Click Yes twice if you want to copy your existing keyrings to the new location.Ĭhanging the passphrase of an existing keyġ. Click 'No' twice if you want new and empty keyrings. When you click OK, you will be told that the files you specified will be created. To create brand new, and empty, keyring files, simply enter (or browse to) the desired location, then type a name for your new public and private keyring files. To change your current keyrings to a different set of keyrings, type the location of (or browse to) the desired public and private keyring files, then click OK. Right click on the newly-imported keypair, then click Properties.Ĭlick the Implicit Trust checkbox, then click Close.Ĭlick the PGPtray icon (gray or gold padlock), then click Options. If you are importing your own public/private keypair, click OK on the PGP information box. When the Select Keys window appears, make sure the key you wish to import is highlighted, then click the Import button. To import a key (or keypair), click the Keys menu, then click Import.īrowse to the key you wish to import, then click Open. Open the PGPkeys window (click the gray padlock in your system tray, your PGPtray icon, then click PGPkeys). You do not need to submit your PGP key on the Keyserver repository, this is completely option as a standalone client.

You will now see your new keypair in your PGPkeys window, expanded to show your email address and digital signature. To complete the keypair generation, click Finish. If your passphrase is not 8 characters or longer, you may either click Next on the following screen, or click back to lengthen your passphrase.Īfter your PGP keypair has been generated, click Next. TIP: PGP is only as strong as your passphrase so choose a strong passphrase!

(You can leave email address off if this does not apply to the key).Įnter and confirm a passphrase for your private key, then click Next. If you are an experienced user and wish to specify the type, size, or expiration date of your keypair, click the 'Advanced.' button.Įnter your name and Email address, then click Next. When the PGP Key Generation Welcome Screen appears, click Next. To begin creating a new keypair, click the File menu, then click New PGP Key. Open the PGPkeys window (click the gray padlock in your system tray, PGPtray icon, then click PGP keys). For more information about this, see the following articles:ġ80130 - HOW TO: Reconstruct Your Private Key for Windowsġ53258 - Key Reconstruction - PGP Desktop Key Reconstruction is an option that could potentially help you recover from this situation. Therefore it is very important to remember your passphrase and have a back-up copy of your keypair. The article is old, and is considered rich PGP history, but is still current in concepts and is great for anyone who would like to learn more about Cryptography!Ĭaution: If you lose your private key or forget its passphrase, you will be unable to decrypt any data which was encrypted to the public portion of your keypair. TIP: For more information about public-key cryptography, refer to a great historical PGP document 'Intro to Crypto' document provided at the bottom of this article as an attachment. When data is encrypted with a public key, it is common to say that the data was encrypted 'to' the public key. Thus when you want to send someone encrypted data, you use their public key to encrypt the data, which may then only be decrypted by their private key.

Once the data is encrypted with your public key, it may only be decrypted by your private key, for which only you know the passphrase. When someone wishes to send you encrypted data they use your public key to encrypt the data, which changes the data into encrypted content so only the intended recipients can decrypt. Your private key, however, should never be given to others, and its passphrase should be kept totally secret. Your public key should be given to anyone who wishes to send you encrypted data. In order to use PGP you must create a PGP keypair, which consists of a public key and a private key. PGP encryption (Symantec Encryption Desktop) is based on public-key cryptography.

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