1 [[!meta title="Decrypt or verify a text created using Tails OpenPGP Applet"]]
3 With <span class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> you can
4 **decrypt text that is encrypted using OpenPGP** or **verify text that
5 is signed using OpenPGP**.
7 1. Select with the mouse the encrypted text that you want to decrypt or
8 the signed text that you want to verify. Include the lines “*-----BEGIN
9 PGP MESSAGE-----*“ and “*-----END PGP MESSAGE-----*”.
11 To copy it into the [[!wikipedia Clipboard_(computing)
12 desc="clipboard"]], right-click on the selected text and choose <span
13 class="guimenuitem">Copy</span> from the menu.
15 2. If the text that you selected is encrypted, <span
16 class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> now shows a padlock, meaning that
17 the clipboard contains encrypted text.
19 [[!img gpgapplet_with_padlock.png link=no alt="Tails OpenPGP Applet with a
22 If the text that you selected is only signed, but not encrypted,
23 <span class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> now shows a seal, meaning
24 that the clipboard contains signed text.
26 [[!img gpgapplet_with_seal.png link=no alt="Tails OpenPGP Applet with a seal"]]
28 3. Click on <span class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> and select <span
29 class="guimenuitem">Decrypt/Verify Clipboard</span> from the menu.
31 4. If the text that you selected is only signed and the signature is
32 valid, the <span class="guilabel">GnuPG results</span> window described
33 in step 6 appears directly.
35 If the text is signed and the signature is invalid, a <span
36 class="guilabel">GnuPG error</span> message appears that mentions
37 <span class="guilabel">BAD signature from…</span>.
39 If the text is encrypted with a passphrase, the <span
40 class="guilabel">Enter passphrase</span> dialog box appears. Enter
41 the passphrase that has been used to encrypt the text and click <span
42 class="guilabel">OK</span>.
44 If the text is encrypted using public-key cryptography, two different
45 dialog boxes can appear.
47 a. If the passphrase for the corresponding private key is not already cached
48 in memory, a dialog box appears with the following message: <span
49 class="guilabel">You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
50 user</span>. Enter the passphrase for this secret key and click <span
51 class="guilabel">OK</span>.
53 b. If no secret key for which the text is encrypted is available in
54 your keyring, a GnuPG error message appears that mentions <span
55 class="guilabel">decryption failed: secret key not available</span>.
57 5. If the passphrase provided in step 4 is incorrect, a <span
58 class="guilabel">GnuPG error</span> message appears that mentions <span
59 class="guilabel">decryption failed: bad key</span>.
61 6. If the passphrase provided in step 4 is correct, or if the signature
62 of the text is valid, or both, a <span class="guilabel">GnuPG
63 results</span> window appears.
65 The decrypted text appears in the <span class="guilabel">Output of GnuPG</span> text box.
67 In the <span class="guilabel">Other messages provided by GnuPG</span>
68 text box, the message <span class="guilabel">Good signature
69 from…</span>, confirms that the signature of the text is valid.
73 To store your GnuPG keys and configuration across separate working sessions,
74 you can activate the [[<span class="guilabel">GnuPG</span> persistence
75 feature|doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/#gnupg]].