en	[[!meta title="Encrypting text and files using GnuPG and Kleopatra"]]

en	[*Kleopatra*](https://apps.kde.org/kleopatra/) is a graphical interface to [*GnuPG*](https://www.gnupg.org/), a tool to encrypt and authenticate text and files using the OpenPGP standard.

en	<div class="note">

en	Kleopatra was added in Tails 5.0 (May 2022) to replace the OpenPGP Applet and the Passwords and Keys utility, also known as Seahorse.

en	Kleopatra provides equivalent features in a single tool and is more actively developed.

en	</div>

en	With *Kleopatra* you can:

en	- Create new OpenPGP keys for yourself

en	- Manage your OpenPGP private keys and the public keys of others

en	- Encrypt text with a public key or a passphrase

en	- Sign text with a private key

en	- Decrypt and verify text

en	<div class="next">

en	The [[Thunderbird|anonymous_internet/thunderbird]] email client allows you to work with OpenPGP encrypted emails. Consider using Thunderbird instead of Kleopatra if you want to exchange encrypted emails.

en	The OpenPGP keys stored in Thunderbird are separate from the keys stored in GnuPG and visible in Kleopatra.

en	<div class="tip">

en	To store your GnuPG keys and configuration across different working sessions, you can turn on the [[GnuPG|persistent_storage/configure#gnupg]] feature of the Persistent Storage.

en	Working with encrypted files

en	To encrypt a file:

en	Choose **Sign/Encrypt** from the main window.

en	Select the file that you want to encrypt.

en	In the **Sign/Encrypt Files** dialog, either:

en	Specify which OpenPGP keys you want to encrypt the file to.

en	Choose **Encrypt with password**.

en	To decrypt a file:

en	Choose **Decrypt/Verify** from the main window.

en	Select the file that you want to decrypt.

en	Working with encrypted text

en	<div class="caution">

en	It is unsafe to write confidential text in a web browser since JavaScript attacks can access it from inside the browser. You should rather write and encrypt your text directly in the notepad of Kleopatra and only paste the encrypted text in your browser.

en	To encrypt text:

en	Choose **Notepad** from the main window.

en	Type your text in the **Notepad** tab in the bottom pane.

en	In the **Recipients** tab, either:

en	Specify which OpenPGP keys you want to encrypt the text to.

en	Choose **Encrypt Notepad**.

en	To decrypt text:

en	Paste the encrypted text in the **Notepad** tab in the bottom pane.

en	Choose **Decrypt/Verify Notepad**.

en	When using Kleopatra to encrypt emails, non-ASCII characters (for example non-Latin characters or characters with accents) might not display correctly to the recipients of the email.

en	If you often encrypt emails, we recommend you set up OpenPGP in [[Thunderbird|doc/anonymous_internet/thunderbird]] instead.