How to Share Text With an Expiring Link
Chat apps keep every message forever. Email keeps every attachment forever. Sometimes that's the problem: you want someone to read a block of text now, and you want it to be gone later. An expiring paste link does exactly that.
Two kinds of "gone"
Timed expiry. The link works until a deadline you pick — one hour, one day, one week — then the text is deleted automatically. Anyone who opens the link after that sees "paste not found". Choose this when several people might read the text over a few days.
Burn after read. The link works exactly once. The first person to open it sees the text; the instant it's displayed, the server deletes it. Everyone after that sees nothing. Choose this when exactly one person should see the text exactly once — sending a one-time code or a private note, for example.
Doing it on pastesite.com
- Paste your text at pastesite.com.
- Pick an expiry from the dropdown (or leave "Never" for a normal paste).
- Tick Burn after reading if one single read should delete it.
- Create the paste and send the link.
You can combine both: a paste that expires in an hour and burns after read deletes itself on the first read, or at the deadline if nobody ever opens it. Add a password too, if the text is sensitive.
A warning about "deleted"
Expiring pastes protect you from future exposure, not from people who already read or copied the text. Anyone who saw the link while it was live could have saved a copy. Never share passwords, keys, or personal data this way — and treat "deleted" as "harder to find", not "never existed".
Frequently asked questions
What is an expiring link?
A link that stops working at a deadline you choose. The text behind it is deleted from the server automatically — anyone opening the link after that sees a 'paste not found' message.
What does burn after read mean?
The link works exactly once. The first person who opens it sees the text, and the server deletes it immediately after displaying it. Everyone after that sees nothing.
Can I combine an expiry with burn after read?
Yes. The paste is then deleted on whichever comes first: the first read or the deadline. That gives you both a single-read guarantee and a hard end date.
Is an expiring link private?
It limits future exposure, but anyone who read or copied the text while the link was live still has it. Treat expiring pastes as 'harder to find later', not as encryption or a guarantee of secrecy.