How Does Temporary Email Work?

Creating the mailbox

When you click "generate address", the service asks an email provider for a new mailbox on one of its temporary domains. This is done through an API call, and it usually takes less than a second. The service returns a fresh address such as ab12cd34@example.tempdomain.

No account is created and no personal information is collected. The mailbox simply exists on the provider's servers, ready to receive email.

Receiving messages

When someone sends an email to your temporary address, it travels through the normal email system and arrives at the provider's mail server. The service then checks the server periodically for new messages and displays them in your browser inbox.

Because the address is anonymous, there is no link between the mailbox and your identity or your personal email account.

The lifetime of a mailbox

Each mailbox has a chosen duration, often from one hour to seven days. During this time you can read messages and refresh the inbox. When the timer reaches zero, the mailbox is permanently deleted from the server.

Automatic deletion

Deletion happens automatically, with no action required from you. All messages are removed with the mailbox, and the address can never be reused or recovered. This is the core privacy feature: nothing persists after the mailbox expires.

Why this matters

Because mailboxes are temporary and anonymous, they cannot be mined, sold, or traced back to you over time. It is a simple system, but the effect is powerful: spam has nowhere to go, and your real inbox stays private.