Send it.
Then watch it
disappear.
Pick a timer — 1 hour, 24 hours, or 7 days. Share the link. When the clock runs out the note is hard-deleted from the database and the URL goes to 410 Gone. Memorable URLs like blue-fox-42, not random hashes you can't type by hand.
Why we built this: an expiry that only hides the page is not an expiry. We made ShareNotes hard-delete the row and return 410 Gone — then wrote up the link-preview trap that decision exposed, because we hit it ourselves.
How do self-destructing notes work?
A self-destructing note is a shared note that deletes itself automatically. On ShareNotes you choose a timer of 1 hour, 24 hours, or 7 days, or tick "Delete after first read" so the note is destroyed the moment someone opens it. Expired and read notes are hard-deleted from the database and the URL returns 410 Gone. ShareNotes is free, needs no account, and its view-once notes are not consumed by Slack, Discord or iMessage link previews.
Pick a duration. We delete the rest.
WiFi passwords, one-time codes, a snippet you only need on the other device for a minute.
Meeting notes, a draft you want a colleague to read today, a temporary credential.
Trip itinerary, sprint notes, anything you'll be done with by next week.
Default. Note stays until you delete it or the inactivity cleanup runs (7 days unused).
ShareNotes against the usual self-destructing tools.
Read the last two rows together, because that is where most tools in this category actually differ. Burn-after-read and password protection are commonly the pair reserved for a paid tier, with end-to-end encryption held back for a higher one. On ShareNotes, view-once notes, self-destruct timers and PIN protection are all free — no account, no trial, no upgrade prompt.
Answers, briefly.
How do self-destructing notes work on ShareNotes?
When you create a note, pick a self-destruct timer — 1 hour, 24 hours, or 7 days. After the timer elapses the note is hard-deleted from the database; the URL returns a 410 Gone response. Until then, the link works like any other ShareNotes link: viewable on any device, optionally PIN-protected.
How is ShareNotes different from Privnote and SafeNote?
ShareNotes uses memorable word-based URLs like sharenotes.dev/blue-fox-42 instead of random hashes. You can read the URL out loud or type it by hand on another device. ShareNotes also supports real-time multi-device sync before expiry and optional password protection — useful for sharing time-limited credentials.
Can I send a note that deletes after one view?
Yes. Tick Delete after first read when you create the note. The first person to open the link sees the content; the note is destroyed at that moment, and every visit after that returns 410 Gone. You can combine it with a timer, so the note disappears either when it is read or when the clock runs out — whichever happens first.
Is this the same as a burn after reading note?
Yes — burn after reading is the common name for it, and ShareNotes' view-once mode does exactly that: the content is wiped from the database the moment the note is first opened. One difference worth knowing about: on most burn-after-reading tools, pasting the link into Slack, Discord, WhatsApp or iMessage silently burns the note, because the chat app's link-preview bot opens it before the human does. ShareNotes recognises those preview bots and shows them a generic preview instead, so the note survives until a real person opens it.
Is a self-destructing note really gone after it expires?
Yes. Expired notes are hard-deleted by the cleanup job — the row is removed from the Postgres database, not flagged. Until cleanup runs, requests return 410 Gone instead of the content, so the data is invisible to readers even in the brief window before physical deletion.
Do you need an account to send a self-destructing note?
No. No email, no password to create, no sign-up. Open ShareNotes, paste the content, pick a timer, click Generate. You get the URL immediately.
Can I extend the timer after creating the note?
Not yet. The expiry is set at creation time. If you need to keep a note longer than planned, the simplest workaround is to copy its content into a new note with a longer timer.