Tutorials

How to Set Up a Custom Domain for Temporary Email

Published 2026-06-02

Step-by-step walkthrough of pointing your own domain at our service so disposable addresses look like normal personal mail — essential for sites that block disposable-email providers.

Why You'd Want This

Sites that block known disposable-email domains do so by checking the part after the @. [email protected] gets rejected; [email protected] doesn't — you own the domain and it isn't on any blocklist. This is the only reliable way to use disposable email at sites with strict signup filters (banks, payment processors, crypto exchanges, some news sites).

It also lets you create pleasant-looking addresses like [email protected] instead of [email protected].

What You Need

A domain you own. Any TLD, any registrar. New domains cost $10-15/year.
Access to the domain's DNS settings (at the registrar or whatever DNS host you've delegated to).
A Plus or higher tier account on our service. Plus supports 3 domains, Pro 10, Enterprise unlimited.

Step 1: Add the Domain in Your Dashboard

Log in, navigate to Manage Domains, click 'Add Domain'. Enter your domain name (no www, no http:// — just the bare domain like example.com). Submit.

The system provides three records to add to your DNS: an MX record (where mail for your domain is delivered), a TXT verification record (proves you own the domain), and an SPF record fragment to include in any existing SPF record.

Step 2: Add the DNS Records

At your DNS host:

MX record: name = @ (or your domain), priority = 10, value = the host we provide (e.g. inbound.our-domain.com)
TXT verification: name = @, value = the verification string we provide (e.g. tempmail-verify=abc123)
SPF: if you have no SPF yet, add v=spf1 include:our-spf.tld ~all. If you have one, add include:our-spf.tld before the ~all.

Step 3: Wait for DNS Propagation

DNS changes take anywhere from 1 minute to 48 hours to propagate globally, depending on your DNS host's TTL settings. Most propagate within an hour. Re-open the Manage Domains page and click 'Verify' — we recheck the DNS and activate the domain when records are present.

Step 4: Generate Addresses

Once verified, the homepage email-generation flow lets you pick your custom domain instead of the default rotating pool. Addresses look like [email protected] or, with the custom-alias feature, [email protected].

Step 5: Optional — Lock Down Outbound

If you don't intend to send email from your domain (only receive), add a DMARC record with p=reject to prevent spammers from forging your domain in From: headers:

_dmarc.your-domain.com TXT "v=DMARC1; p=reject"

This is a one-line policy and stops spammers from spoofing your domain in phishing campaigns — protects your domain's reputation.

Troubleshooting

Verification fails: check TXT record was added at the exact name we specified. Some DNS hosts auto-append your domain (so @ becomes example.com.example.com). Try just tempmail-verify as the name.
Mail to your domain bounces: the MX record didn't propagate yet, or you have multiple MX records and ours isn't reached. Remove any leftover MX records pointing to other providers.
SPF errors at receivers: you have two TXT records starting with v=spf1. Spec says only one. Merge them.

Why Sites Don't Block Custom Domains

Disposable-email blocklists are maintained by community projects (or sold as commercial feeds). They list specific known disposable providers. Your personal domain isn't on any of those lists because it's owned by you, not by a disposable-email service. From the receiving site's perspective, [email protected] looks identical to any other personal-domain email.