Sending an Encrypted Email Using GPG

There are times when you may want to send something privately — maybe security, credentials, or sensitive information.

To make sure only the person who intends to read your message, you can encrypt your email using GPG (GNU Privacy Guard).

GPG uses public-key encryption. In simple terms:

I publish a public key that anyone can use to encrypt a message.
Only I have the private key that can decrypt it.

So even if someone intercepts the email, they cannot read it.

This guide shows:

How to send me an encrypted email
How you can set up the same system yourself

1. Download My Public Key

You can get my public key here from either of these links:

Download it:

curl https://github.com/naveen521kk.gpg -o naveen521kk.asc

Or just open the link and save the file.

2. Import the Key into GPG

Install GPG if you don’t already have it.

Mac

brew install gnupg

Ubuntu / Linux

sudo apt install gnupg

Windows

Install Gpg4win

https://gpg4win.org

Note

For windows, Git for Windows also comes with gpg, so you can use that if you have git installed. You would need to run those commands in git bash in this case.

Now import my key:

gpg --import naveen521kk.asc

You should see something like:

gpg: key BDBXXX: public key "Naveen ... <email>" imported

3. Write Your Message

Create a file with the message you want to send.

Example:

nano message.txt

Example message:

Hi Naveen,

I wanted to report a security issue I found.

Thanks!

4. Encrypt the Message

Now encrypt the message using my public key.

gpg --encrypt --armor -r naveen message.txt

This will create:

message.txt.asc

The file will look like this:

-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----

hQIMA5....
....
-----END PGP MESSAGE-----

Only my private key can decrypt it.

5. Send the Email

Now send me the encrypted text via email.

You can either:

attach the .asc file
or paste the encrypted block directly into the email body

Even if the email provider reads your message, they will only see encrypted text.

How I Decrypt It

When I receive the message, I run:

gpg --decrypt message.txt.asc

Since I have the private key, I can read the original message.

Setting This Up For Yourself

If you’d like people to securely contact you too, here’s how to do it.

1. Generate a Key

Run:

gpg --full-generate-key

Choose:

RSA and RSA
4096 bits

Enter your name and email.

2. Export Your Public Key

gpg --armor --export your@email.com > publickey.asc

3. Publish It

You can publish your key in many ways:

GitHub

https://github.com/<username>.gpg

your website
key servers

Example:

https://github.com/yourusername.gpg

Now anyone can encrypt messages to you.

Why Use GPG?

Benefits:

End-to-end encryption
Works with normal email
Protects sensitive communication
Open standard used worldwide

That’s all there is to it. Once you have GPG installed and the recipient’s public key imported, encrypting messages becomes quick and straightforward.

If you ever need to send me something sensitive, feel free to follow the steps above and email the encrypted message. Since it is encrypted with my public key, only my private key can decrypt it, ensuring that the contents remain private.

If you’re a developer or someone who values privacy, setting up GPG for yourself is worth considering. Publishing your public key allows others to securely share information with you without relying on third-party platforms or trusting email providers with sensitive content.

Secure communication doesn’t have to be complicated — sometimes a few simple tools are all it takes.