PGP Decrypt Message

Overview

Paste an OpenPGP message, unlock your private key and read the text. It runs in your browser with openpgp.js, so nothing is uploaded. The text only appears if the message passes its integrity check, so a tampered one shows nothing. You also see who signed it, whether that signature is valid, and whether their key is expired or revoked. If decryption fails, the tool tells you why.

Reading encrypted mailOpen a message someone encrypted to your public key without setting up PGP in your mail app.
Receiving a shared credentialDecrypt a secret a teammate sent you and check that they signed it, so you know it came from them.
Receiving a confidential tipJournalists and sources can decrypt messages on their own device, so the text never exists anywhere else.
Opening an encrypted backupRecover a PGP-encrypted export from a password manager without handing it to another service.
Decrypting on a locked-down machineRead a message where you can't install GnuPG, with a pasted key and nothing kept on the device.

Set

Security Tools 26

Neighbours

01 AES File & Text Encryptor 02 Base64 Decode 03 Base64 Encode 04 CSR Generator 05 DER to PEM Converter 06 Hash Generator

Specification

Command: security.pgp_decrypt_message
Set: Security
Input: text
Output: TXT
Max file: no limit
Batch: single file

Runtime

Engine: WebCrypto · OpenPGP.js
Threads: single
Isolated: —
WebGPU: —
Memory: —

Transport 0 B

Your file is opened, worked on and saved inside this tab. This tool has no upload step, so your file has nowhere else to go.

Keys

Search: ⌘K
Panels: ⌘1 · ⌘2
Full width: F
All keys: ⌘/

How it works

Paste the message

Paste the whole block from -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----, or drop the file if it came as an attachment.

Unlock your key

Pick your private key from this browser's keyring or paste it, then enter its passphrase. The passphrase is never stored.

Read the message

The text appears only after the integrity check passes, along with who signed it, or a note that nobody did.

Frequently asked

Why won't this message decrypt?

The tool tells you which of three things went wrong. The message isn't addressed to any key you have, the passphrase is wrong, or the message failed its integrity check because it was changed or cut off after encryption.

What happens on a failed integrity check?

You get nothing. Text only appears once the whole message has decrypted and passed the check, so a tampered message never reaches your screen or your disk. Most desktop tools show the text with a warning. This one doesn't.

Does decrypting tell me who sent the message?

Only if the sender signed it, and the tool tells you whether they did. Anyone with your public key can encrypt to you, so encryption alone proves nothing. If there's a signature, you see whose key made it and whether that key is expired or revoked.

What if I have forgotten the passphrase?

Then the message can't be decrypted. There's no recovery or reset. If you kept the key's revocation certificate, publish it so people stop encrypting to that key, and make a new key pair.

Is it safe to paste my private key here?

Yes. The key and passphrase stay on your device, and the tool makes no network requests. The unlocked key is handled in a worker that is shut down after each use. Nothing is saved unless you choose to keep the key, and then only in its passphrase-protected form.

Keys

Search: ⌘K
Panels: ⌘1 · ⌘2
Full width: F
All keys: ⌘/