Nowadays, security is more important than ever when it comes to our digital lives. With hackers, spammers, and security breaches galore, you can never be too safe. So when it comes to your email communications, you don't want to take unnecessary risks.

ProtonMail gives you the security you need by providing you with an encrypted email account and other security settings to keep your messages safe. You'll also get the features you look for in an email service at the same time.

On both the web and mobile devices, here's what ProtonMail has to offer.

ProtonMail's Security Features

When talking about security features in an email service, it's important to know up-front what exactly those features are, what they do, and how they can help you.

Here's a summary of what ProtonMail offers for its secure email accounts:

  • End-to-end encryption: All messages are encrypted at all times and during all steps of the sending and receiving process. ProtonMail stores emails in an encrypted format and also sends them in an encrypted format between its network and your devices.
  • No access to user data: Your data is safe when you use ProtonMail because it stays with you. Because it uses client-side encryption with a key that ProtonMail does not have access to, the company cannot decrypt your data.
  • Open source code: ProtonMail uses AES, RSA, and OpenPGP secure implementations with open source libraries. Their code has been fully examined by experts in the security field worldwide.

It doesn't stop there. The company also uses:

  • Hardware-level security with disk encryption and secured data centers.
  • Anonymity so your personally identifiable information is not logged or tracked.
  • SSL secured connections between its network and your devices using a Swiss SSL certificate issuer.

For a more detailed look at the company's security features, you can visit the Security section of the ProtonMail website and review the ProtonMail privacy policy.

ProtonMail Email Features

Now that we've covered the ways ProtonMail keeps your emails and account safe, it's time to look at the email service offerings. From the appearance to email actions to inbox organization, you'll appreciate what you can do with ProtonMail.

Intuitive interface: Whether you use ProtonMail on the web or your mobile device, the user interface is both intuitive and attractive. You have simple navigation for your folders, quick action buttons for messages, and a fast way to change the layout.

ProtonMail web interface

Folders: You can organize your inbox with color-coded folders for both business and personal use. This lets you move those emails you want to keep exactly where you want to store them.

Tags: You can create tags with names and colors to quickly distinguish certain messages. What's more, you can easily see both the color and the tag name in your message list.

Email signatures: Especially useful for business, but convenient for all email types, you can set up an email signature. And with a paid account, you can create a signature specifically for the mobile app.

Quick actions: With the click of a button, you can also mark or move emails, report phishing, mark as spam, view the source code or email headers, export, or print a message.

ProtonMail quick email actions

Standout Email Features

The above list of features gives you exactly what you need in an email service. But ProtonMail has a few additional features that make it stand out from the rest.

Create Custom Filters

If you're worried about losing email filters by switching from Gmail to ProtonMail, then you'll be glad to know ProtonMail supports filters too. Create custom filters to organize emails as they arrive by setting up conditions and actions.

ProtonMail create custom filter

You can pick from conditions like sender, subject, recipient, or attachments. Plus, you can add more than one condition if you like. The actions let you apply labels, move to a folder, archive or spam, and mark messages as read or starred.

Encrypt Emails

You can encrypt an email sent to a non-ProtonMail user with a password and hint. When your recipient receives the email, they just click the link and enter the password to view the message in their browser. The hint you set up with the password will be included in your recipient's email.

ProtonMail encrypt email

Even though ProtonMail is already secure, this adds another layer of safety to messages you send to people who haven't made the switch to ProtonMail yet.

Send Self-Destructing Messages

When you compose an encrypted email as described above, you can also set an expiration for it in weeks, days, and/or hours. The timer starts when you hit the Send button.

ProtonMail expiring email

When time's up, the email is removed from your Sent folder. ProtonMail users will have the message deleted from their inbox. For non-ProtonMail users, the content in the link they receive for the encrypted email will vanish.

Mobile-Specific Email Features

ProtonMail is available on both Android and iOS for free and paid accounts. Along with the mobile app, you get additional features you'll find handy:

  • App protection: Adjust settings to enable Touch ID or a PIN. You can also turn on an auto-lock timer for every time you enter the app, or set it from one minute to one hour.
  • Push notifications: Receive notifications on your device and even your Apple Watch when a new email arrives.
  • Swipe actions: By swiping left or right, you can choose to send emails to the trash, mark them as spam, archive them, or mark them as unread.

ProtonMail Pricing and Availability

ProtonMail is available on the web and syncs with apps for Android and iOS. And best of all, it's free with all the features you see here.

If you are interested in a business account or one of the ProtonMail paid plans, you can receive additional features like unlimited folders and labels, auto-responders, multi-user support, and more.

Download: ProtonMail for Android | iOS | Web (Free, subscription available)

Keep Your Emails Safe With ProtonMail

As you can see, ProtonMail not only offers terrific security features, but great email features as well. And since you can create an account and use the service for free, it's definitely worth your time to give it a try.

For more, check out how to send anonymous emails online.