Timelock
Share the link today. Keep the message and files closed until the time you choose, with a key encrypted for a future release.
Use Timelock when your opening time is settled and you want encryption to enforce the wait. Choose Standard if you need a private delete link.
Create a Timelock Postdate$3 USD once. Up to 100 MB and one year. No sender delete link.
Choose your lock
Standard
Postdate holds the key and releases it at your chosen time. You rely on our promise not to read the content early.
You get a private delete link. Use it until the Postdate expires, including before it opens.
Free within 7 days and 1 MB. Larger uploads or later dates cost $3.
Timelock
The key needs a scheduled release from drand, an independent public network, to unlock. Postdate cannot supply that release early.
You cannot delete it yourself or move the opening earlier. Choose it when the release time is settled.
$3 per Postdate, including text-only messages.
Both encrypt your text and files in your browser before upload. Anyone with the link can open them after the opening time and before expiry. Timelock's protection depends on drand and the encryption remaining secure.
Before you send
- Check the date and timezone. You cannot reschedule an existing Postdate.
- With Standard, you can delete the link and create another if plans change. Timelock has no sender delete link.
- Opening requires Postdate and drand to stay available. An outage can delay access; a shutdown could prevent it.
- Postdate can remove content for abuse. Expiry removes access through the link, but people can keep files they already downloaded.
How the key stays locked
Your browser encrypts the content, then encrypts its key for a future drand release. Drand publishes a new random number every three seconds. The release needed to open your Postdate is scheduled at or just after your chosen time.
The opening time is rounded up to the next scheduled release, so access can take a few extra seconds. Once that release is available, the recipient's browser can unlock the key and decrypt the content.
This protects access through the link. A sender can still keep or share the original text, files, or encryption key. Future quantum computers could break Timelock encryption; we cannot guarantee when that risk may become practical.
What it costs
Timelock Postdates cost $3 USD each, paid once. That covers up to 10 files and 100 MB total, including encryption and packaging, with an opening date up to one year away.
Choose an opening time at least 5 minutes away. After opening, keep the link available for 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days, or 30 days. The default is 7 days.
You can attach files without a note. Text notes accept 10–100,000 characters. You see the total before you create the link.
Try it with your files
Prepare a product launch package or follow the file-sharing walkthrough. Both show how to share one link before the files open.
Read more about how Postdate works or browse all examples.