diff --git a/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.spec.ts b/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.spec.ts
index f6160ffb1a..953f9a37d7 100644
--- a/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.spec.ts
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ describe('DashboardMenuComponent', () => {
     recordsRepository.draftsChanged$ = hot('-a-|', {
       a: void 0,
     })
-    recordsRepository.getAllDrafts = jest
+    recordsRepository.getDraftsCount = jest
       .fn()
-      .mockReturnValue(hot('ab-|', { a: [], b: [{}] }))
+      .mockReturnValue(hot('ab-|', { a: 0, b: 1 }))
 
     // Define the expected marble diagram
     const expected = cold('ab-|', { a: 0, b: 1 })
diff --git a/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.ts b/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.ts
index e602f6d713..a1db676004 100644
--- a/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.ts
+++ b/apps/metadata-editor/src/app/dashboard/dashboard-menu/dashboard-menu.component.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { MatIconModule } from '@angular/material/icon'
 import { RouterModule } from '@angular/router'
 import { TranslateModule } from '@ngx-translate/core'
 import { RecordsRepositoryInterface } from '@geonetwork-ui/common/domain/repository/records-repository.interface'
-import { map, startWith, switchMap } from 'rxjs/operators'
+import { startWith, switchMap } from 'rxjs/operators'
 import { BadgeComponent } from '@geonetwork-ui/ui/inputs'
 
 @Component({
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@ import { BadgeComponent } from '@geonetwork-ui/ui/inputs'
 })
 export class DashboardMenuComponent {
   draftsCount$ = this.recordsRepository.draftsChanged$.pipe(
-    startWith(void 0),
-    switchMap(() => this.recordsRepository.getAllDrafts()),
-    map((drafts) => drafts.length)
+    startWith(0),
+    switchMap(() => this.recordsRepository.getDraftsCount())
   )
   activeLink = false
 
diff --git a/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.spec.ts b/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.spec.ts
index 4a4815c547..7a0b635ac7 100644
--- a/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.spec.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { XmlElement } from '@rgrove/parse-xml'
+import { XmlElement, XmlText } from '@rgrove/parse-xml'
 import {
   assertValidXml,
   createDocument,
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ end.
       const doc = parseXmlString(input)
       expect(xmlToString(doc)).toEqual(input)
     })
+
+    it('should properly escape special characters in text', () => {
+      const textNode = new XmlText('Text with <, >, &')
+
+      const result = xmlToString(textNode)
+
+      expect(result).toBe('Text with &lt;, &gt;, &amp;')
+    })
   })
 
   describe('replaceNamespace', () => {
diff --git a/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.ts b/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.ts
index 3b6146a90a..c67e190f38 100644
--- a/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.ts
+++ b/libs/api/metadata-converter/src/lib/xml-utils.ts
@@ -199,6 +199,12 @@ export function xmlToString(
   el: XmlElement | XmlText | XmlComment | XmlDocument,
   indentationLevel = 0
 ) {
+  const encodeEntities = (text: string) => {
+    return text
+      .replace(/&/g, '&amp;')
+      .replace(/</g, '&lt;')
+      .replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
+  }
   if (el instanceof XmlDocument)
     return `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>${xmlToString(
       el.children[0]
@@ -207,10 +213,7 @@ export function xmlToString(
     const text = el.text
     const isEmpty = !text || text.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '') === ''
     if (isEmpty) return ''
-    return text
-      .replace(/&/g, '&amp;')
-      .replace(/</g, '&lt;')
-      .replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
+    return encodeEntities(text)
   }
   if (!(el instanceof XmlElement)) return `<!-- unknown -->`
 
@@ -225,7 +228,7 @@ export function xmlToString(
         .join('')
     : ''
   const attrs = Object.keys(el.attributes).reduce(
-    (prev, curr) => prev + ` ${curr}="${el.attributes[curr]}"`,
+    (prev, curr) => prev + ` ${curr}="${encodeEntities(el.attributes[curr])}"`,
     ''
   )
   const parentPadding = '    '.repeat(Math.max(0, indentationLevel - 1))
diff --git a/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.spec.ts b/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.spec.ts
index 64105393e7..2a9e1e71cb 100644
--- a/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.spec.ts
@@ -551,6 +551,35 @@ describe('Gn4Repository', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  describe('#getDraftsCount', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      window.localStorage.clear()
+      // save 3 drafts
+      await firstValueFrom(
+        repository.saveRecordAsDraft({
+          ...simpleDatasetRecordFixture(),
+          uniqueIdentifier: 'DRAFT-1',
+        })
+      )
+      await firstValueFrom(
+        repository.saveRecordAsDraft({
+          ...simpleDatasetRecordFixture(),
+          uniqueIdentifier: 'DRAFT-2',
+        })
+      )
+      await firstValueFrom(
+        repository.saveRecordAsDraft({
+          ...simpleDatasetRecordFixture(),
+          uniqueIdentifier: 'DRAFT-3',
+        })
+      )
+    })
+    it('returns all drafts', async () => {
+      const draftCount = await lastValueFrom(repository.getDraftsCount())
+      expect(draftCount).toBe(3)
+    })
+  })
+
   describe('importRecordFromExternalFileUrlAsDraft', () => {
     const recordDownloadUrl = 'https://example.com/record/xml'
     const mockXml = simpleDatasetRecordAsXmlFixture()
diff --git a/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.ts b/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.ts
index 9b6fd06a30..14046dc246 100644
--- a/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.ts
+++ b/libs/api/repository/src/lib/gn4/gn4-repository.ts
@@ -340,11 +340,22 @@ export class Gn4Repository implements RecordsRepositoryInterface {
       .filter((draft) => draft !== null)
     return from(
       Promise.all(
-        drafts.map((draft) => findConverterForDocument(draft).readRecord(draft))
+        drafts.map((draft) => {
+          return findConverterForDocument(draft).readRecord(draft)
+        })
       )
     )
   }
 
+  getDraftsCount(): Observable<number> {
+    const items = { ...window.localStorage }
+    const draftCount = Object.keys(items)
+      .filter((key) => key.startsWith('geonetwork-ui-draft-'))
+      .map((key) => window.localStorage.getItem(key))
+      .filter((draft) => draft !== null).length
+    return of(draftCount)
+  }
+
   private getRecordAsXml(uniqueIdentifier: string): Observable<string | null> {
     return this.gn4RecordsApi
       .getRecordAs(
diff --git a/libs/common/domain/src/lib/repository/records-repository.interface.ts b/libs/common/domain/src/lib/repository/records-repository.interface.ts
index e17c833407..b2640d069c 100644
--- a/libs/common/domain/src/lib/repository/records-repository.interface.ts
+++ b/libs/common/domain/src/lib/repository/records-repository.interface.ts
@@ -86,5 +86,6 @@ export abstract class RecordsRepositoryInterface {
 
   /** will return all pending drafts, both published and not published */
   abstract getAllDrafts(): Observable<CatalogRecord[]>
+  abstract getDraftsCount(): Observable<number>
   abstract draftsChanged$: Observable<void>
 }