Yes, LinkedIn does save draft messages that you start composing but do not send. This allows you to come back later and finish writing the message before sending it.
Where Does LinkedIn Save Draft Messages?
LinkedIn saves unfinished, unsent messages as drafts in the messages section of your account. To access drafts on LinkedIn:
- Click on “Messages” at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
- In the left sidebar, click on “Drafts.”
This will open the drafts folder, which contains all messages you’ve started but haven’t sent yet. The drafts are organized by date with the most recent at the top.
How Long Does LinkedIn Keep Draft Messages?
LinkedIn will save draft messages indefinitely, so you can return to an unfinished message days, weeks, or even months later to complete and send it. The drafts will never expire.
Even if you close the message window or navigate away from the drafts folder, your unsent messages will be waiting for you when you return.
Does LinkedIn Save All Unfinished Messages as Drafts?
Yes, any message you start to compose in the LinkedIn messaging window but do not complete sending will be automatically saved as a draft. This includes:
- Messages you are writing in the main message window but have not clicked send.
- Messages you click to expand into a new window but don’t send.
- Replies to existing conversations that you start but don’t finish.
Essentially any message content you enter that you have not deliberately deleted or sent will be saved by LinkedIn as a draft.
Does LinkedIn Notify You When Drafts Are Saved?
LinkedIn does not send any notification when a draft is saved. The unfinished message will be quietly stored in your drafts folder without alerting you.
The only way to see your drafts on LinkedIn is to purposefully navigate to the drafts folder in your messages.
Can You Manually Save a Message as a Draft?
There is no manual “Save as Draft” option on LinkedIn. Messages are automatically saved as drafts if you start writing but do not send them.
However, you can mimic manually saving a draft by:
- Writing your message.
- Highlighting and copying the text.
- Closing the message window without sending.
- Opening a new message window and pasting in the copied text.
This unused new message will be saved as a draft containing the content you copied over.
What Happens if You Accidentally Close a Message Before Sending?
Not to worry! As long as you began writing a message, that content will be saved by LinkedIn automatically. Even if you close the window accidentally, your message will be waiting for you in drafts.
Can You Delete Draft Messages?
Yes, you can delete any drafts that you no longer need or want to send. To delete a draft:
- Open the draft you want to delete from your drafts folder.
- Click the trash can icon at the top of the message window.
- Confirm you want to delete the draft when prompted.
The draft will be immediately removed from your drafts folder and permanently deleted.
Do Drafts Count Toward Your Daily Message Limit?
No, unsent draft messages do not count toward the daily limit of messages you can send on LinkedIn. Only messages that have actually been delivered will deduct from your sending quota.
So feel free to start and save as many drafts as you want – it will not affect your ability to send messages each day.
Can You Edit a Draft Message?
Yes, you can freely edit any draft message before sending it. To make changes to a draft:
- Open the draft you want to edit.
- Make any revisions or additions to the message text.
- Once you are done, close the window to re-save the draft with your edits.
Your updated draft will remain in your drafts folder for future editing or sending.
Do Drafts Ever Send Automatically?
No, LinkedIn will never send a draft message without you deliberately clicking the “Send” button. This ensures you have full control and oversight of all messages before they are delivered.
Drafts cannot be accidentally sent by closing the window, navigating away, or even logging out of your account. You must intentionally send a draft for it to be delivered.
Can You Save a Draft as a Template?
LinkedIn does not have a built-in template feature to save drafts for reuse. However, you can mimic template saving using these steps:
- Write a draft message you want to save as a template.
- Highlight and copy all the text.
- Paste the copied text into a document outside LinkedIn to store.
- Whenever you want to reuse the template, copy and paste it into a new LinkedIn message.
While not perfect, this allows you to mimic saving template drafts.
Do Other LinkedIn Users See Your Drafts?
No, draft messages are only visible to you in your own account. Other LinkedIn members cannot see drafts that have not been sent.
Your drafts remain private to you until the moment you intentionally deliver the message.
Can You Recover Deleted Drafts?
Unfortunately, no. When you delete a draft on LinkedIn, it is permanently erased and cannot be recovered.
To be safe, consider copying important draft content to an external document before deleting so you have a backup.
Summary
In summary, LinkedIn automatically saves any messages you start composing but do not send as drafts. These drafts are stored indefinitely in your messages section and can be edited, deleted, or sent at any time. Drafts remain private and do not count against your daily sending limits.
Knowing that LinkedIn reliably saves unfinished messages as drafts makes composing content less stressful – you can pick up where you left off anytime!