How to send an anonymous email
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Online privacy is becoming a more and more pressing issue in the modern world, and protecting your private data is an important part of responsible and safe internet use. Your personal information and financial details may become the target of malefactors, who then will use it to commit fraud and violate your private life.
An anonymous email account is one of the tools that will help you to ensure your confidentiality. Some email services allow you not only to receive messages, but also to send ones without revealing your true identity and primary email address. This could prove useful for registering an account on a new website, participating in a forum discussion, or in any other case when anonymity is paramount. Taking advantage of an anonymous email account can help drastically reduce the risks of leaking your personal data and create an additional layer of protection in your online life. This isn't just about convenience; this is about protecting your privacy and ensuring safety in the digital era.
What is an anonymous email account and why should you use it?
An anonymous email account is an email address that doesn't reveal your personal information and uses an alias. It can be either temporary or permanent.
There are several reasons to send and receive emails anonymously:
Protecting your personal information. Anonymous emails can prevent the leaking of your personal information, such as first and last name, your physical address, etc. Simply googling your anonymous email address will not bear any fruit.
Spam prevention. If you want to receive emails from a particular source but don't want to deal with any spam or advertising from it, you may want to opt for an anonymous email account.
Investigations and journalism. Journalists and investigators of all sorts can employ anonymous email accounts to contact sources that would like to remain anonymous. This is especially vital when investigating any illegal activities.
Business correspondence. Sometimes when conducting business, it is wiser to request some information (such as price list or quotation) anonymously. This way you don't risk compromising your potential commercial success by revealing your identity or company name.
How to send an anonymous email
There are two main ways to send an anonymous email:
Using an anonymous web mail service. There are dedicated websites that offer you the opportunity to send anonymous emails. Among them are ProtonMail, Tuta Mail, IronVest Masked Emails, and others. When using such a service, you can create a temporary anonymous email account and use it to send an email without sharing your personal data.
Creating a new email account. You can create a new regular email account, not affiliated with your primary account, to send an anonymous email. When setting up such an account, it's important to avoid using your real name or any other information that could potentially help identify you. If you choose this method, pay close attention to which mailbox you're sending the message from.
What makes an email account anonymous?
An email account can be considered anonymous if it doesn't contain any identifiable information that may help deanonymize its owner. Among the ways to make sure your emails are anonymous:
- Using an alias or a nickname instead of your real name when creating an account
- Using a temporary or one-time email address
- Using an anonymous email service that doesn't require you to share any personal data when signing up
It's important to remember that emails may contain the sender's IP address. If you care about staying truly anonymous, it is expedient to use a VPN service when sending an email, as it will hide your real IP.
What is a burner email?
A burner email address (also called temporary email, or disposable email) is a free anonymous email account for temporary use, aimed at protecting the user's privacy. It was named after "burners", throwaway phones used for a short period of time, only to be disposed of right after.
The main reason to use a burner anonymous email account is to be able to receive emails without having to reveal your primary email address. It is especially useful when registering on numerous websites, forums, and services that require entering your email address as a part of the registration process.
One of the main advantages of burner emails is spam protection. Since the temporary address is only in use for a short period of time, the user can avoid spam, annoying email ads, and any other unwanted consequences of sharing their email address with third parties.
Besides, using a burner email enhances the user's online privacy and anonymity. If needed, users can create multiple temporary addresses for different purposes and use them in place of the primary email. This helps prevent potential linking of the user's online activity to their real identity.
Creating a temporary email address requires minimal effort. There are many web services that provide free burner email addresses with options to choose a name for your mailbox and to get access to it without registration or entering any personal details.
However, it needs to be mentioned that using a burner email has its flaws too. For instance, some websites may block or restrict access to their services for temporary addresses to prevent fake accounts and possible service abuse.
Best services for sending anonymous emails
The following email providers are considered among the best anonymous email service providers.
ProtonMail
ProtonMail is a secure email service that guarantees privacy and data encryption at all stages of data transfer. Below we list some of the noteworthy features of this service.
Client-side PGP encryption. ProtonMail uses end-to-end encryption with the help of PGP, which implies that the messages are getting encrypted right on the sender's device and can only be decrypted by the recipient. Even ProtonMail itself doesn't have access to the contents of the encrypted emails.
Safe sign-up. Signing up for ProtonMail doesn't require inputting any personal details, ensuring an additional privacy layer.
Open source. The project's code is open, which allows independent experts to check it for vulnerabilities.
Hosted in Switzerland. The data is being hosted at data centers in Switzerland, a country with strict privacy and data protection laws.
Paid and free plans. You have an option to choose either a free or paid plan, depending on what features you need.
Compatibility. You can use ProtonMail via the web dashboard or by installing an Android or an iOS app on your phone.
