How to Find Reel Drafts on Facebook

You’ve spent the better part of an hour perfecting a Facebook Reel - trimming clips, finding the right music, and writing a clever caption. Not quite ready to post, you hit Save as draft, confident you can come back to it later. But when later arrives, the draft is nowhere to be found. If this scenario feels familiar, you're not alone. This guide will show you exactly where Facebook hides your Reel drafts and how to manage them like a pro on any device.

Why Can't I Find My Facebook Reel Drafts? (A Common Frustration)

Hunting for a saved draft on Facebook can feel like a digital scavenger hunt with no map. The main reason for the confusion is that Facebook Reel drafts are saved locally to the device where you created them. This means a draft you started on your iPhone won't appear on your Android tablet or in your web browser. They aren't stored in the cloud like a Google Doc, they live exclusively on the physical device.

On top of that, there's another catch many creators miss: Facebook Reel drafts automatically expire after 60 days. If you saved something a couple of months ago and come back looking for it, there's a good chance it has been deleted automatically. Understanding these two points - that drafts are device-specific and temporary - is the first step to mastering your content workflow.

How to Find Reel Drafts on the Facebook Mobile App (iOS & Android)

The good news is that once you know the secret handshake, finding your drafts on a mobile device is straightforward. Since this is the only place you can access them, let's walk through the exact steps.

Step-by-Step Guide to Accessing Your Drafts

Whether you're using an iPhone or an Android device, the process is virtually identical. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Facebook App: Launch the app on the same device you used to create the draft.
2. Start Creating a New Reel: You have a few ways to get to the Reel creation screen. You can:
   • Tap the "+" icon in the top-right corner of your home feed and select "Reel" from the menu.
   • Navigate to your own profile, scroll down to the "Reels" section, and tap "Create Reel."
   • Tap the "Reel" button from the menu below the "What's on your mind?" publisher on your main feed.
   Any of these paths will take you to the camera interface where you can record or upload a new Reel.
3. Look for the "Drafts" Option: This is the critical step. Once you’re on the Reel creation screen, you don’t need to record anything new. Instead, look for a button or folder icon labeled "Drafts." Its location can shift slightly depending on your app version, but it is typically located either in the top right corner of the screen or right next to your camera roll gallery at the bottom.
4. View and Edit Your Drafts: Tapping "Drafts" will open a gallery displaying all the Reel drafts saved on that specific device. From here, you’ll see thumbnails of your projects. Simply tap the draft you want to continue working on. You'll be taken right back into the editor, with all your trims, effects, and text intact, ready for you to finish up and post.

Troubleshooting: What If the "Drafts" Button Isn't There?

Sometimes you’ll open the Reels editor and the "Drafts" button is mysteriously absent. Don't panic. Here are a few things to check:

• Do you actually have drafts saved? The button sometimes only appears if there are active drafts saved on that device.
• Are you on the right device? Double-check that you're using the exact same phone or tablet where you originally created the draft.
• Restart the app. A simple force-quit and relaunch of the Facebook app can often resolve minor glitches and make the button reappear.
• Update the app. If you’re running an outdated version of Facebook, you might be encountering a known bug. Head to the App Store or Google Play Store and check for any available updates.

Can You Access Facebook Reel Drafts on Desktop? The Short Answer

This is a common question, especially for social media managers and creators who prefer working on a larger screen. And the answer is, unfortunately, a clear and simple no.

Currently, Facebook does not support creating, saving, editing, or accessing Reel drafts from a desktop browser. The entire draft feature is designed to be mobile-only. The same limitation applies to the Meta Business Suite and Creator Studio, while you can upload and schedule finished videos from your desktop, you cannot access the drafts saved on your phone.

Knowing this can save you a lot of time and frustration. If your workflow involves desktop editing, your best bet is to finalize your video using desktop video-editing software and then upload the finished file via your browser or transfer it to your phone for posting.

Best Practices for Managing Your Facebook Reel Drafts

Just knowing how to find your drafts is only half the battle. Using them effectively as part of a content strategy can save you time and streamline your creative process. Here are a few pro tips for handling your Reel drafts.

1. Save Your Edited Video File Separately

Before you hit "Save as draft," do yourself a huge favor: download the edited video to your phone's camera roll. Most video editing apps, including Facebook's Reels editor, have a "save" or "download" icon (it usually looks like a downward-facing arrow). This creates a clean, watermark-free backup of your work. If your draft vanishes, expires, or the app glitches, you won't lose all your hard editing work. It also gives you a versatile asset you can easily repurpose on other platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts.

2. Use Drafts for Content Batching

The drafts feature is an amazing tool for content batching. Batching is the practice of dedicating a block of time to one type of task. For Reels, this could mean spending an afternoon filming and editing 5-7 videos at once. Instead of posting them all immediately, save each one as a draft inside the Facebook app.

Then, throughout the week, all you have to do is open a draft, add a trending sound if you like, finalize the caption with relevant hashtags, and post. This transforms your creation process from a frantic daily task into a structured, once-a-week session.

3. Set a Reminder for the 60-Day Expiration

Don't let Facebook’s 60-day deletion surprise you. If you have an idea that's more evergreen or part of a future campaign, avoid letting it sit in your drafts folder for too long. Treat drafts as short-term holding and use your phone's gallery or a cloud storage service like Google Drive for long-term video storage. If you absolutely need to keep it as a draft, set a calendar reminder a week before the 60-day mark to post or re-save it.

4. Keep Your Drafts Folder Tidy

A drafts folder cluttered with dozens of abandoned half-ideas can be overwhelming. Every few weeks, take a moment to look through your saved drafts. Delete anything that is no longer relevant, seems outdated, or simply doesn't excite you anymore. A clean drafts folder makes it easier to find the content you actually want to work on.

What to Do if Your Reel Draft Vanished?

Despite your best efforts, you might one day open your drafts folder to discover a crucial video is missing. What should you do?

First, run through the basic checks:

• Are you absolutely certain you're on the same device where it was created?
• Has it been more than 60 days since you last saved it?
• Have you recently uninstalled and reinstalled the Facebook app? (This action deletes all locally stored data, including drafts).
• Did you log out and back into your Facebook account? This can occasionally cause sync issues.

The hard truth is that if the draft isn't appearing after these checks, and especially if it's past the 60-day window or you've reinstalled the app, the draft is likely gone for good. There is no official recovery method provided by Facebook to retrieve lost or expired drafts.

This reality brings us back to the most important best practice: always save a copy of your edited video to your device. Don't rely exclusively on Facebook's draft feature as your only backup. A copy on your camera roll is your ultimate safety net, protecting your creative work from app glitches, accidental deletions, and automatic expirations.

Final Thoughts

Finding Facebook Reel drafts is easy once you know they are saved locally on your mobile device and can only be accessed through the Reels creation screen. By embracing a few best practices - like saving a backup copy of your video and using drafts strategically for content batching - you can turn a frustrating experience into a streamlined and powerful part of your content workflow.

As we get deeper into creating content, especially short-form video, relying on siloed in-app draft features can become a bottleneck. We built Postbase to solve this. Instead of juggling drafts inside a single app, we've found it much more reliable to plan content ahead with a tool that works across all platforms. With our visual calendar and robust scheduler, you can see your entire strategy for Facebook Reels, Instagram, TikTok, and more, all in one place, trusting that your posts will go live when you expect them to. Gone is the worry about a draft disappearing, once planned in Postbase, your content is set.