What is a disposable e-mail address?

You want to download a whitepaper, try out a forum or get onto a café's Wi-Fi – and every one of them asks for an e-mail address first. Hand over your real one and it ends up in databases, newsletter lists and, at worst, a data breach. A disposable address is the shortcut: it receives the one confirmation mail you need and then disappears.

How a disposable address works

A disposable address (also called a temporary, throwaway or "10-minute" e-mail) is an inbox that is ready instantly, without an account, and deleted after a set time. You open the page, copy the address, paste it into the form and wait for the mail. Confirmation codes and links are right there in the browser.

Three things set it apart from a normal inbox:

• No account: you give neither a name nor a password. The address belongs to the browser that created it.
• Receive only: a disposable address cannot send mail, so it can never be abused as a spam sender.
• Limited lifetime: when the time is up, the address, its messages and attachments are deleted. On TossPost that starts at ten minutes, and you can extend it.

What it is good for

A disposable address is ideal wherever you need an address once and never want to hear from the sender again:

• Downloads and giveaways that mostly collect addresses for marketing.
• Trial accounts, when you want to try a service before committing to it.
• Wi-Fi portals in hotels, trains or cafés that ask for an address.
• Forums and comment sections where you only want to ask one question.
• Software development, when you test sign-ups, password resets or newsletters of your own application.

In all of these cases the disposable address keeps your real one away from marketing, resale and leaks.

What it is not for

As handy as it is, a disposable address is the wrong choice for anything you want to keep. The problem usually shows up later: you forget your password, and the reset link goes to an inbox that no longer exists.

Use your real address for:

• Banks, insurance and government services
• Online shops where invoices, warranties or returns matter
• Accounts you use long-term, such as cloud storage, social media or gaming platforms
• Two-factor sign-in and account recovery
• Contracts and anything with legal weight

A good rule of thumb: if you still expect something from the service in three months, it gets your real address.

Public or private: the difference that matters most

Many disposable services are public. Anyone who knows or guesses the name of an address can read its inbox. With a confirmation code that is a real risk: whoever is faster takes over your new account.

Private services separate the address from access to it. On TossPost the key to every inbox sits in an encrypted cookie of the browser that created the address. Someone who only knows the address sees nothing. To open the inbox on your phone, you hand it over with a QR code.

What to look for in a service

There are many disposable services, and they treat your data with very different care. These points are worth checking:

• Who can read along? A private inbox is safer than a public one.
• When is it deleted? A clear deadline beats a vague "eventually".
• Are trackers blocked? Many newsletters contain invisible images that report when and where you opened a mail. A good service only loads them when you want it to.
• Who runs it? An imprint and an understandable privacy policy show that someone takes responsibility.
• Are codes detected? It saves time when the confirmation code is shown right away and can be copied with one click.

Why some sites reject disposable addresses

Some services keep lists of known disposable domains and refuse addresses on them. They want to stop people from creating endless accounts or reusing free trials. That is understandable, but annoying for you.

If a site refuses your disposable address, you have two options:

• Try another domain: TossPost spreads new addresses over several domains. In the "New address" dialog you pick the domain yourself.
• Use an alias if you need the service for longer. Many mail providers support plus addresses such as [email protected], and alias services forward mail from an address of their own to your inbox, which you can switch off at any time.

In short

A disposable address is the right tool for anything that only needs one confirmation. It keeps marketing and breaches away from your real inbox. For accounts you want to keep, your real address remains the better choice.

Get a private disposable address now – it is ready as soon as the page loads.