The most obvious way to create a disposable email address would be to make a new email account with Gmail, Yahoo, or any other free email service, but that's a lot of trouble for just one new email address. It'd work if you'd like one email you give away to companies, and another you use for personal communications, but if you want more accounts than that, disposable email addresses are a better option.
Here's some of the best ways to make disposable, temporary, or throwaway email addresses and how to start using them in seven popular email systems:
1. Gmail - Generate Temporary Email Address Aliases
Ever wanted to know who actually gave away your email address when you notice spam showing up in your inbox? Now you can, with custom email addresses in Gmail. Gmail doesn't offer anonymous disposable email addresses, but you can add a period anywhere in your email address, or append a plus sign to the end of your email and add any text you want after it to make a new email alias.
For example, if you were signing up for MegaCorp, Inc.'s newsletter, don't enter my.name123@gmail.com. Instead, add a plus to the end of your email and type whatever you want after it. For example, you could send an email to my.name123+megacorp@gmail.com or my.name123+456789@gmail.com.
Now, when spam mail comes, click the tiny down arrow next to To me:. It will display where the email is from, and whom it was sent to, along with other details. You can then see which email alias it was sent to. So, if you receive a promotional offer about toys and you look at who it was sent to and see my.name12.3+megacorp@gmail.com, you know who gave away your email address. The +megacorp tells you that the MegaCorp, Inc. newsletter gave away your email address. Time to unsubscribe!
Gmail Disposable Email Address
Receiving mail with a Gmail disposable email address.
These same email aliases give you a great way to automatically filter your incoming emails, even if the services you sign up for don't spam you. You could setup custom Gmail filters for each of your email aliases, and have emails from those addresses automatically archived with particular labels.
Do note, of course, that these Gmail disposable email addresses aren't private, no more so than your normal email address. But, they're a perfect option to see how people got your email, and to automate filtering of your email no matter what list you're on.
To learn more about Gmail filters, review this tutorial:
How to Filter & Block Unwanted Emails (Spam) in Gmail
Mailinator is built on a unique concept: anyone can access any inbox, as long as you know its email address. You literally can come up with any inbox name you want (megacorpnewsletter123467, say), add @mailinator.com to the end, and use it in any email address field, say to signup for an online newsletter.
Here's how to use Mailinartor to create a disposable email address: First, go to the Mailinator website, enter the new email address, then click the green Check it box, and the inbox will open—no password required. You'll see any emails that have been sent to that address, and may even notice emails you didn't signup for if someone else has used that same email address before.
The email inbox interface works the same as you'd expect. You can read and reply to emails, download any attachments, and more. It's full-featured email, where all emails you receive are public to anyone who knows the email address.
Mailinator Disposable Email Address
Check any mailbox any time on Mailinator.
Mailinator isn't private at all—the address isn't tied to you. Any replies to it are public—but it is an incredibly simple way to get a disposable email address for anything you want, making it perfect for a fully anonymous email address (albeit one where any replies you may receive are public) or for testing out your new web app. You could even set up Mailinator on your own domain as an even better way to test out your own services.
3. Airmail - Randomized, Disposable Email Addresses
Temp MailAirmail is another private email service that is quite similar to Mailinator, though with more privacy. You click a button, and get a random email automatically along with a unique code that lets you view any emails that address receives online without a password.
To get a new email address, just go to the Airmail site and click the Get Temporary Email button. Seconds later, an inbox view will load with your new randomly assigned email address and the unique access code in the address bar. You'll need to make note of both—or copy the URL with both codes in the address—to be able to see any emails you receive.
For example, say the email address I was randomly assigned was tutyw@grandmasmail.com, and in my browser's address bar, it showed the address as getairmail.com/tutyw/INGX. In this case, the first code is the address of the email (it does not include the randomly assigned domain name), and INGX was my unique code. In the future, to access the mailbox, just type out or copy the URL from the browser's address bar and you'll be able to access your email—though this will only work up to 24 hours after you last visited the page, after which time the emails will be deleted.
A random disposable email address in Airmail.
Another public option for a free temporary email address is MailDrop. This service provides throwaway email addresses that are cleared after 24 hours of inactivity.
To get a MailDrop email address, simply type a user name in the blank in the upper right in front of @maildrop.cc. Then, click the GO > button to see any messages sent to that email address.
For example, if I typed the user name web-designer in the blank, my temporary email address would be web-designer@maildrop.cc.
For example, if I typed the user name web-designer in the blank, my temporary email address would be web-designer@maildrop.cc.
Maildrop Disposable Email Address
A temporary email address using Maildrop.
There are limits on the messages a MailDrop inbox can receive. Each MailDrop inbox is limited to receiving ten messages. The size limit for received messages is 100k. Plus, any attachments to a message sent to a MailDrop inbox are stripped from the message and thrown away. So, MailDrop is not a good option for sharing files.
It's also important to note that MailDrop inboxes are not private. Anyone with the email address can see the messages in the inbox.
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Blur is available as an extension for Firefox or for Android and Apple devices. It creates masked email accounts on-the-spot for when you need to enter your email address into an online form. Masked email addresses provided by Blur cannot be traced back to you.
Abine Blur Disposable Email
Use anonymous email addresses from Abine Blur to hide your real email address.