diff --git a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list-store.coffee b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list-store.coffee
index 2cf646d02..d181c638b 100644
--- a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list-store.coffee
+++ b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list-store.coffee
@@ -49,6 +49,6 @@ class DraftListStore extends NylasStore
     return unless change.objectClass is Message.name
     containsDraft = _.some(change.objects, (msg) -> msg.draft)
     return unless containsDraft and @_view
-    @_view.invalidate()
+    @_view.invalidate({change: change, shallow: true})
 
 module.exports = new DraftListStore()
diff --git a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list.cjsx b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list.cjsx
index 874dc5406..21a13d561 100644
--- a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list.cjsx
+++ b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/draft-list.cjsx
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@ React = require 'react'
  InjectedComponent} = require 'nylas-component-kit'
 {timestamp, subject} = require './formatting-utils'
 {Actions,
+ FocusedContentStore,
  DatabaseStore} = require 'nylas-exports'
 DraftListStore = require './draft-list-store'
+EmptyState = require './empty-state'
 
 class DraftList extends React.Component
   @displayName: 'DraftList'
@@ -15,10 +17,14 @@ class DraftList extends React.Component
 
   componentWillMount: =>
     snippet = (html) =>
-      @draftSanitizer ?= document.createElement('div')
-      @draftSanitizer.innerHTML = html[0..400]
-      text = @draftSanitizer.innerText
-      text[0..200]
+      return "" unless html and typeof(html) is 'string'
+      try
+        @draftSanitizer ?= document.createElement('div')
+        @draftSanitizer.innerHTML = html[0..400]
+        text = @draftSanitizer.innerText
+        text[0..200]
+      catch
+        return ""
 
     c1 = new ListTabular.Column
       name: "Name"
@@ -50,7 +56,7 @@ class DraftList extends React.Component
 
     @columns = [c1, c2, c3]
     @commands =
-      'core:remove-from-view': @_onDelete
+      'core:remove-from-view': @_onRemoveFromView
 
   render: =>
     <MultiselectList
@@ -58,6 +64,7 @@ class DraftList extends React.Component
       columns={@columns}
       commands={@commands}
       onDoubleClick={@_onDoubleClick}
+      emptyComponent={EmptyState}
       itemPropsProvider={ -> {} }
       itemHeight={39}
       className="draft-list"
@@ -68,10 +75,10 @@ class DraftList extends React.Component
 
   # Additional Commands
 
-  _onDelete: ({focusedId}) =>
-    item = DraftListStore.view().getById(focusedId)
-    return unless item
-    Actions.destroyDraft(item.clientId)
+  _onRemoveFromView: =>
+    items = DraftListStore.view().selection.items()
+    for item in items
+      Actions.destroyDraft(item.clientId)
 
 
 module.exports = DraftList
diff --git a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx
index 38258c7d5..6021232c9 100644
--- a/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx
+++ b/internal_packages/thread-list/lib/empty-state.cjsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ classNames = require 'classnames'
 {DatabaseView,
  NylasAPI,
  NylasSyncStatusStore,
+ Message,
  WorkspaceStore} = require 'nylas-exports'
 
 EmptyMessages = [{
@@ -80,6 +81,8 @@ class EmptyState extends React.Component
     @_unlisteners = []
     @_unlisteners.push WorkspaceStore.listen(@_onChange, @)
     @_unlisteners.push NylasSyncStatusStore.listen(@_onChange, @)
+    if @props.visible and not @state.active
+      @setState(active:true)
 
   shouldComponentUpdate: (nextProps, nextState) ->
     # Avoid deep comparison of dataView, which is a very complex object
@@ -103,6 +106,8 @@ class EmptyState extends React.Component
     messageOverride = null
 
     if @props.dataView instanceof DatabaseView
+      if @props.dataView.klass is Message
+        messageOverride = "No messages to display."
       if @state.layoutMode is 'list'
         ContentComponent = ContentQuotes
       if @state.syncing
diff --git a/src/flux/stores/database-view.coffee b/src/flux/stores/database-view.coffee
index e22455bc1..10d6e1e5e 100644
--- a/src/flux/stores/database-view.coffee
+++ b/src/flux/stores/database-view.coffee
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ class DatabaseView extends ModelView
 
     @selection.updateModelReferences(items)
     @selection.removeItemsNotMatching(@_matchers)
+    if change.type is 'unpersist'
+      @selection.remove(item) for item in items
 
     if items.length > 5
       @log("invalidateAfterDatabaseChange on #{items.length} items would be expensive. Invalidating entire range.")