Mailboxes

The Mailboxes page is the central hub for managing your temporary email addresses. Here you can create new mailboxes, monitor active inboxes, and restore archived addresses.

Creating a Mailbox

To create a new temporary mailbox:

1. Navigate to the Mailboxes page (https://minutemail.co/app/mailboxes)
2. In the “Create mailbox” section, you’ll see the mailbox generator with the following options:

Mailbox Configuration Options

• Email Address Generation

  • Click Generate Email Address to create a random email address
  • Or manually type a custom prefix before the @ symbol

• Domain Selection

  • Choose from available domains in the dropdown:
    • minutemail.cc (default platform domain)
    • Your verified custom domains (if configured)

• Lifetime

  • Choose from the preset dropdown (default: 15 minutes):
    • Permanent - mailbox does not expire
    • 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour
    • Custom… - enter any value in minutes (1 to 43,200 minutes / 30 days)

• Auto-archive on Expiry

  • Toggle this option to preserve the mailbox address after expiration
  • When enabled, provide a Recovery tag to identify the archived mailbox
  • Tags help you search and restore mailboxes later
  • Example tags: “github-signup”, “newsletter-test”, “example.com login”

Active Mailboxes

The Active mailboxes section displays all currently active email addresses:

Mailbox List Features

• Address - The full email address with a copy button for quick sharing
• Tag - Optional label for organization (hidden if not set)
• Archive after expiration - Shows “Yes” or “No”
• Expires in - Countdown timer showing remaining time
• Actions
  • View - Opens the mailbox to read messages
  • Select - Checkbox for bulk operations
  • Copy - Quick copy email address to clipboard

Bulk Actions

• Select multiple mailboxes using checkboxes
• Click Remove Selected to delete multiple mailboxes at once

Search and Filter

Use the search box in the table header to filter mailboxes by address or tag.

Viewing a Mailbox

Click on any mailbox address or the View button to open the mailbox interface:

Mailbox View Features

• Email Address Display - Shows the full address with copy button
• Expiration Timer - Live countdown showing time remaining
• Message List - All emails received at this address
• Message Preview - Click any message to view full content

Message Interface

When viewing messages:

• Sender - Who sent the email
• Subject - Email subject line
• Received Time - When the message arrived
• Body - Full email content (HTML and text)
• Attachments - Download any attached files

Archived Mailboxes

The Archived mailboxes section shows addresses that have been preserved after expiration:

Archive Features

• Address - The archived email address
• Tag - The recovery tag assigned when archiving
• Archived Date - When the mailbox was archived
• Actions
  • Restore - Reactivate the mailbox for receiving new emails
  • Delete - Permanently remove the archived mailbox

Restoring Archived Mailboxes

To reactivate an archived mailbox:

1. Find the mailbox in the “Archived mailboxes” section
2. Click Restore
3. The mailbox becomes active again and can receive new messages
4. Set a new lifetime and archiving preferences

Note: restoring creates a fresh, empty mailbox at the same address - messages received before archiving are not restored.

Quota and Limits

Your plan determines:

• Active Mailbox Limit - Maximum concurrent active mailboxes

  • Free: 2 mailboxes
  • Hobbyist: 10 mailboxes
  • Pro: 50 mailboxes
  • Team: 200 mailboxes (shared)

• Archive Slot Limit - Archived mailboxes plus active mailboxes marked for archiving

  • Free: 3 archive slots
  • Hobbyist: 20 archive slots
  • Pro: 200 archive slots
  • Team: 1,000 archive slots (shared)

View your current usage in the Usage page.

Best Practices

• Use Tags Wisely - Apply descriptive recovery tags to make archived mailboxes easy to find
• Monitor Lifetime - Check the countdown timer to ensure mailboxes stay active when needed
• Regular Cleanup - Remove unused mailboxes to free up quota
• Custom Domains - Use custom domains for professional-looking addresses
• Archive Important - Enable archiving for mailboxes you may need to reactivate

Common Use Cases

• Service Signups - Create temporary emails for testing services
• Newsletter Testing - Test email campaigns without spam
• Privacy Protection - Use disposable addresses to protect your identity
• Development Testing - Test email functionality in applications
• Account Verification - Receive verification emails without permanent addresses