How long does a temporary email last?
A verification code might arrive in minutes, but a registration review can take half a day. Add your estimated wait and a little extra time to see whether the default expiry is long enough, then decide whether to extend it or use a long-term email address.
The clock starts when you create the inbox, not when the first email arrives.
You must request an extension by clicking “Extend by 3 hours” in the inbox. The planner does not extend it for you.
The timer does not reset daily. Once the limit is reached, the address and emails expire and are deleted.
Wait time planner
The estimates below start when you create a new inbox and do not use the time remaining on your current inbox. If you already created it, include the elapsed time in your total wait.
For example, a manual review confirmation arrives 6 hours after you create the inbox.
Allow a little extra time for delivery delays and to come back and read the email.
This is an estimate only. It won’t create an inbox, request an extension, or set a reminder.
24 hours is the limit, not a guaranteed delivery time. The email must arrive and be read before the inbox expires.
You’ll need 7 hours in total. Extend twice by 3 hours to cover up to 9 hours after creation. Make each extension before the inbox expires.
Three example wait times
These are planning examples, not delivery guarantees from event organisers. Check the details before signing up, especially whether they refer to registration confirmation or a reminder before the event.
After submitting a survey, expect the code within 15 minutes, then allow 1 hour to come back and use it—for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes.
No extension is needed for this plan. The verification code itself may expire sooner, so follow the deadline in the email.
The organiser expects to review your registration manually within 6 hours. Add 1 hour to check the result, for 7 hours total.
Extend the default 3 hours to cover up to 9 hours. Request each extension from the inbox before it expires, and check the updated expiry time.
If you need to wait a full 24 hours from creation, even a 1-hour buffer brings the total to 25 hours.
Don’t rely on an inbox that’s about to expire. A personal email address or active forwarding alias is better for these updates.
Turn your estimate into an actual inbox lifetime
The planner tells you how long your inbox needs to last. It doesn’t access your inbox credentials or call the extension service, so you’ll still need to extend the inbox yourself.
If you created the address 2 hours ago, expect to wait another 6 hours, and want a 1-hour buffer, you need 9 hours from creation—not 7. Check the actual time remaining in your inbox, then extend it as needed.
Open the inbox using your saved full link and make sure the address matches the registration you’re waiting for.
Each request adds 3 hours, up to a maximum lifetime of 24 hours per inbox. A failed request does not extend it.
After you see the success message, check the updated time remaining in your inbox. Don’t use this page’s estimate in place of the actual expiry time.
Getting a new address creates a new inbox with the default 3-hour lifetime; old emails won’t be transferred. Any registration you’ve already submitted still points to the old address, so switching addresses won’t keep receiving emails for that registration.
Learn how to reopen your original inbox from the same linkWhen you need more than 24 hours
If the results won’t be announced until next week, event details will arrive tomorrow, or the notification time is uncertain, don’t rely on this temporary inbox. Choose the right address before signing up instead of trying to fix it after expiry.
Common misconceptions about expiry
Being able to reopen an inbox is not the same as extending its lifetime.
No. The inbox expires at its set expiry time. Closing the page, putting your computer to sleep, or disconnecting from the internet won’t pause the countdown. When you reopen the inbox, you’ll see the actual time remaining—not the amount shown when you left.
You can open the original address and emails only while the inbox is active. Saving the link does not extend its lifetime, and the inbox can’t be recovered after expiry. The full link contains your access credentials, so share it only with yourself—not in public group chats. For step-by-step instructions, see How to reopen your inbox on a new device .
No. This page doesn’t extend your inbox or run scheduled tasks in the background. Go back to the original inbox and click “Extend by 3 hours” before it expires. Check that each request succeeds and that the time remaining updates.
Not necessarily. Inbox and verification code expiry times are set by different systems. The sender may make a code valid for just 5 or 15 minutes. Extending your inbox won’t extend the code’s validity, so follow the instructions in the email.
We don’t recommend it. The 24-hour mark is the maximum lifetime, leaving no buffer for delivery delays or time to read the email. Even if your estimate totals exactly 24 hours, use a personal email address or forwarding alias instead of relying on an email arriving right as the inbox expires.
For a confirmation email expected soon, check and extend your inbox. For notifications that may arrive the next day or at an uncertain time, arrange a long-term email address first.
