to the internet, any unsynced drafts will vanish.

#4. Recover Deleted Draft Emails in Gmail Using Browser Memory

If you were working on your draft in a web browser like Google Chrome and accidentally deleted it, you might be able to recover deleted emails in Gmail from the browser's memory.

Step 1. Open a hex editor (such as HxD) on your computer. Make sure your browser is still running, then navigate to Menu > Extracts > Open RAM.

Step 2. Search the Virtual Memory section for the latest memory files used by Chrome. You may even find success loading older Chrome memory files into the editor.

Step 3. When loading out of Chrome memory displayed in hex codes, look for codes and keywords related to deleted draft email. If you find them, copy the text from there.

#5. Recover Deleted Draft Emails Using MyRecover

Lastly, if all else fails, turn to a professional email recovery software like MyRecover. This software is suitable for everyone. It performs a comprehensive scan of your deleted draft emails in Gmail and recovers permanently deleted emails quickly.

• Recover all mailbox components in files such as emails, attachments, contacts, calendar items, diaries, notes, etc.
• Support all common email file types: MSG, PST, OST, EML, EMLX, MBOX, BKS, BKL, EDB, and more.
• In addition to recovering deleted emails, this powerful tool can also recover lost Word document, Excel files, images, audio, videos, and more than 200 other file types.
• Supports previewing deleted draft emails before recovery and recovers files retaining original file name/format/location.

Now, download and install MyRecover on your Windows PC. Follow the 3 simple steps below to recover a deleted draft email effortlessly.

Step 1. Run MyRecover and hover the mouse on the drive where the lost or deleted draft emails were stored. Click Scan to start the scanning.

Step 2. The software runs Quick Scan & Deep Scan to locate all your deleted or lost emails. When the scanning process completes, you can filter and preview the desired files.

Tip: Filter or Search the files based on 3 options:

• Type: Select the file type (Documents, Images, Videos, Audios, Emails, Webpages, Compressed files, etc.)
• Date modified: Set the date (today, yesterday, last 7/30 days, etc.)
• Size: Filter the file size (<128KB, 128KB~1MB, 1MB~ 512MB, 512MB above, etc.)

Step 3. Select the deleted draft emails you want to recover and click Recover X Files. Then, choose a new location on your device where you'd like these recovered files to be saved.

🎈 Tips:

• MyRecover allows you to recover deleted Figma files up to 500MB in total. To enjoy recovering unlimited data, try advanced editions.
• It also supports data recovery from any storage device, such as recovering deleted data from SD card, USB, SSD, HDD, etc.
• To recover old emails from years ago in Yahoo, or Outlook on the computer, this professional data recovery software can also help.

Effective Tips to Protect Gmail Drafts and Emails

Keeping Gmail organized can help you stay productive and ensure you don't lose important messages. Here are some simple tips for effectively managing drafts and emails in Gmail:

Tip 1: Star or mark important drafts

If you often have important drafts, star or mark them to make them easier to find. Just click the star or tag icon next to the draft so you can quickly find it later.

Tip 2: Sync with a third-party email client

For better access and backup, sync your Gmail with another email client like Outlook or Thunderbird. This way, you can use your emails and drafts on multiple devices and keep a local copy.

Tip 3: Clean up your drafts regularly

Check your drafts folder from time to time and delete anything you don't need. This makes your drafts folder easy to manage and helps you find necessary drafts faster.

Tip 4: Use a draft as a template

If you send similar emails frequently, save a draft as a template. This saves time and helps you send consistent messages.

Tip 5: Use version control

For important drafts, use a simple naming system to keep track of different versions. This is especially useful if your draft goes through many changes.

Tip 6: Use Undo Send

Enable the Undo Send feature in Gmail to immediately stop emails from being sent. You can set this to up to 30 seconds to cancel sending the email, in case you catch an error at the last minute.

Conclusion

Whether through accidental deletion or unforeseen circumstances, losing a draft email doesn’t have to be permanent. By following 5 methods, you know how to recover a deleted draft email in Gmail.

MyRecover is your last way to recover deleted draft email in Gmail for free. It has a friendly user interface, a high recovery rate, and speed for data recovery. Whether you need to recover files from USB flash drives, SD cards, hard drives, etc. MyRecover can easily recover it without any omission.

Remember, regular backups and careful handling of important emails remain your best defense against data loss.

FAQ

1. How do I recover a lost draft email message?

To retrieve a lost draft email, navigate to the "Drafts" folder in your Gmail. It's possible that drafts deleted from the web interface could still exist in the local cache of your Gmail app or desktop client. If you discover the missing drafts here, you can restore them to your main Drafts folder by simply moving them.

2. How do I find my draft history in Gmail?

You can locate the Drafts folder in the labels list on the left-hand panel of your Gmail inbox. If it's not visible, consider expanding the list of labels. Alternatively, you can use the search function by typing "in:Drafts" in the Gmail search bar to find your draft emails. If you're still unable to see your drafts, go to Settings > See all settings > Labels, find the Drafts label, and ensure it is set to "Show."

3. How long does Gmail keep deleting draft emails before permanently deleting them?

Gmail stores deleted drafts in the Trash for 30 days before they are permanently deleted. During this time, you can restore them by visiting the Trash folder and moving them back to Drafts.

4. Can the Undo Send feature be used to recover emails other than drafts?

Yes, the Undo Send feature can also recall sent emails within a few seconds of sending them.

5. What steps can I take to prevent accidentally deleting draft emails in Gmail in the future?

To minimize the risk of accidentally deleting drafts in Gmail, it's advisable to frequently save your drafts and ensure the Undo Send feature is enabled in the Gmail settings. Always double-check before permanently deleting any emails.

Additionally, maintaining a backup of crucial emails and drafts is a prudent strategy to safeguard your information. Here, I recommend you try this free backup software for Windows - AOMEI Backupper Standard to back up data with ease.