Yes, LinkedIn allows you to save draft messages that you can come back to later and edit or send. This is useful if you want to take your time to compose an important message or don’t have time to finish writing it in one sitting.
Saving a Draft Message
To save a draft message on LinkedIn, simply start composing a new message like normal in the LinkedIn messaging window. As you are typing out your message, click the “Save as draft” button in the bottom right corner of the messaging window instead of hitting send. This will save your message as a draft that you can come back to.
Your draft message will now be accessible from your “My Drafts” folder in LinkedIn messaging. To view your drafts, click on “Messaging” in the top navigation bar and select “My Drafts” from the left sidebar. Here you will see a list of all your saved draft messages.
When you are ready to continue writing a draft, open it from your drafts folder. You can then pick up where you left off editing the message. Once you are happy with the final version, hit send to deliver it to the intended recipient(s).
Benefits of Saving Draft Messages
There are several benefits to using LinkedIn’s draft message feature:
- Gives you time to carefully compose an important message. Saving as a draft allows you to put thought and effort into perfecting your phrasing or word choice without having to rush.
- Lets you pause writing if you get interrupted or don’t have time to finish. You can save your progress rather than starting over later.
- Enables you to write messages in multiple sessions. This is great if you only have a few minutes here and there to work on a longer message.
- Allows you to sleep on a message before sending. Giving yourself time away from a draft can help you come back with fresh eyes.
- Avoids sending unfinished thoughts by accident. Saving as a draft prevents hitting send too soon.
Overall, it’s a very useful feature that gives you more control over the messaging process.
Tips for Using Draft Messages Effectively
Here are some tips to use LinkedIn’s draft message feature effectively:
- Give drafts a short title or subject line. This makes them easy to identify in your drafts folder.
- Save drafts frequently as you write. This prevents losing your work if something interrupts you.
- Note who drafts are intended for. When reviewing drafts later, you’ll know who you were messaging.
- Set reminders to come back to important drafts. Use your calendar to schedule draft completion.
- Delete old drafts you no longer need. Your drafts folder can get cluttered over time.
- Review long drafts sentence by sentence before sending. Catch any errors you missed the first time.
- Read drafts aloud before sending for formal messages. Hearing it helps you polish the language.
Following these tips will help you get the most mileage out of LinkedIn’s helpful draft feature for composing better messages.
Message Draft Limitations
While LinkedIn’s draft feature is very useful, there are a couple limitations to be aware of:
- Drafts expire after 30 days – Any unused drafts older than 30 days will be automatically deleted from your drafts folder.
- No auto-save – LinkedIn does not save your draft automatically if you navigate away. You have to manually click “Save as draft.”
- Limited drafts – You can only have up to 100 draft messages saved at one time. Your oldest drafts will be deleted if you exceed this limit.
So while the draft feature is extremely handy, make sure you are diligently saving your drafts, periodically cleaning out old ones, and staying under the 100 draft maximum.
Recovering Expired or Deleted Drafts
If one of your important draft messages gets automatically deleted from your drafts folder due to inactivity or hitting the limit, there may still be a way to recover it.
LinkedIn keeps expired and deleted drafts on its servers for a period of time. If you act quickly, you may be able to restore the lost drafts by contacting LinkedIn customer support directly. Explain the situation and specify which draft messages you need restored. The customer service team can then attempt to recover your deleted drafts if they are still on LinkedIn’s server.
However, there is no guarantee this will work. LinkedIn encrypts draft messages for security purposes. And drafts get permanently deleted from their servers after an undisclosed period of time. So the sooner you contact support after losing a draft, the better your chances of getting it back.
Alternative Option: Copying Your Drafts Outside of LinkedIn
To guard against losing drafts due to expiration, accidental deletion, or hitting the limit, some LinkedIn users choose to compose their drafts externally first.
For example, you could draft your messages in a Word document or text editor like Notepad first. You can take as long as you want perfecting the draft and don’t have to worry about any limits. When ready, copy and paste the text into a new LinkedIn message and send.
The downside to this approach is not having your drafts automatically synced and accessible within LinkedIn for continued editing. But for some users, the added security of an external draft is worth the tradeoff.
Can You Save Draft Messages on Mobile?
In addition to saving drafts on LinkedIn’s desktop website, you can also save drafts in the LinkedIn mobile app.
The process works the same as on desktop. As you compose a new message, tap the “Save as draft” link to save your progress. You can then find your drafts by going to “Messaging” and selecting “Drafts.”
The mobile app also has the same limitations as the desktop site, including drafts expiring after 30 days and a limit of 100 drafts. One difference is that the mobile app does not have an option to contact customer support within the app.
So if you do a lot of LinkedIn messaging on the go from your smartphone, take advantage of the ability to save drafts for those times when you cannot finish a message in one sitting.
In Conclusion
Being able to save draft messages is an indispensable tool for composing the perfect professional communications on LinkedIn. Using the “Save as draft” button allows you to carefully craft your wording over multiple sessions without worrying about losing your work.
While there are some limitations like draft expiration and maximums, overall the draft feature massively improves the LinkedIn messaging experience. Just be sure you are proactively saving and labeling your drafts, and periodically cleaning out old ones you no longer need.