Tuta: what it is and how to use it

Tuta, formerly Tutanota, is a German encrypted email provider that also encrypts the message subject. The free sign-up does not ask for a phone number, even over Tor, which helps keep an email separate from your main identity.

Overview

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How do you use Tuta?

1. Pick the username on paper before opening the sign-up, unrelated to you, and turn on the VPN.
2. Open this site's affiliate link (jonataribas.com/r/tuta) or type tuta.com and check in the address bar that the domain is tuta.com; click to create a free account.
3. If the account has to last, prefer an address on the tuta.com domain: the company itself admits rumors about the end of the .io domain.
4. Create a long, unique password generated by a password manager, and give no real data.
5. Find the recovery code inside the account (you must type your password to see it), write it by hand on paper and keep it in two safe places. Never photograph it or save it to the cloud.
6. If email is critical for you, consider the paid plan rather than relying on a freshly created free account.

What are the limits and cautions?

• New accounts created over VPN or Tor sometimes get restricted pending manual approval, according to user reports; the free plan is no guarantee it will keep working. Free accounts inactive for over six months are deleted.
• There is no IMAP: Tuta does not work with third-party clients such as Thunderbird, only with its own apps.
• Losing the password and the recovery code at the same time means losing the account, because the company has no power over it. This site's link is an affiliate link and may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Other Email tools

• Proton Mail

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