How to decrypt a gpg encrypted file

With the help of a simple to use Linux command, your files and folders can be secured. Remember to use complex passwords when encrypting those files, because encrypting a file with a weak password will get you nowhere.

He's covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen More about cybersecurity Online privacy: DuckDuckGo just finished a banner year and looks for an even better Check for Log4j vulnerabilities with this simple-to-use script 8 advanced threats Kaspersky predicts for End user data backup policy TechRepublic Premium.

Editor's Picks. The best programming languages to learn in Check for Log4j vulnerabilities with this simple-to-use script. TasksBoard is the kanban interface for Google Tasks you've been waiting for. Paging Zefram Cochrane: Humans have figured out how to make a warp bubble. In some cases it will not ask us for a password, although if it is encrypted with a password, this is because Kleopatra has a cache system so that we do not have to be writing passwords or keys so often, for example, if we encrypt a file and try decrypting immediately it will not ask us for it, but if we wait a few minutes or hours it will ask for it again.

Do not forget that we still have to save the file with the "Save All" option that appears at the end, if the file already exists it will ask us for confirmation to overwrite it.

To encrypt files, we use the gpg command with the -c parameter:. Unfortunately when using the terminal the password has to be entered in the Kleopatra interface, which opens automatically when executing the command, it is not something bad, but ideally, if we use the terminal, the whole procedure needs to be continued in the same terminal. To decrypt we use the gpg command without parameters, only the name of the encrypted file:. To see in more detail the use of the command in the terminal we can review this guide to GPG in Linux , basically the options and parameters are the same, the only thing that changes is the installation method.

Internet, Computing and Technology. Table of Contents Download Install Encrypt and decrypt files from the graphical interface Encrypt Decrypt Encrypt and decrypt files from the terminal. You can ask gpg to update your copy. To do so, run the following command:.

In addition to importing a key from a keyserver, you can also export your newly generated public key to the keyserver for discovery by other users. To export a gpg key, run the following command:. Feel free to test gpg encryption with this public key from the key block here or from importing from the keyserver. If using the MIT keyserver, go to pgp. Note that —armor must be used for an ascii representation of your file. Else it will be binary and not usable for text upload.

Alternatively, you may send your keys to the keyserver with the following command providing the fingerprint as the identifier at the end. This is a difference between gpg encryption and other methods of encryption. GPG has a built in method for signing trusted keys. Once you know a public key being used for encryption belongs to the person you think it does, you may sign it with the following command:.

Before signing the key though, how do you know it can be trusted? If the intended recipient sent you the key directly, you can be sure, provided they are a trusted party. Else, you may ask the intended recipient to send you the fingerprint of the key.

This can be retrieved by running the following command:. If the key is not signed, you may still use it but will be prompted each time to ensure you do indeed want to encrypt data with that key. Signatures on a public key are generally a sign that the key is trusted and that you can also trust it, but beware that many SKS keyserver implementations have been abused with signatures that are essentially spam. Always reach out to the person to verify the fingerprint of their key before trusting it.

If you have the key file, simply use the —import option with the key file. For example:. If they have not uploaded their key to a keyserver, then they will have to make a way for you to get their public key. After importing keys, you are ready to encrypt. For this example, we will encrypt a file to be sent to the intended recipient. Here is an example of encrypting a file named message. Note that -r is shorthand for --recipient.

The encrypted file will be named message. The only person that can decrypt the file will be the holder of the private key of info misterpki. Note that the recipient may be an email or a specific key id.