Self-destructing messages. Users can set their emails up to self-destruct after a certain period of time. The option works when sending emails to ProtonMail clients or when web access to the email is allowed.
Anonymailer
Anonymailer is another service that allows you to send anonymous emails. Users may enter the recipient's address, subject, and message text at the service's website, and Anonymailer will hide any information that could potentially identify the sender. The service can be used to protect your personal data or to leave anonymous reviews. Sending anonymous emails is free with Anonymailer.
Mailinator
Mailinator is a service that positions itself as a QA instrument for testing processes associated with sending emails and SMS, but it could also be used as a one-time email address service. Here are some of its key features.
Creating an address. Users can choose any address on mailinator.com without the need to register there.
Public access. All incoming messages are available to everyone who knows the address.
Email deletion. All emails are deleted automatically after a few hours.
Free plan. Main features are available for free with certain restrictions, such as common access to the inbox.
Paid features. Those who want to use Mailinator for development and testing purposes, may be interested in paid plans. The price starts with $79 per month and the plan includes private inbox, team access, attachment support, API, and other features.
To sum it up, Mailinator is a tool for developers, testers, and for those who need a quick and anonymous way to receive emails without compromising their primary email address.
Anonymous Email Sender
Anonymous Email Sender is a service for sending and receiving anonymous emails. Its users may fill a form on the website, indicate the recipient's address, the desired subject and contents of the message, and send it without revealing their identity. The service guarantees confidentiality by concealing the sender's IP address along with the rest of potentially identifying information.
YOPmail
YOPmail offers its visitors the possibility to create temporary and anonymous email addresses. Its users can quickly create a temporary email address without completing any registration process or setting up a login/password pair. The addresses are kept alive for 8 days, after which their entire contents get deleted. Inbox messages are available to everyone who knows the address; they are easily accessible via the YOPmail website. It's possible to either create a randomized email account or a specific one.
Sending anonymous emails from YOPmail is prohibited, but you can send an email from one YOPmail email address to another one.
The service suits perfectly for protecting your primary account from spam. An example scenario for using YOPmail is getting a one-time confirmation after registering on a website.
YOPmail is 100% free and maintained by displaying ads on its website. There are no additional paid features available.
AnonymousEmail.me
AnonymousEmail.me is a private email service that lets users anonymously send emails. The website doesn't require registration or installing any client app, its entire functionality is available via the web interface. You can set a recipient, subject, and, of course, the content of the email. You can even set your email to be sent at a specific time after a delay.
All the main features are free but there are certain limitations, such as the amount of emails sent daily.
The paid version contains additional features, such as the possibility to set a custom sender email address, add a tracking flag that would inform you about the recipient opening the email, remove the 'Powered by AnonymousEmail' logo, and some others.
IronVest Masked Emails (previously Abine Blur)
IronVest Masked Emails is a part of the privacy protection package by the IronVest company. The package includes a password manager, anonymous email addresses, anonymous phone numbers, virtual cards, and a few other tools. The Masked Emails tool is aimed at providing anonymity and protecting your emails.
The service allows you to create email aliases for redirecting emails to your primary account, which will stay hidden from the sender. You can configure redirection rules by using the web interface.
IronVest's free plan gives you up to three redirect addresses. The paid plan (costing at $5.95/month) provides up to 50 addresses.
Tuta Mail (previously Tutanota)
Tuta is a versatile email, calendar, and contacts app that allows you to send messages anonymously, prioritizing your privacy above all else. Full end-to-end encryption keeps your data safe, and Tuta does not require your personal information. Here are some main features of the app.
Оpen source software. Users can inspect every piece of code running on their devices.
Encryption. Tuta apps and webclient guarantee that email encryption is enabled by default.
Free plan. Fully encrypted and no tracking usage, 1 GB and one calendar.
Paid features. Unlimited calendars, 15+ aliases, 3+ custom domains, autoresponder, priority support and many more.
SimpleLogin
SimpleLogin is a versatile email alias service that allows users to create multiple email aliases for better privacy and organization. One of its standout features is the ability to reply to emails anonymously through these aliases, ensuring your real email address remains hidden from the recipient.
SimpleLogin does not require any complicated setup and integrates seamlessly with popular email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and ProtonMail. When you receive an email through an alias, you can respond directly, and the recipient will only see the alias, not your primary email address. This feature is especially useful for maintaining privacy when interacting with unknown senders or when signing up for online services.
While the basic functionality of creating and using aliases is free, SimpleLogin also offers a paid version with added benefits. The premium plan includes support for custom domains, unlimited alias creation, and advanced controls such as disabling specific aliases if they start receiving spam.
