The Outlook app is a reliable email client that you can use on your computer or your mobile device. Outlook is under Microsoft Corporation, but the app is also available to Apple users including iOS.
However, some people have reported that the Outlook app on iOS fails to create draft on certain emails. An error happens every time they try to save an email to draft with this error message,
“Can’t save draft. Please copy and paste your draft content into a new message to continue.”
It is a hassle not to save an email content to draft. You may be thinking twice before sending an email, so best to save it to draft first. But, not doing so will only make you recreate the email message.
How To Fix Outlook App for iOS Cannot Create and Save Draft
Solution #1 – Reload Your Outlook App for iOS
A quick reload of the iPhone app can refresh the Outlook and delete the temporary files that may be causing the error. To reload,
- Close your Outlook app and wait for at least a minute.
- Now, try to open your Outlook app again.
- Create a new message and save it to draft to check if the error is still there.
Solution #2 – Check Your Internet Connection
It may be a problem with your network connection. Perform a speed test. You may want to improve your Internet connection, sometimes Outlook errors can be solved by this. If there is a different network available, try to use it and see if the error still exists. Try to switch to a Wi-Fi connection if you are using cellular data.
Solution #3 – Open Outlook in Your Browser
If you continue to experience the error, try launching Outlook on your browser.
- Open any browser on your computer and type outlook.com.
- Sign in your Microsoft details.
- Now, try to create a new message and save it to draft. Check if it still pops up the error or not.
Solution #4 – Enable Outlook’s S/MIME on your iPhone
S/MIME stands for Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. This technology enables you to encrypt your messages for added security. While emails are encrypted, enabling the S/MIME will add another layer of protection to your email. It encrypts a public key, which your recipient will need to decrypt it.
To enable S/MIME,
- Open your Outlook App.
- Navigate to Settings.
- Click Mail Account.
- Go to Security and you will see the S/MIME option.
- If it is disabled, toggle it to enabled.
That’s it! Follow the solutions above one a time and test if the draft error on your iPhone is resolved or not. If none of the solutions above work for you, contact Microsoft Outlook Support.
Was the article helpful? Let us know in the comments below.
After I go to mail account there is no option to go to security setting from there.
Actually discovered why I see the error message, as in my case the draft message was saved for me to go in outlook and send it out.
I discovered that on my iOS office app I was logged into my personal account. Where as when looking to send a message as a share link from
My browser I am logged into outlook using my work email account. Once I switched the office to my work account the problem disappeared.
This suggestion didn’t work for me as I couldn’t find the S/MIME option on my phone. HOWEVER, I did find a RESET ACCOUNT option and that did the trick. It’s under SETTINGS/IMAP.
Phone is an iPhone 10 running iOS 16.1. Initially I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Outlook app, but that didn’t work.