A temporary inbox, explained plainly.

What the service is for

A temporary inbox can be useful when you need to receive a one-off message and do not need to keep the address. It is not a private mailbox, a backup account, or a substitute for an address you control long term.

Some websites do not accept disposable addresses. A temporary address also cannot receive a text message, prove student status, create eligibility for a discount, or change another service’s account rules.

What happens when you open an inbox

The service generates a random address from an available domain. You can copy it and receive incoming messages while that inbox is active. TempGenerator is receive-only: it does not send replies or forward your mail to a personal account.

The inbox shows its remaining lifetime. Returning to the site in the same browser reopens an active inbox; returning after expiry gives you a fresh address. A new address does not recover the old address or its messages. Changing or deleting an address is limited to once per ten-minute window, so plan a test before replacing it.

Use an address you control long term for accounts you expect to keep. For a comparison, read our guide to temporary inboxes and email aliases.

The other tools on this site

The password, username, test-data and random-picker tools create their results in your browser and do not send them to this site. Passphrases use the EFF Long Wordlist, published under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

The random address generator builds sample addresses on our server for forms and software tests. Cities, regions and postcodes come from GeoNames, also under CC BY 4.0; streets and house numbers are invented, so the addresses are not verified for delivery.

File and text sharing keeps uploads on our server only until the session ends, after 15 minutes unless the person who started it adds time, up to 60 minutes in total. A collection inbox, which needs a free account with a verified email, accepts files for up to 60 minutes. The temp mail API and MCP server give automated tests and AI agents private inboxes that expire.

The site is free to use. Advertising, when enabled, appears only on guide and blog article pages; the inbox and the tools do not load the advertising tag.

How we approach our guides

Our guides focus on practical choices and the limits of temporary email. When a page discusses another provider’s requirements, it links to that provider’s own guidance. Requirements can change, so check the linked source before relying on a particular feature or offer.

Read our editorial policy for our approach to sources, software assistance, examples, advertising and corrections. If you find an error or have a question, please contact us.