What Happens to Attachments When a Temporary Inbox Is Purged?
Current attachment persistence is relational metadata; that metadata is removed with the eligible inbox graph during purge.
Quick answer
Current attachment persistence is relational metadata; that metadata is removed with the eligible inbox graph during purge.
Attachment metadata follows the inbox
The current codebase stores attachment metadata relationally. That metadata is deleted during purge; the documentation also notes that MailOnce-managed external blob storage is not implemented in this phase.
For MailOnce Free, expiry or deletion closes the address first. Closed inbox data is retained for exactly 24 hours before it becomes eligible for hard purge by the cleanup worker.
Keep closure and physical purge separate
This is a bounded retention-and-purge policy, not instant deletion at the second the timer reaches zero and not permanent storage. There is currently no public immediate-purge endpoint and no Plus/account retention policy implemented in this phase.
Current attachment persistence is relational metadata; that metadata is removed with the eligible inbox graph during purge.
Attachments are not a separate archive
The useful privacy model is precise: active use, logical closure, 24-hour closed-data retention, then eligible physical purge. Current attachment persistence is relational metadata; that metadata is removed with the eligible inbox graph during purge.
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Use a temporary inbox for tasks that should stay temporary
Create a short-lived inbox, finish the verification or signup, and do not rely on it as a permanent archive.
Create temporary emailRelated privacy & data guides
Continue with the closest topics in the same data-lifecycle cluster.
How MailOnce Handles Temporary Inbox Data
Follow Free inbox data through active use, logical closure, a 24-hour closed-data retention window and physical purge.
Read guideHow Long Does MailOnce Keep an Expired Free Inbox?
Closed Free inbox data is retained for exactly 24 hours before it becomes eligible for hard purge.
Read guideWhat Happens to Your Data When a MailOnce Inbox Expires?
Expiry closes the address first; physical deletion is a later cleanup step rather than an instant timer event.
Read guide