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The Mac|Life 101 series is where you can come to learn new and simple ways to do things with Apple’s desktop and mobile operating systems. Whether you’re new to the platform, or just want to learn a new technique, then MacLife 101 is for you.
We’ve all been there: You need to write an email, but you don’t have the time to devote fully right now. If only iOS had a feature that would let you save new messages you’re composing, then finish writing them later. Luckily, it does, and we’ll show you this somewhat hidden feature in the iOS Mail app that lets you easily write a new email, save it, and then revisit and finish writing it later.
Creating a Draft Message
To create a draft message, simply tap on the Compose message button in the toolbar at the bottom of the Mail application in iOS.
After you’ve composed your message, and want to save it for sending later, you can tap on the Cancel button in the upper, left-hand corner of the Mail app as if you were going to exit the compose view. If you have made changes to the compose view, then it’ll ask whether you wish to “Delete Draft,” “Save Draft,” or “Cancel.” Tap on “Save Draft.”
Viewing Your Saved Drafts
Being able to save your draft emails is nice, but where do they go? You’ll notice there’s no way to view the drafts in the Mailboxes overview. To view a list of all the drafts you saved for all of the email accounts on your device, tap and hold on the Compose message button (the same button that you tap on to create a new email).
In this view, you have a button to create a New Message, and below that, all of your Previous Drafts appear in a list. Tap on any of the previous drafts to have them open in a new compose view, ready to finish and send to the recipient; or, delete the drafts by swiping from left to right on the draft item in the list.
Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow this article’s author on Twitter.
