How to make a burner email: pick the right kind first

To make a burner email, decide first whether you'll log in to that site again. If not, a temporary inbox from a burner email generator works for a one-time code. If yes, use an email alias or a separate free account, because a temp inbox can disappear and, on public ones, anyone who opens it can reset your password.

"Burner email" gets used for four different things. Picking the wrong one is how a throwaway sign-up turns into a lost or hijacked account, so start with the comparison.

The four kinds of burner email

Type	Example	Who else can read it	Still works next month?	Hides your real address?	Good for
Temporary inbox	An address from a temp-mail site	Often anyone with the address	Usually not	Yes	One code, one download, never again
Second free account	A new account at a mail provider	Nobody, with a strong password	Yes, while you sign in	Yes	A persona or project you'll keep
Email alias	shop.x7k2@aliasdomain	Nobody; mail lands in your inbox	Until you delete it	Yes	Shops, apps, newsletters
Plus address	you+shop@gmail.com	Nobody	Yes	No	Sorting and filtering only

The quick rule: if the account matters at all after today, rule out the temporary inbox.

Why a temp inbox is risky for anything you'll keep

Burner email generators give you an address without a sign-up. That is the appeal and the problem. On many of them, the inbox belongs to the address, not to you. One long-running public-inbox service says it plainly: you can "use any address" on its domain and "check those public inboxes" (Mailinator). Whoever types the same address sees the same mail.

Now think about what lands in that inbox. When you register on a site, the confirmation goes there. When anyone clicks "forgot password" on that site, the reset link goes there too. Researchers who collected 2.3 million emails from seven popular disposable email services over three months concluded that "online accounts registered through disposable email addresses can be easily hijacked, leading to potential information leakage and financial loss" (Hu, Peng and Wang, IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, 2019).

So a temp inbox is fine for a download link or a one-time code on a site where you'll never store a card, a name or anything you care about. For anything else, the address you sign up with is the address that can take the account away from you.

Three habits make temp inboxes safer:

Never use one for an account with a payment method, your real name, your photos or your messages.
Change the account's email to a real address or alias right after sign-up if the site lets you, before the temp inbox expires.
Assume every message in it is public, because on many of these sites it effectively is.

How to make a burner email with an alias

An alias is a separate address that delivers to the inbox you already have. Sites see the alias, you read and reply as usual, and when one gets spammy or leaked, you delete it and the mail stops. It is the type that fits most sign-ups: it stays under your password, it keeps working, and your main address never reaches the site.

General steps, whichever service you use:

Open your mail app or alias service and create a new alias. A random string or the site's name works ("streaming.k3q@" tells you who leaked it later).
Use the alias in the site's sign-up form.
Confirm the account from your normal inbox.
Reply from the alias if you need to write back, so your main address stays out of the thread.
Delete or disable the alias when you're done with the site, or when spam starts.

Apple users. With an iCloud+ subscription, Apple's Hide My Email creates "unique, random email addresses that automatically forward to your personal email inbox." You can make one from Settings, your name, iCloud, Hide My Email, or right from the email field in supported apps on iOS 16 or later (Apple Support). When you use Sign in with Apple and choose to hide your email, the address is on the @privaterelay.appleid.com domain, and "only the app or website you created the account with can use this unique email address to communicate with you" (Apple Support).

In Secria Mail. Aliases are part of the mailbox rather than a forwarding service: the Free plan includes 2, Mail Plus 15 and Pro unlimited. You can send and reply as any alias, give each one its own display name, and regenerate or delete one from the alias menu when it starts drawing spam.

How to make a burner email account

A second free account is the right burner when you want a whole separate identity for a project: a side business, a dating profile, a marketplace where you sell old things. Unlike an alias, it has its own login, so it stays separate even if you share a computer.

Pick a provider and open its sign-up page in a private browser window, so it doesn't pick up your signed-in accounts.
Choose an address that doesn't contain your name, birth year or a username you use elsewhere.
Use a strong, unique password and save it in your password manager. A burner you can't get back into is worse than none.
Check what the sign-up form asks for. Some big providers want a phone number, which links the new account to the same number as your main one. If that matters, look for a provider that doesn't ask; we explain the options on our page about email without a phone number.
Save the recovery method the provider gives you, whether that's backup codes or a recovery phrase, somewhere outside the account.
Sign in every few months if the provider deletes inactive accounts.

How to make a burner email on Gmail

Gmail has no built-in disposable address, and two tricks people try are weaker than they look.

Plus addressing. Mail sent to you+anything@gmail.com reaches your inbox. Google's own examples include yourname+shopping@gmail.com "to create an account with an online retailer" (Gmail Help). It's great for filters, since you can route or label everything sent to +shopping. But anyone who sees it can delete the plus part and write to your real address, and many spammers do.

Dots. Gmail ignores dots in addresses, so j.ane.doe and janedoe are the same inbox (Gmail Help). That makes dots useless as a burner: they hide nothing.

If you want a true burner on Gmail, the options are a second Gmail account, or an alias from another service that forwards to Gmail.

Which burner should you use?

A one-time download, a Wi-Fi sign-in page, a code you need once: temporary inbox.
An online shop, a free trial, a newsletter, an app you're testing: alias.
A persona or project with its own contacts: a second account.
Sorting your own mail, where hiding your address doesn't matter: plus address.
Your bank, taxes or password manager: no burner at all. Use a stable address you control and protect, ideally one you give to nobody else, as we explain in why a separate email for banking is worth it.

A burner keeps your main address off marketing lists and out of the next breach. It doesn't make you untraceable: the site you sign up with can still see your IP address and anything else you tell it. If spam is the reason you're here, aliases are one of the seven steps that stop spam emails at the source.

Frequently asked questions

Is a burner email legal?

Yes. Using a second address or an alias is ordinary, and many providers build the feature in. What you do with it is what matters: fraud, harassment or dodging a ban you agreed to in a site's terms aren't made acceptable by a different address.

Can a burner email be traced?

Usually, to some degree. The site you signed up with sees technical details such as your IP address, and aliases and second accounts are tied to the account that owns them. A burner hides your main address from websites and mailing lists. It is a privacy tool, not a disguise.

What is the safest burner email generator?

For anything you'll keep, a generator isn't the safe option, because temporary inboxes can expire or be readable by others. An alias from your own mail provider is safer: it delivers to your inbox, stays behind your password and can be deleted when you're done.

Why do some sites reject my burner email?

The site may be screening out known temporary inbox domains, a common way to cut down on fake sign-ups. An alias or a second account at a regular mail provider is less likely to be refused.

How long does a burner email last?

It depends on the type. Temporary inboxes can last minutes to days. An alias lasts until you delete it. A second account lasts as long as you keep signing in, within the provider's inactivity rules.

For sign-ups you'll keep, a deletable alias beats a public inbox every time. A free Secria mailbox comes with 2 of them.