a new draft should see old drafts deleted, so we quite probably have an issue. But what sort or what is the cause.

• Restart Thunderbird with add-ons disabled (Thunderbird Safe Mode). On the Help menu, click on "Restart with Add-ons Disabled". If Thunderbird works like normal, there is an Add-on or Theme interfering with normal operations. You will need to re-enable add-ons one at a time until you locate the offender.
• Restart the operating system in safe mode with Networking. This loads only the very basics needed to start your computer while enabling an Internet connection. Click on your operating system for instructions on how to start in safe mode: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, OSX

If safe mode for the operating system fixes the issue, there's other software in your computer that's causing problems. Possibilities include but not limited to: AV scanning, virus/malware, background downloads such as program updates.

After restarting Tbird with Add-ons disabled the problem appears to be solved. I will now re-enable each add-on at a time to see what happens. Thanks for your help. victorjohn

I have now added the English dictionary so that there is an automatic check before releasing to send. It works fine and there is no duplication in Drafts. Thus it is SOLVED. As the dictionary was the only add-on which I had selected previously this must have been causing the problem. However it is ok now so I will carry-on.

Thanks again for your help. victorjohn

I have now added the English dictionary so that there is an automatic check before releasing to send. It works fine and there is no duplication in Drafts. Thus it is SOLVED. As the dictionary was the only add-on which I had selected previously this must have been causing the problem. However it is ok now so I will carry-on.

Thanks again for your help. victorjohn

Thanks. Please do tell us which addon you find to be causing the problem

Did you determine which addon is at fault?