Bitcoin Forum

I have been trying to understand how to use windows 7 to send and receive emails encrypted with a pgp public key. I understand how it works, I understand the public vs. private key and have created one. I just cannot figure out how to send an email to such an address? Do I need a specific email client? If it helps I used the GnuPG software to set it up via command prompt. From here I'm blind, I also would like to know how to pull up my pgp key if i need to. I feel safer using this method to discuss bitcoin than most others.

I'll check it out. Pretty good privacy, sounds nice.

I use Thunderbird and OpenPGP add-on. Everything is automated, you can even add existing keys.

ok, so do i just send an email to that key? is my key then now visible to send a reply?

It's not so simple for a novice to get sendin' those encrypted emails.


I encourage you to google "pgp windows tutorial" and/or "pgp for windows".

People have been explaining this shit to noobs before I even used a computer.

I'm using Kleopatra and Cryptophane in a couple of my PC's. I would suggest the latter for an easier user experience, but they're essentially the same.

PGP isn't email.  You send email using your email client. GPG just creates encrypted messages.  You can email them but you can also send them as a private message, transfer them by dropbox, hand them to the recipient on a usb drive, or even print them out.   GPG just encrypts messages, you can deliver them however you like.   To use an analogy your quesiton would be like asking how can you use winzip to email files.  Winzip is used to compress files and then you can send them however you like.

To encrypt a message that you can email there are multiple options but here is the simplest one (since you already have GPG4Win installed).

To create an encrypted message
Start GPA (In Windows Start > GPG4WIN > GPA)
Click on [Clipboard]
Write your message.
Click on [Encrypt]
Select the key of the recipeint (you can select yours as a test).
The clipboard will change to encrypted version of your message.
Copy the entire contents of the clipboard (entire mean entire include the BEGIN and END lines).
Open your favorite email program or webapp (gmail, etc).
Paste the encrypted message into the body of the email.
Send the email like normal.



To decrypt a message
Copy the entire encrypted message (entire means entire include the BEGIN and END lines).
Open GPA (Start > GPG4Win > GPA)
Click [Clipboard]]
Paste the encrypted message.
Click [Decrypt]
Enter your private key passphrase when prompted.
The clipboard will change to the decrypted message.

For testing you can encrypt a message to yourself, email it to yourself, then copy it back to GPA using the two sets of instructions above.

I recommend you also try installing Cryptophane (an alternative GPG "client").  

Sorry the name for the Thunderbird add-on I'm using is Enigmail: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/enigmail/

im using tormail easy enough but any help or advice as to how I add/use PGP with tormal would be great.......thanks

Write a message in the GPG client.  Encrypt.  Copy and paste the encrypted contents into the body of an email.