Simple & Secure

How OneTimeSecret Works

Share passwords, API keys, and confidential messages securely in three simple steps. No signup, no software, no complexity.

1

Enter Your Secret

Navigate to OneTimeSecret and paste any sensitive text into the secure input field. This can be a password, an API key, SSH credentials, a private message, database connection strings, or any confidential data you need to share.

Passwords & login credentials
API keys & access tokens
SSH keys & certificates
Private notes & messages
2

Get Your Encrypted Link

OneTimeSecret immediately encrypts your data using AES-256 encryption and generates a unique, one-time link. This link contains a cryptographic token that maps to your encrypted secret on our servers. The encryption key is embedded in the link itself, so our servers never store the key alongside your data.

Your link looks like this:
https://onefimesecret.com/view.php?id=a8f3k9x2...
3

Share and Self-Destruct

Send the encrypted link to your recipient through any channel — email, Slack, text, or any messaging app. When they click the link, the secret is decrypted, displayed to them, and immediately and permanently deleted from our servers. The self-destructing link becomes invalid and can never be used again by anyone.

If the link has already been opened, you know someone viewed it. No secret can be viewed twice — giving you certainty about whether your message was intercepted.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

OneTimeSecret uses a zero-knowledge architecture to protect your secrets at every stage of the process.

AES-256 Encryption

Your secret is encrypted using AES-256, the same encryption standard trusted by governments, militaries, and financial institutions. This level of encryption would take billions of years to brute-force with current technology, ensuring your data remains completely secure.

Zero-Knowledge Design

OneTimeSecret is built on a zero-knowledge architecture. This means our servers store your encrypted data but never have access to the decryption keys. Even our own team cannot read your secrets. If our servers were ever compromised, your encrypted messages would remain completely unreadable.

Automatic Expiration

Every secret has an expiration timer. If the recipient does not view the link within the set timeframe, the encrypted data is automatically and permanently purged. There are no backups, no archives, and no way to recover an expired secret.

Permanent Deletion

When a secret is viewed or expires, it is permanently erased from our infrastructure. Unlike email servers that keep deleted messages in backup systems, OneTimeSecret performs true, irreversible data destruction. No traces remain.

Security Guarantees

Every layer of OneTimeSecret is designed with security as the default, not an afterthought.

AES-256
Military-Grade Encryption

The same standard used to protect classified government communications worldwide.

TLS 1.3
Secure Transport

All data in transit is protected by the latest transport layer security protocol.

1 View
Then Destroyed

Strict one-time viewing with permanent deletion. No re-access, no recovery, no traces.

OneTimeSecret vs Email vs Chat Apps

Why self-destructing encrypted links are safer than the channels most people use to share sensitive information.

Concern OneTimeSecret Email Chat Apps
Message persists after reading No — deleted instantly Yes — stored forever Yes — in chat history
End-to-end encrypted Yes — AES-256 Rarely Varies by app
Stored in server backups No Yes — indefinitely Yes — cloud sync
Searchable by others No Yes — inbox search Yes — chat search
Sender knows if viewed Yes — link expires No guarantee Read receipts only

The Problem with Email and Chat

When you send a password through email, it lives in your sent folder, the recipient's inbox, and potentially on multiple server backups — indefinitely. Chat applications like Slack, Teams, and WhatsApp store messages in searchable histories and cloud syncs, making them accessible to anyone with account access.

OneTimeSecret eliminates this problem entirely. Your encrypted message exists for exactly one viewing, then it is gone forever. No server backups, no search indexing, no persistent storage. This is why tools like Password Pusher, Privnote, scrt.link, Yopass, and Bitwarden Send exist — to provide a secure alternative to plaintext sharing. OneTimeSecret combines the best of these tools with a strict one-time policy and zero-knowledge encryption.

Try It Now — Create a Secret

Experience secure secret sharing in seconds. No signup required, always free, always encrypted.

Create a Secret
Always free
No account needed
Instant