Why Is Inbox Data Not Hard-Deleted the Instant It Expires?
A bounded retention window lets cleanup safely coordinate with late or in-flight ingestion before destructive deletion.
Why cleanup can lag behind expiry
A bounded retention window lets cleanup safely coordinate with late or in-flight ingestion before destructive deletion.
Retention protects cleanup correctness
A short retention window lets cleanup avoid racing unsafe in-flight ingestion. Attempts still in RECEIVED, PROCESSING or RETRY_PENDING states prevent destructive purge until they reach a terminal state.
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.
A bounded retention window lets cleanup safely coordinate with late or in-flight ingestion before destructive deletion.
The practical takeaway
The useful privacy model is precise: active use, logical closure, 24-hour closed-data retention, then eligible physical purge. A bounded retention window lets cleanup safely coordinate with late or in-flight ingestion before destructive deletion.
Try MailOnce
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