Other useful anonymous email services
In the previous section, we explored services that allow you to send anonymous emails, offering complete anonymity for both sending and receiving messages. In this section, we will focus on anonymous email services that are designed specifically for receiving messages. These services are perfect for situations where you need a temporary or private email address to protect your primary inbox from spam or unwanted correspondence. While they don't support sending email, they are very effective for receiving verification codes, newsletters, or other one-way communications.
AdGuard Temp Mail
AdGuard Temp Mail is a temporary email service that can be used for one-time purchases and online registrations such as free trials, to receive promo codes, and to avoid spam in your main mail account. The service is provided by AdGuard, a household name and a well-known expert in online security and ad blocking.
All users who opt for AdGuard Temp Mail get a temporary randomized email address that gets deleted automatically after 7 days of inactivity. The emails themselves get deleted after 24 hours. AdGuard Temp Mail can't be used to send emails, only to receive them. And if you need an inbox for even quicker, one-off tasks, try AdGuard's 10-minute mail service.
Guerrilla Mail
Guerrilla Mail service is an instrument for creating temporary email addresses. These short-term addresses may be used for one-time sign-ups and subscriptions, to protect your primary email or to maintain anonymity.
Users who opt for Guerrilla Mail are provided with a randomized email address that stays active for one hour, and after that all information in it gets deleted.
This service will be useful for those who have a need for a provisional email address to confirm a registration on a website without the risk of linking this information to your personal email address. The service allows you to manually enter a specific address instead of a random one, if needed.
Temp Mail
Temp Mail provides temporary email addresses for an anonymous email account. Visitors of Temp Mail website or users of Temp Mail mobile apps can get a randomized email address that will continue to exist for several days or until terminated by the user. This address can be used for one-time registrations, account confirmations, etc., thus protecting the user's main private email account from spam. All sent emails are deleted automatically after a couple of hours. We couldn't find any information about the exact lifespan of the messages and mailboxes at Temp Mail, so our estimations are based on personal experience.
Main features of Temp Mail are provided for free. The cost of a premium plan constitutes 5 dollars per month when paid for a yearly subscription. Premium plan includes 10 simultaneous anonymous addresses, up to 100MB in storage, and no ads. It also provides the option to add your own private custom domain.
10 Minute Mail
10 Minute Mail, as you could tell from the name, is an anonymous email provider that offers temporary email addresses which stay active for 10 minutes. It suits perfectly for one-time email confirmations. Inbox is available right on the website. After 10 minutes, the email address is destroyed, but you have the option to prolong its lifetime to 100 minutes. The service is free and accepts donations.
Fake Mail Generator
Fake Mail Generator is a free tool to create temporary email addresses. These addresses can be used for one-time registrations, account confirmations, and other goals. After you create an address, all emails sent to it will be available on the website for a limited amount of time (several hours). After that period, all messages will be deleted. Fake Mail Generator helps protect against spam and unwanted emails. The service is completely free and doesn't require you to sign up or subscribe to anything. However, it's important to note that such temporary addresses aren't designed for any important or sensitive correspondence, as they don't offer a necessary level of protection and privacy for that.
FAQ
What makes an email account truly anonymous?
An anonymous email account is an email address that does not reveal any personal information and uses an alias. It can be temporary or permanent and helps protect the user’s identity. To keep an email account truly anonymous, strip it of any identifying details. Key practices include using aliases, opting for a temporary address, choosing services that don’t require personal data, and using a VPN to hide your IP address.
Why would I need to send emails anonymously?
People use anonymous email to protect personal data, avoid spam, practice journalism or conduct investigations safely, and to request business information without revealing their identity.
How can I send an anonymous email?
There are two main methods:
Using a dedicated anonymous email service.
Creating a new email account that isn’t linked to your real identity.
What is a burner email?
A burner email is a temporary, disposable email address used for short-term tasks like registrations or verifications. It helps prevent spam and keeps your primary email private.
What are the downsides of burner emails?
Some websites block temporary emails to prevent fake accounts. Burners also aren’t suitable for important or long-term communication.
Which services are best for sending anonymous emails?
Recommended options include:
ProtonMail – encrypted, privacy-focused, open-source.
Tuta Mail – fully encrypted, no personal info required.
AnonymousEmail.me – simple web interface, scheduled sending.
Anonymailer, Anonymous Email Sender – basic anonymous sending tools.
SimpleLogin – email aliases with anonymous replies.
What email services offer the best options for staying anonymous?
Useful tools include:
Guerrilla Mail
Temp Mail
10 Minute Mail
Fake Mail Generator
Do anonymous email services store my data?
It depends on the provider. Privacy-focused services minimize data collection, but even temporary mail services may still store certain information, such as IP addresses or usage metadata, even if the messages themselves are deleted after a short time.
Can I stay completely anonymous?
Using an anonymous email plus a VPN significantly increases your anonymity, but complete anonymity can never be 100% guaranteed. Avoid sharing any personal data in your messages.
