1 [[!meta title="OpenPGP passphrase encryption"]]
3 With <span class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> you can **encrypt text
4 with a passphrase** using the passphrase encryption of OpenPGP.
6 [[!inline pages="doc/encryption_and_privacy/gpgapplet.warning" raw="yes"]]
10 <strong>This technique requires you to share a secret passphrase with the people
11 who will decrypt the text.</strong> OpenPGP also allows you to use public-key
12 cryptography to send confidential messages without having a shared passphrase.
13 [[See the corresponding documentation.|gpgapplet/public-key_cryptography]]
17 1. Write your text in a text editor. **Do not write it in the web browser!**
19 For example, open <span class="application">gedit</span> from the menu
20 <span class="menuchoice">
21 <span class="guimenu">Applications</span> ▸
22 <span class="guisubmenu">Accessories</span> ▸
23 <span class="guimenuitem">gedit Text Editor</span></span>.
25 2. Select with the mouse the text that you want to encrypt. To copy it
26 into the [[!wikipedia Clipboard_(computing) desc="clipboard"]],
27 right-click on the selected text and choose <span
28 class="guimenuitem">Copy</span> from the menu.
30 <span class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> now shows
31 lines of text, meaning that the clipboard contains non-encrypted text.
33 [[!img gpgapplet_with_text.png link=no alt="Tails OpenPGP Applet with lines of text"]]
35 3. Click on <span class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> and select <span
36 class="guimenuitem">Encrypt Clipboard with Passphrase</span> from the menu.
38 If you receive the error message “<span class="guilabel">The clipboard does
39 not contain valid input data</span>”, try to copy your text again, starting
42 4. In the <span class="guilabel">Passphrase</span> dialog box, enter a
43 passphrase of your choice. Repeat the same passphrase in the second dialog box.
45 5. <span class="application">Tails OpenPGP Applet</span> now shows a
46 padlock, meaning that the clipboard contains encrypted text.
48 [[!img gpgapplet_with_padlock.png link=no alt="Tails OpenPGP Applet with a
51 6. To paste the encrypted text into another application, right-click in the
52 application where you want to paste it and choose <span
53 class="guimenuitem">Paste</span> from the menu.
55 For example, you can paste it into the web browser to send it by email.
57 [[!img browser_paste.png link=no alt="Encrypted text starting with
58 -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----"]]
62 You can also [[decrypt a text that is encrypted with a
63 passphrase|decrypt_verify]] using <span class="application">Tails
64 OpenPGP Applet</span>.