Self Destruct Note🔑 Guide
How to share a password safely
Sooner or later you'll need to give someone a password: the Wi-Fi code for a guest, a streaming login for family, or an account for a new coworker. Here's how to do it without leaving it lying around.
Why texting or emailing a password is risky
The problem isn't the moment you send it. It's everything that happens afterwards:
- It stays forever. Chat histories and email inboxes keep the password long after it was needed, often for years.
- It spreads. Messages get backed up to the cloud, synced to other devices, and sometimes forwarded.
- It's searchable. Anyone who gets into the account later (or borrows an unlocked phone) can simply search for "password".
- You can't take it back. Once it's sent, you have no control over where it ends up.
Option 1: Use a one-time, self-destructing link
A self-destructing note gives the other person the password once, then removes it. Here's how to do it with Self Destruct Note:
- Go to the home page and paste the password (and the username, if needed) into the message box.
- Choose No timer, so the reader has time to copy it calmly.
- Under More options, set a short expiry, such as 1 hour or 24 hours, so the note doesn't linger if it's never read.
- For extra protection, add a password to the note and tell the reader that password another way, for example on a phone call.
- Send the link. Keep your private status link so you can confirm when it has been read, or destroy it if plans change.
Your message is encrypted in your browser before it's sent, and the key travels only inside the link, so we can't read it. When the reader taps Reveal, the note is deleted from our server immediately. After that, the link in your chat history is useless to anyone who finds it.
Good habit: after you've copied a password from any message, clear your clipboard (copy something else) once you've pasted it where it belongs.
Option 2: Use your password manager's sharing feature
If you and the other person both use the same password manager (such as 1Password, Bitwarden or your phone's built-in one), its sharing feature is usually the best choice for passwords you'll share long-term, like a family streaming account. It keeps the password updated for both of you when it changes.
Option 3: Say it out loud
For a quick Wi-Fi code, telling someone in person or on a call is perfectly fine. Nothing is written down anywhere.
Extra tips
- Split the details. Send the username and the password through different channels, or protect a one-time note with a password shared by phone.
- Change shared passwords afterwards when someone no longer needs access, for example when a contractor finishes a project.
- Never share your main email or banking password. If someone needs access to an account, look for a "share access" or "add user" feature instead.
- Watch for scams. A real company will never ask you to send your password through a link. If someone asks for yours unexpectedly, it's probably phishing.
- Turn on two-factor authentication wherever you can, so a leaked password alone isn't enough to get in.
Common questions
Is a self-destructing link completely safe?
It's much safer than a regular message, but nothing is perfect. Whoever opens the link first can read it, and the reader can always copy or screenshot the password. Send it to the right person, through an app you trust, and add a password for anything sensitive.
What if the wrong person read it?
Your intended reader will see "This message doesn't exist (anymore)", and your status link will show it was read. That's your signal to change the password right away.
More: How it works · FAQ