Privacy, Explained
The short version: an inbox exists for 24 hours, the mail sent to it is stored for that long, and then a scheduled job deletes it. This page is the long version, written against what the code actually does rather than what sounds reassuring.
Your Temporary Email Address
Waiting for mail...
- No signup
- 24-hour inbox
- OTP auto-detect
- Zero tracking
- Android · Chrome · Firefox
- Developer API
Trust summary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Default retention | 24 hours; one in-browser +24h extension can make it 48 hours. |
| Tracking cookies | None. The browser session cookie is functional, not advertising or analytics. |
| Ads on the web app | No ad networks, ad pixels, Google Analytics, or Google Tag Manager. |
| Mail visibility | Automatically parsed for OTPs and links; not end-to-end encrypted. |
| Public proof | Security page, status page, API docs, and compatibility research. |
What is stored
When you open the site an inbox row is created holding the address, when it was made, when it expires, and an owner marker that ties it to your browser session so nobody else can read it.
When mail arrives, the message is stored: the sender, the subject, the plain-text body, the HTML body, and the raw headers. If the message contains a one-time code or verification links, those are pulled out and stored alongside it so the inbox can show you the code without opening the mail. Attachments are stored with their filename, type and size.
That is a real copy of your mail sitting on a server. Any service that receives email for you has one — a provider claiming otherwise is describing something that cannot work.
Are IP addresses logged?
Yes, briefly, and it would be dishonest to say otherwise. Generating an inbox records your IP address against that endpoint so the rate limiter can stop one client creating thousands of inboxes. A scheduled job deletes those rows once they are an hour old.
Separately, if you rate the service, a hashed IP is kept so the same person cannot vote repeatedly. That hash is not reversible into an address.
Your IP is not attached to your inbox, not attached to your messages, and not used to build a profile. But it is recorded, for an hour, for abuse control.
How long does anything last?
An inbox lives 24 hours by default. You may extend it once by another 24 hours, so 48 hours is the ceiling — there is no way to keep an address alive beyond that.
A scheduled job runs continuously and deletes expired inboxes. Deleting an inbox cascades: its messages go, its attachment records go, and the attachment binaries are removed from storage first so nothing is orphaned. You can also delete an inbox yourself at any time with the delete button, which does the same thing immediately.
Does anyone read your mail?
Your messages are processed automatically to find one-time codes and verification links. That is a pattern match on the message, and it is the only thing that inspects the content.
No part of the administrative interface reads message bodies — it cannot show them, because it never queries those columns. Support has no screen that displays your mail. There is no manual review queue, no training pipeline, and no human workflow that involves reading what you receive.
Being precise about the limit of that claim: this is a hosted service, the mail passes through a server, and the operator has database access. It is not end-to-end encrypted and does not pretend to be. Do not send anything through a temporary inbox that would genuinely harm you if read.
Attachments
Attachments are stored so you can download them, and they are deleted with the inbox on the same schedule. They are not opened, scanned, virus-checked or analysed — which cuts both ways. Nothing inspects your files, and equally nothing protects you from a malicious one. Treat an attachment from an unknown sender exactly as you would in any other inbox.
Analytics and third parties
There is no Google Analytics, no Google Tag Manager, no advertising pixel and no social tracking script. The site's Content-Security-Policy admits only Cloudflare's own cookieless analytics beacon, which counts page views without setting a cookie or fingerprinting the browser.
No tracking cookies are set. The session identifier that keeps your inbox yours is functional — without it the site could not tell your inbox from someone else's.
Is data sold?
No. Your messages are not sold, shared, rented, licensed, or used to train anything. There is no advertising business here to feed with them.
Deleting your data
Press the delete button on the inbox and everything tied to that address is removed immediately. Do nothing and it is removed automatically when the inbox expires. There is no account, so there is no account to close — closing the tab and waiting achieves complete deletion.
Getting in touch
Questions about any of this go to the contact page. Security issues have their own route on the security page. The formal document is the privacy policy; this page is the plain-language version of the same facts.
Last verified: . Written against the current schema and code.
Automate inboxes with the API
Prefer to script it? Generate disposable inboxes and read auto-parsed OTPs & verification links programmatically — built for QA, test automation, and bots. The same private inboxes, over a clean REST API.
# 1. Create a private inbox
curl -X POST https://tempmailgrab.com/api/v1/inbox \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TMG_API_KEY"
# → { "id": "inb_…", "address": "a1b2c3d4e5f6@tempmailgrab.com" }
# 2. Poll for mail — the OTP + verification links are auto-extracted
curl https://tempmailgrab.com/api/v1/inbox/$ID/messages \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TMG_API_KEY"
# → { "messages": [{ "extracted_otp": "123456", "extracted_links": [ … ] }] }Related guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Does TempMailGrab log my IP address?
Yes, briefly. Generating an inbox records your IP against that endpoint so the rate limiter can prevent bulk abuse, and those rows are deleted once they are an hour old. Your IP is not linked to your inbox or your messages. Ratings separately store a non-reversible hashed IP to stop repeat voting.
How long are my messages kept?
An inbox lasts 24 hours by default and can be extended once by another 24, so 48 hours is the maximum. A scheduled job then deletes the inbox, its messages and its attachments. You can also delete everything immediately with the delete button.
Can staff read my temporary email?
No part of the admin interface queries message bodies, so there is no screen that displays your mail and no manual review queue. Messages are processed automatically only to extract one-time codes and verification links. That said, this is a hosted service and is not end-to-end encrypted — do not receive anything through it that would harm you if read.
Are attachments scanned or stored?
They are stored so you can download them, and deleted with the inbox on the same schedule. They are not opened, scanned or virus-checked — nothing inspects your files, and equally nothing protects you from a malicious one.
Does TempMailGrab sell my data?
No. Messages are not sold, shared, rented or used to train anything, and there is no advertising business that would consume them.
Does the site use tracking cookies or analytics?
No tracking cookies are set, and there is no Google Analytics, Tag Manager, ad pixel or social script. The Content-Security-Policy admits only Cloudflare\u2019s cookieless analytics beacon. The one identifier used is functional — it is what keeps your inbox yours rather than someone else\u2019s.