Is temp mail safe?
Temp mail is safe for the job it is built for: keeping sign-ups, newsletters and one-time codes away from your real inbox. It is not private storage. On most services, TempMail included, anyone who knows an address can open its inbox. Never use one for banking, work or account recovery.
What TempMail protects
- Your real address. There is no account to create and your own email is never asked for, so a site you sign up to never learns it.
- Your inbox. Marketing mail and spam go to the temporary address and stop there.
- Your identity in the app. TempMail has no login, and the apps contain no analytics or crash-reporting SDK. The free Android and iPhone apps show ads through Google AdMob; Premium and the web version show none.
- Your device, while reading. Emails open with scripts switched off, and every link opens in your browser instead of inside the app.
What it does not protect
- The contents of the inbox. An address is the only key to its inbox. Anyone who types the same address, including a custom one, sees the same messages. Treat everything sent there as readable by others.
- The fact that you opened an email. Images inside an email load from the sender's server, as they do in most mail apps. That lets a sender see that the message was opened and from what network.
- Old messages. Messages are deleted from our server 12 hours after they arrive. A password reset sent next week will reach whoever holds the address then.
- Accounts that need you later. If you lose access to the address, you lose the way to recover the account.
Safe and unsafe uses
| Fine with temp mail | Use your real email |
|---|---|
| Trying an app or site once | Banking, payments, crypto |
| Newsletters, coupons, gated downloads | Your main email, phone or cloud account |
| Wi-Fi portals and guest sign-ins | Work, school and government services |
| Testing a sign-up flow you are building | Anything you would need to recover |
Is it legal to use temp mail?
Using a disposable address to keep your inbox private is common and widely accepted. Some services require a permanent address in their terms, and some refuse disposable domains outright; it is up to you to follow the terms of the sites you sign up to. This is general information, not legal advice.
How long TempMail keeps your messages
Messages are deleted from our server automatically 12 hours after they arrive. Your temporary address stays in the app until you delete it, and deleting it gives you a new one straight away. The privacy policy describes what the apps send and store.
For the basics of how a disposable address works, see what is temp mail. For a private address that forwards to your own inbox, compare disposable email and email aliases. To see how other services handle message lifetime and privacy, read the Temp-Mail.org alternatives comparison.
Questions
Is temp mail safe to use?
Yes, for sign-ups, newsletters and one-time codes you do not need to keep. It is not private. Anyone who knows an address can read its inbox and messages are deleted after 12 hours, so keep it away from banking, work and account recovery.
Can someone else see my temp mail inbox?
Yes, if they know or guess the address. TempMail inboxes have no password; the address is the only key. Use a long, random address and do not share it.
Related guides
What is temp mail?
How a disposable address works, the main types, and what they are good and bad at.
Disposable email vs email alias
Two ways to keep your real address private, compared side by side.
Temp mail for OTP and verification codes
Get a sign-up code without giving out your real email, on a phone or a computer.
More in all temp mail guides.