everyday
pgp key generator
create your personal pgp key pair in three steps. with javascript on, everything happens inside your browser - once this page has loaded you can even go offline before generating. with javascript off, the key is created on our server instead - in memory only, never stored.
you end up with two things: a public key you give to everyone, and a private key nobody else may ever see.
✓
done - save both keys now
key fingerprint
-
created
-
public key
share this. publish it everywhere.
private key
never share this. not with anyone. ever.
this key has NO passphrase protection. that is a valid choice - but anyone who
gets hold of the private key file can use it immediately. keep the file somewhere truly safe.
before you close this tab: copy both blocks into files and store them offline
(usb stick, encrypted volume). if you lose the private key it is gone forever - no reset exists.
what to do next: publish the public key wherever people deal with you (profile pages, keyservers, contact posts) and put the private key somewhere offline. the fingerprint above is what others use to confirm your key is really yours.
faq
- is this actually safe?
- with javascript on, the generation happens with openpgp.js in your machine's browser tab - your passphrase and private key never leave the browser, no upload exists in the code. with javascript off, the form posts to our server and the key is generated there in memory for that single request, then discarded - nothing is logged or stored. that fallback only makes rsa-4096 keys.
- which key type should i pick?
- curve25519 unless something specifically demands rsa. it is faster to generate, produces smaller keys and messages, and is the modern default across the ecosystem. without javascript you get rsa-4096 regardless.
- the "suggest one" passphrase - can i trust it?
- it is built from random words using your browser's crypto random generator, on your machine, and never transmitted. feel free to roll your own instead - length and unpredictability are what matter.
- i lost my private key / passphrase. can you recover it?
- nobody can. that is the entire point of public-key cryptography. back both up before you need them.