---
title: "Self Destructing Link: Opens Once, Then Gone | LinkPilot"
url: https://uselinkpilot.com/self-destructing-link
description: "Create a self destructing link for free. Paste a password or note, send the link, and the first reveal destroys the stored copy. Encrypted in your browser."
lang: en
---

# Self destructing link

Send text through a link that destroys itself the first time it is opened.

No account needed. Free forever plan.

## How it works

1. 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.
2. 02
   ### Send the link
   One URL. The key after the # stays in the browser and never reaches our servers.
3. 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 (https://uselinkpilot.com/security-architecture).

## How a self-destructing link works

You paste text, your browser encrypts it with AES-GCM-256, and the key is placed after the # in the link so it never reaches a server. The server stores ciphertext under a random slug. When the recipient opens the link and presses reveal, the ciphertext is returned and overwritten in the same database operation, and their browser decrypts it with the key from the link. The link is now spent: every later visit, by anyone, meets a burned page with HTTP status 410.

## Self destructing links that also expire on time

Destruction on first view handles the normal case. A timer handles the link nobody opens. An anonymous link expires unread after seven days. A free account lets you choose one hour, 24 hours or seven days and revoke a link from the dashboard, which is the one way to destroy it before anyone reads it. Pro (https://uselinkpilot.com/pricing) adds a passphrase, a custom expiry and the audit timeline.

## What a self-destructing link cannot do

It cannot stop the recipient from copying the text once it is on their screen, and it cannot protect a link that was forwarded before it was opened; the first person to reveal it wins. Those limits apply to every tool of this kind. Short expiry, a passphrase sent by a second channel, and asking the recipient to confirm are the practical mitigations.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does a self-destructing link work on any device?

### Can I tell whether it has been opened?

### Will a chat app's link preview destroy it?

### Can a self-destructing link carry a file?

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 (https://uselinkpilot.com/pricing).

## Related

- Self destructing message: https://uselinkpilot.com/self-destructing-message
- One time link: https://uselinkpilot.com/one-time-link
- Expiring link: https://uselinkpilot.com/expiring-link
- Self destructing note: https://uselinkpilot.com/self-destructing-note

All use cases: https://uselinkpilot.com/use-cases

## Structured data

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