# Saved "Drafts" for posted comments **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [August 30, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786 "2021-08-30T17:05:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/1 "2021-08-30T17:05:51Z")
Every once in a while, I post a comment, and later when I come back to the thread, my comment is there - but also there’s a saved draft identical to the comment that was posted. Not a big deal, but if there’s something I can do to prevent that, I’d appreciate knowing it ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/2 "2021-08-30T23:05:53Z")
That only happens to me when I switch tabs while I’m composing the comment. If I switch tabs then I have to delete the duplicate on the old tab. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/3 "2021-08-31T00:14:21Z")
I hadn’t noticed that, but I switch tabs moderately often, so that could be the key ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/4 "2021-09-04T23:34:10Z")
Switching tabs is a good suggestion. Note that if you want to compose posts on a separate scratch pad, **sending a PM to yourself** is another way to do that. You can have as many draft replies as you want (technically as many as there are topics), but you can only have one draft _topic_ in flight. Check your user profile for the drafts tab… we also added a draft count to the user drop down at upper right so you can tell how many you have in flight at any given time: [![](https://i.imgur.com/tBuAwXe.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/tBuAwXe.png) ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/5 "2021-09-07T11:42:47Z")
I’ve had that happen a few times, but usually refreshing the page makes it go away. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/6 "2021-09-07T23:36:48Z")
The problem isn’t losing drafts - it’s having drafts stick around even after the post is posted. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/7 "2021-09-08T01:46:20Z")
What I get sometimes is that, when (and if) I finally get around to finishing and posting the draft, I get a popup asking whether I want to post it in that thread or the original thread. But that thread is the original thread; though I may have closed and re-opened the window between starting and finishing the post. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/8 "2021-09-09T19:19:10Z")
Hmm, in multiple tabs? Do you have any drafts right now? Tap your avatar, then tap the person icon… right now I have one draft, it is this post I am composing right now. I’ll submit it, and then look again… edit: confirmed, after submitting the post it goes from > Drafts (1) to > Drafts And now that I’m back in the editor, it’s showing one draft in flight again. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/9 "2021-09-09T19:56:19Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > Hmm, in multiple tabs? Do you have any drafts right now? Tap your avatar, then tap the person icon… Huh; it says I’ve got three, all of which I’d long since forgotten about. I don’t know whether I wound up posting a different reply in those threads, or thought I had posted the draft and for some reason it’s still showing as a draft, or whether I just decided not to post. I often don’t post something I started; maybe because somebody else first said what I was going to, or the thread has moved on and I’m not going to bother taking it back to the earlier discussion, or I needed to research something and didn’t get around to it, or I just decided not to get into that discussion with that person. Multiple tabs may well have been involved; and I may have had more than one of them open at once, because sometimes I’ll leave a tab open intending to come back to it, but when I come back I start with the “unread” page, see it there, and open it again. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/10 "2021-09-09T23:05:22Z")
Testing an idea - I’ll be right back ETA: I opened a tab, started the above post, opened a different tab, and submitted, and of course the original draft was still there in tab 1. Probably that’s my problem. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/11 "2021-09-15T23:42:29Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > Hmm, in multiple tabs? Guess so. I just had it happen; the popup box I got said: > Which topic do you want to reply to/ > > Reply on Original Topic > undefined > > Reply Here > [title of topic] – and when I looked I saw I had two tabs open to that thread at the same time. I posted as “reply here” and when I got back to the other window an earlier version of my post was still there in the edit window. I cancelled that one. Apparently editing the post in one window didn’t also edit that same reply when it was also open in a separate window (same topic). But I’m not sure why the Original Topic would show as “undefined”. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/12 "2021-10-13T20:59:13Z")
Oh yes the “undefined” is a bug. If you have a good set of steps to reproduce that outcome please let us know so we can fix it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saved-drafts-for-posted-comments/949786/13 "2021-10-14T02:29:33Z")
As near as I can tell: Open a thread in a tab. Start a reply in that tab, but don’t post it; just leave it sitting there in the reply window. After the thread’s moved on a bit, open it (from the Latest page, or from Unread, or wherever) in a different tab; while leaving the original tab still open. The started reply shows up in the newer tab also. Modify the reply in the new tab; then try to post it. – if that doesn’t reproduce it, let me know, and I’ll play around with it a bit more.