The one-question test
Ask yourself: will I ever need to receive email from this site again, or prove I own this account later? If the answer is no, a temporary address is usually a good fit. If the answer is yes, or maybe, use an address you control long term.
Good fits
Temporary email works well when you only need to receive something once.
- Downloading a guide, sample or file that is emailed to you
- Confirming an account on a forum or site you are only trying out
- Receiving a one-time discount code
- Getting past an email gate on public Wi-Fi
- Testing that a sign-up or contact form delivers mail
Poor fits
Avoid temporary email for anything you may need to recover, or anything with money, identity or legal records attached.
- Banking, payments, shopping orders and receipts
- Work, school, healthcare or government accounts
- Any account protected by email-based password reset
- Subscriptions you pay for
- Conversations where you need to reply
Caveats
Email1Hour inboxes are receive only and are deleted when they expire. Messages cannot be recovered afterwards, and some sites do not accept disposable addresses at all.