Can a one-time link be reopened?

No. After the first reveal the stored ciphertext is overwritten and every later visit sees a burned page. Create a new link if you need to send the text again.

Does a link preview count as the one view?

No. Previews and scanners only fetch the status. The view that burns the link is the recipient pressing reveal.

Is the text visible to LinkPilot?

No. Your browser sends ciphertext and keeps the key in the link fragment. Secrets created before 29 September 2026 were stored as plaintext until they expired, as the security architecture page states.

Can I make a one-time link for a file?

Yes, from a free account. The attachment is encrypted in your browser and travels behind the same burn and expiry controls. Its name, size and type remain visible to us.

One time link

Generate a link that opens once and then stops working, for free.

No account needed. Free forever plan.

How it works

01
Paste a password, a key, or a file

Encrypted in your browser before anything is sent. Burn after read is on for every anonymous secret.
02
Send the link

One URL. The key after the # stays in the browser and never reaches our servers.
03
The stored secret is gone

The first open burns the ciphertext. A second visit, by anyone, meets the destroyed page.

Browser-side encryption shipped on 29 September 2026. Secrets created before that date were stored as plaintext until they expired, and a file's name, size and type are still visible to us. Read the full security model.

What a one-time link does

A one-time link carries something, in this case text you paste, to one reader. When they open it and reveal the contents, the stored copy is destroyed and the link becomes a dead end. It is the right tool for anything you would rather not leave sitting in an inbox: a password, an API key, a licence code, a private note.

The link is made in your browser. The text is encrypted there with AES-GCM-256, the key is appended after the # so it never reaches a server, and only the ciphertext is stored under a random slug.

One-time link generator, no account needed

The generator at the top of this page creates the link immediately. There is nothing to install and nothing for the recipient to sign up for; any browser can open it. Unopened links expire after seven days. With a free account you can set one hour, 24 hours or seven days and revoke a link before it is opened. Pro adds a passphrase, a custom expiry and the audit timeline.

One-time links for files and for URLs

To send a file once, create the secret from a free account and attach the file; it is encrypted the same way and burns with the link. If what you need is a short link to a web page that stops working after a date rather than after one view, that is an expiring link, which LinkPilot's shortener also makes.

Frequently asked questions

Pro, $29 a month, adds a passphrase on every secret, a custom expiry date and time, and the audit timeline that records each view, burn and revoke. See plans.

All use cases