Musically, "Save as Draft" is a mid-tempo
power ballad, featuring "icy" production, During an episode of
Delilah Rene's podcast
Conversations with Delilah, Perry said that the song was a warning about coming to terms with an ex: "I've been in that cycle before in a relationship and it had kind of reignited the relationship, and there's only so many times you can reignite the relationship or want to or should and sometimes you just need to write it and never send it [...] It's just that exercise, that cathartic exercise." Perry further stated: "I like drafting and then sleeping on it because, for me, my emotions get very heightened in the evening [...]." Based on the interview,
HuffPost Brittany Wong called the singer a "breakup coach" and jokingly advised her to write a
self-help book in the future. Kevin O'Donnell of
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Save as Draft" showcases "a timely rumination on the suckiness of living in a digital world". Lyrics of the track include: "I don't fuck with change, but lately I've been flipping coins a lot" and "I struggle, I juggle, I could just throw a line to you / But I should let sleeping dogs lie / 'Cause I know better, baby / I write it, erase it, repeat it, but what good will it do to reopen the wound?" Perry sings the lines: "So I take a deep breath / And I save as draft" in a near whisper tone and takes an audible breath throughout. ==Reception and promotion==