Alexis Kestler
Hey there! Have you ever started writing an amazing Facebook post only to decide to save it for later? We‘ve all been there. The good news is that Facebook allows you to save drafts of your unfinished posts so you can come back and publish them when you‘re ready.
But you‘re probably wondering – how do I actually find those drafts again later? Don‘t worry, I‘ve got you covered!
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through everything you need to know about accessing, editing, and posting Facebook drafts. I‘ll cover the process for both desktop and mobile, for your personal profile and for Facebook Pages you manage.
By the end, you‘ll be a Facebook draft expert! So let‘s get started.
What Are Facebook Drafts?
Before we dive in to finding drafts, let‘s quickly cover what drafts actually are.
A Facebook draft is simply a post you‘ve started writing but haven‘t published yet. When you hit "Save Draft" instead of "Post", your unfinished post gets saved by Facebook so you can work on it later.
Drafts are different than scheduled posts, where you fully finish the post first and then schedule it to publish at a specific future date/time.
Here are some key facts about Facebook drafts:
- You can only have 1 unpublished draft at a time. New drafts will overwrite old ones.
- Drafts are saved for 7 days before being deleted automatically.
- You can edit saved drafts as many times as you want before posting.
- Drafts do not get published unless you manually hit "Post".
Now that you know what drafts are, let‘s get into the step-by-step for finding them again later!
Accessing Drafts on Facebook Desktop
Finding your drafts on a computer is quick and easy, whether you‘re using your personal profile or a Facebook Page.
Personal Profile Drafts
Here‘s how to access drafts for your personal Facebook profile on desktop:
- Click the down arrow at the top right of your screen next to "Home".
- Select "Drafts" from the dropdown menu.
This will open your drafts tray, which contains any current drafts you have saved.
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To open a draft, simply click on it. The draft will open in the post editor, where you can edit the text, change media, etc.
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When you‘re happy with your draft, click "Post" to publish it to your timeline!
And that‘s all there is to it. The desktop drafts experience is designed to be simple and user-friendly.
Facebook Page Drafts
Accessing drafts for Facebook Pages you manage is just as easy on desktop. Here‘s how:
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Go to your Facebook Page and click on "Publishing Tools" in the left sidebar.
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In the menu that pops up, click on "Posts".
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Near the top of the screen, click on the "Drafts" tab.
This will display a list of all the draft posts you currently have saved for your Page.
- Click a draft to open it in the editor, make any changes you want, and click "Post" when you‘re done!
Just follow these steps whenever you want to return to your Page‘s drafts on desktop. Nice and easy!
Finding Drafts on Mobile
The process for accessing drafts on mobile isn‘t quite as simple unfortunately. But don‘t worry – I‘ll walk you through it step-by-step!
Personal Profile Drafts
Let‘s start with personal profile drafts. On mobile devices, the only way to access drafts for your own profile is via notifications.
Here‘s what to do:
On Android:
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Start writing a post but don‘t publish it. Tap the back arrow to save it as a draft instead.
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You‘ll get a notification saying "See Drafts." Tap it to open your drafts.
- This opens your drafts tray, where you can select a draft to edit and post.
On iPhone:
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When writing a post, tap "Save as Draft" before backing out.
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Later, you‘ll get a notification to "Finish Your Previous Post."
- Tapping this notification will open your draft for editing.
A couple important notes about personal profile drafts on mobile:
- You can only have 1 draft at a time. New drafts will overwrite old ones.
- Draft notifications must be enabled to access drafts this way.
- Drafts may expire after a few hours if you don‘t open them via notification.
So while accessing personal drafts on mobile takes a few extra steps, just follow the notification workflow and you‘ll be all set!
Facebook Page Drafts
For Facebook Pages, the mobile draft experience is a little more robust than personal profiles. Here‘s how to find Page drafts on mobile:
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Download the Meta Business Suite app (formerly Facebook Business Suite).
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In Business Suite, tap the Drafts icon at the bottom of the screen.
- This opens your Page‘s drafts tray, where you can tap any draft to open it for editing.
The key difference here is that you can create and manage multiple drafts for a Page via Business Suite – but you can‘t access Page drafts directly within the Facebook app itself.
So when using Facebook mobile for your Page, be sure to use Business Suite for any drafts. The native Facebook app doesn‘t support it.
Facebook Draft Limitations
While drafts are super useful, the feature does have some limitations that are good to be aware of:
Personal profiles:
- You can only have 1 draft at a time.
- Drafts can only be accessed via notifications.
Pages:
- Drafts can‘t be accessed natively on the Facebook mobile app – Business Suite required.
All drafts:
- Expire after 7 days automatically.
- Are deleted permanently once you publish them.
So just keep these restrictions in mind, especially on mobile and for your personal profile. But overall, drafts are still incredibly valuable for planning and organizing your Facebook content!
Facebook Drafts FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about Facebook drafts to help fill you in on any other details:
Can I schedule a draft to post later?
Unfortunately no. To schedule a post for the future you have to fully publish it first rather than saving as a draft.
Do my drafts have to be text posts? Or can they be videos/images/etc?
Drafts can be any type of content – text, images, videos, polls, or anything else you can post on Facebook!
What happens if I delete a draft without posting it?
If you delete a draft, that content is permanently gone with no way to recover it. Drafts are also automatically deleted after 7 days.
Can I see my old drafts after I publish them?
Once you post a draft, it disappears from your drafts tray and cannot be accessed again. So be sure to post any drafts you want to save!
Key Takeaways
Let‘s do a quick recap of the key tips for finding drafts on Facebook:
- On desktop, use the drafts tray for easy access.
- For personal profiles on mobile, rely on notifications.
- For Pages on mobile, use Business Suite – not the Facebook app.
- Drafts expire after 7 days and disappear once posted.
Keep these steps in mind and you‘ll never struggle to find your Facebook drafts again!
I hope this guide gave you everything you need to master accessing, editing, and posting drafts. Let me know if you have any other questions – I‘m happy to help!
