What 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.
Quick answer
Expiry closes the address first; physical deletion is a later cleanup step rather than an instant timer event.
Expiry closes before purge
When an inbox expires, the address becomes logically closed first. That stops the normal active lifecycle, while physical row deletion happens later through the cleanup worker after the retention rule is satisfied.
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.
Expiry closes the address first; physical deletion is a later cleanup step rather than an instant timer event.
The practical takeaway
The useful privacy model is precise: active use, logical closure, 24-hour closed-data retention, then eligible physical purge. Expiry closes the address first; physical deletion is a later cleanup step rather than an instant timer event.
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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 guideDoes MailOnce Delete Emails After an Inbox Expires?
Messages are part of the inbox-owned data graph removed when an eligible closed Free inbox is physically purged.
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