Unable to save your message as a draft. Sending of the messa

[reft]

I'm getting repeated error messages after updating to 78.4: "Unable to save your message as a draft. Sending of the message failed."

This happens when an e-mail is being auto saved whilst composing (i.e. not when sending as suggested by the message). Is there something awry somewhere?

Many thanks.

[DanRaisch]

How is the account set up, as POP or IMAP? In Thunderbird the menu path is Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.
What folder is selected as the target for saving Drafts? Check that under menu path Tools->Account Settings->Copies & Folders

[morat]

Are you using encryption?

Similar issue by wojtek
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1222992#c5

[tanstaafl]

I've occasionally run into a problem with Thunderbird saving the draft in a remote folder (IMAP account) in my main account for years. However, it didn't say anything about sending failed because it wasn't trying to send yet. Its focus was on did I want to retry saving the draft. In version 78.* I think I've seen different error text with different buttons. I assume its the same problem, it just looks different due to the user interface changes made in version 78.

I've never seen that problem in other accounts, so I assume its a email provider specific problem.

If you are using a IMAP account consider setting the drafts folder (using copies & folders") to the drafts folder in "Local Folders". You lose the ability to edit the draft from another PC but it prevents the problem and improves performance.

[reft]

Sorry for the delay in reverting. The issue happens on my POP3 accounts (with different providers). This is unlikely to be a server issue, it seems to be something to do with TB, and is something that has been introduced on the upgrade. I've been using TB for very many years and I sort of recall this as having been an issue years ago (the message may have been similar but not the same). Could this be a regression? I am talking a long time ago,m so I doubt it. The Drafts folder on these accounts points to the Drafts folder on Local Folders, which exists. I tried setting it elsewhere and re-setting it and still have the same issue. Prior to getting this message, I had not changed any of the settings after the update. I have my profile folders in a non-standard location, but as I say that has been the case for years and the rest of my e-mails etc. seem to be there, so this as an issue seems unlikely. Any suggestions?

[DanRaisch]

First, backup your Profile ( http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup )

Create a new sub-folder under Local Folders. Move any messages currently in your Drafts folder to that new subfolder.

Confirm that you have made the recommended backup of your Profile.

Close Thunderbird and navigate to the \Mail sub-folder of your Profile folder and then to the sub-directory of that POP account. Delete both the file Drafts.msf and the file Drafts with no extension.

Restart Thunderbird and compose a new message, intentionally saving it to drafts before sending. Thunderbird will create a new Drafts folder and Drafts.msf file when it saves. Copy any messages you MUST have in your Drafts from the sub-folder created above to the Drafts. Compact the Drafts after those messages are copied in.

The "Real Fix" entry in this article -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders#Real_fix also describes this process.

[reft]

Thanks for the suggestion. It does not seem to work and I have tried many variations on the same theme... I have now noticed that I also have the same issue when trying to save a template e-mail. I get exactly the same message, which is frustrating as I use templates a lot. Incidentally, TB does not seem to re-create the Drafts folder (under Local Folders) after I execute your suggestion. It stays missing. The same is true if I try with Templates. There is no problem removing or reinstating e-mails within these files, so this is not a write permission issue. It only happens when I attempt to save from a composition window.

I compress folders regularly throughout the day. I have tried using "Repair Folders" - nothing changes. I have deleted the .msf file a number of times and TB recreates them without an issue (i.e. no write permission issue). My Sent folder under Local Folders receives Sent Messages okay. If I re-assign the Drafts and/or Templates folder in Account settings to a newly created folder (called "nonsense" for example, under Local Folders, the issue and the messages I get remain the same. This is not a corruption issue.

Each time I attempt a save (whether to Drafts or Templates folders) an nsmail.eml file of zero length is created in my User Windows Temp/Tmp directory. The file name is incremented by 1 each time, so on the second occasion there will also be an nsmail-1.eml file of zero length. I'm unsure why the Windows Temp directory would be used to attempt to save potential e-mails? Note that the nsmail.eml files are created in the Windows User Temp directory (NOT a Mozilla or TB sub-directory of that directory). Again, there isn't an issue *writing* to the directory as I get a zero length file in there. The problem seems to be a TB issue to me.

I have it set up that all drafts and templates are saved to the folders immediately under Local Folders, and this has been fine for years. It has just stopped working for no apparent reason. Personally, this is a bug, whatever way you look at it as the error message is not appropriate to the situation - I am not attempting to send the message.

[DanRaisch]

Are you using the Global Inbox option for that account? http://kb.mozillazine.org/Global_Inbox

[reft]

Yes, I use Global for all my accounts.

[DanRaisch]

OK, and under menu path Tools->Account Settings->Copies & Folders, is the Drafts folder under Local Folders selected as the storage location for Draft messages and the Template folder under Local Folders selected as the storage location for Template messages?

[reft]

Yes, although per earlier post I have tried other folders etc. including a newly created folder immediately under Local Folders, to which I can copy draft e-mails from the Draft folder, and from which I can copy those same draft e-mails back to the Drafts folder, but to which I cannot auto-save or save manually from a composition window, either to the Drafts folder (under Local Folders) or the Templates folder. Thanks for your attention to this.

[reft]

A little bit more information: I noticed that one of my (many - is that related?) e-mail accounts did not have this problem. In respect of saving etc., the parameters appeared to be identical to one that did have the problem. I checked very carefully. I decided to delete the problematic e-mail account (the one I checked, there are still others) and re-set it up. Saving to Local Folders->Drafts is now working. The settings are identical (I photographed them), but the result is better. Something funny has happened probably during an update. The thought of re-entering all my accounts after deleting them is not one that thrills me, but I suppose at least I now have a work around.

[tomdkat]

A little bit more information: I noticed that one of my (many - is that related?) e-mail accounts did not have this problem. In respect of saving etc., the parameters appeared to be identical to one that did have the problem. I checked very carefully. I decided to delete the problematic e-mail account (the one I checked, there are still others) and re-set it up. Saving to Local Folders->Drafts is now working. The settings are identical (I photographed them), but the result is better. Something funny has happened probably during an update. The thought of re-entering all my accounts after deleting them is not one that thrills me, but I suppose at least I now have a work around.

Thanks for posting this information. I'm experiencing the same problem with my Comcast account, which I access via POP3. I haven't tried to troubleshoot the issue at all but knowing deleting and recreating the "problem" account seems to fix the problem. I'll keep this in mind while I figure out what I'm going to do. I'm not using the Global Inbox and I'm now running Thunderbird 78.5.0 on Ubuntu 20.10.

Thanks for starting this thread and for posting your updates!

Peace...

[g3swh]

I have suddenly developed the same problem. I am using version 78.7.0, the account is set up as POP and the location for saving Drafts and Templates” is in the “Drafts” folder under my e-mail address.

I have read somewhere that there may be a problem if the database gets “too big”, but cannot find any definition of what “too big” might be. I have all my e-mails archived in separate folders by year going back to 2008.

Any help and suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards and TIA

Phil

[DanRaisch]

How many messages are currently stored in the Drafts folder?
Does the issue disappear if you right click on the Drafts folder name in the left hand pane of the main Thunderbird window, select "Properties" from the context menu, and then click on "Repair folder"?