How to prove an email was sentServer records show sending; delivery and reading are different questions

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes.

The file stays on your device. Your browser makes a digital fingerprint of the file. TimeBinder records the fingerprint and the time, not the file.

Short answer

Start with your provider’s sent record or message trace, and keep the original message with its full headers. A delivery receipt shows delivery, not that it was read. A TimeBind shows your saved copy existed no later than a recorded time; it does not show the email was delivered.

What records help, and what each one shows

The Sent folder shows you sent it, but anyone with access to the account can change it. Stronger evidence is held by the mail system. Many providers and company admins can run a message trace that lists when a message was accepted and whether it was delivered or bounced; ask your provider or IT administrator what is available and how long it is kept.

The full message headers record the path the message took, including the servers that handled it and their timestamps. Save the message in its original format (for example an .eml file) rather than a printout or screenshot, and keep any bounce or delivery-status notice. A delivery receipt shows the message reached a mailbox; a read receipt depends on the recipient’s settings and can be declined, so it does not show the message was read.

Headers and exported files can be edited once they are copied out, so their value depends on where they came from and who else holds a copy. If the email matters to a dispute, ask the recipient or a lawyer about getting it confirmed from the other side too. This page does not say any email record is admissible.

Dating your saved copy

Once you have exported the message, a TimeBind records a SHA-256 fingerprint of that exact file and a time. The fingerprint is made in your browser and the file is not uploaded. It shows your saved copy existed no later than the recorded time and still matches, so a later edited copy would not.

It does not show the email was delivered, opened or came from the sender it names, and it does not replace the provider’s own records. See how to prove a document existed on a date.

Make a TimeBind: first one free →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.

Frequently asked questions

Does a sent folder prove an email was sent?

It is a record on your side, but it can be changed by anyone with access. Provider message traces and the original message headers are stronger.

Does a read receipt prove someone read an email?

No. Read receipts depend on the recipient’s settings and can be declined or blocked. A delivery receipt shows delivery to a mailbox, not reading.

Should I save an email as a screenshot?

Better to save the original message file with headers. A screenshot is easy to edit and drops the technical details.

Does a TimeBind prove an email was delivered?

No. It shows that your exported file existed no later than a recorded time and still matches. It does not show delivery, opening or the sender’s identity.

Sources

TimeBinder, How to prove a document existed on a date.
TimeBinder, Timestamp vs electronic signature.

Related guides and tools

Your file’s fingerprint, anchored to a global network secured by real electricity and cryptography.

Editing a file—including with AI—changes its fingerprint, not its existing network record.

How this works

Your file’s SHA-256 fingerprint, a short code worked out from its exact contents, is made in your browser, and the file itself stays on your device. A cryptographic commitment to that fingerprint, which may be combined with others, is then anchored in a block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin is secured by proof of work: computers around the world spend real electricity to add each block, and changing an earlier block would mean redoing that work faster than the rest of the network. Until that block is confirmed, your proof is pending. Once the Bitcoin anchoring is confirmed, you can verify the proof against that recorded commitment. The confirmed record can then be checked; Pooled TimeBinds are checked through TimeBinder, while ASAP TimeBinds can also be checked independently. If you check the file later and its fingerprint still matches, that shows the file existed no later than the recorded time. The record doesn’t show who made the file, whether AI was used, or that its contents are true.

Your filestays on your device
FingerprintSHA-256
Network timestampon Bitcoin

Record a fingerprint of the file you rely on

Add a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes: a dated, checkable record of the exact file you hold.

Open the app and sign in with email or Google.
Add your files. They stay on your computer.
Seal them and download your Proof of Time certificates.

Open TimeBinder →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. See pricing.