Burner Emails Are The Internet's Best-Kept Secret - Here's Why You Need One

Let's face it, a lot of emails are annoying. While some mail is welcome, you might feel like you're constantly inundated with marketing mail and spam. Many websites require that you provide an email address before you can access content, download a PDF, or make a purchase. And once a company has your contact details, it can then fill up your inbox with ads and follow-up mail. If you're tired of cleaning out your primary email's inbox, there's an answer.

A burner email is a clever way to stop spam or unnecessary messages from going to your primary email account. It's essentially another email address that you create for a temporary purpose rather than using your main one. If a website wants your email and you only plan on going there once, a burner email may just be the way to go. It can be as simple as setting up a second email address. In fact, you can create unlimited email addresses in Gmail. However, there are also plenty of browser extensions and mobile apps that provide fake email addresses, so you're never supplying a real one. Many of them have free versions, as well as premium plans. Although these might include ads.

A burner email can go by multiple names – such as disposable email or an email alias – but the function is still the same: keeping your primary email account clean and private. Whether your goal is online security, staying anonymous, or just putting an end to receiving bulk messages in your inbox, having additional email addresses in our modern times is downright necessary. There are a variety of apps and browser extensions that can do this work for you. On desktop, for example, Temp Mail is a free disposable email solution that has a 4.9-star rating and 2,100 reviews on the Chrome Web Store. Its extension for Firefox has a 4.8-star rating and over 300 reviews as well.

There are mobile solutions for iPhone and Android, which can really make things easier when you're using your smartphone. For iPhone, there's the Hide My Email feature, though it's paywalled behind an iCloud+ subscription. There's also the option to use an app like MailVerified, which has a 4.7-star rating from 469 users. For Android, there's Burner Mailbox, which has a 4.1-star rating and over 140 reviews. Another option that's worth checking out is Proton Mail's Hide-My-Email feature, which works with a variety of devices and offers a free version.