Want to decrypt (or make sure you can decrypt) emails in your Proton Mail account offline—and without Proton Mail? Find out here how to export and use your Proton Mail decryption key using GnuPG.
First, Splitting and Spinning
Like a wheel and gyro, a spinning black hole has rotational energy. Like a slingshot and hammer thrower, it should be able to launch an object—if it can let go.
How about, Roger Penrose famously proposed in the early 1970s, how about if we split a particle as it spins along with a Kerr black hole, just about to fall in? One half should go into the black hole, and the other will be flung out with more energy than was put in originally.
Now, that Penrose process might let you extract energy from a black hole (until it stops spinning); the following process should let you extract a private key from Proton Mail:
How to Export and Install Your Private Proton Mail Decryption Key
Time needed: 5 minutes
To download the private PGP key for your Proton Mail account and install it for use on a local computer:
- Click the settings gear icon (⚙) in Proton Mail.
- Select All settings.
- Go to the Encryption and keys category.
- Click the downward-headed caret next to Export public key for the desired key under Email encryption keys.
- Click Export private key.
- Type the password you want to use for the decryption key.
Here’s why: The password protects the decryption key; you need it to import the key in cryptographic software and to use it for decrypting.
- Click Encrypt and export.
- Type the account password for Proton Mail under Password.
- Click Authenticate.
- Import the key in the software you want to use for decryption.
GnuPG: In GnuPG, type
gpg --import <privatekey.xxx.asc>and press Enter on a command line.
Decrypt an Exported PGP-Encrypted Email with GnuPG
To decrypt the message body in an email you have downloaded in encrypted form from Proton Mail using just GnuPG:
- Run
gpg -d pgp.txtat a command prompt.
Output: GnuPG will output only the encrypted part.
To file: You can add -o <filename.txt> to save the decrypted text right to a file.
How to Export and Use Your Private Proton Mail Decryption Key: FAQ
Can I download a private Proton Mail decryption key without a password?
No.
You will always need to set a password for your private key, and you will need this password for using the key, e.g., to decrypt a message.
Can I import the key into Thunderbird and other email programs using OpenPGP?
Yes.
Thunderbird and email programs that support OpenPGP encryption (e.g., Outlook using Gpg4win or Canary Mail) will let you import the private key as a personal key for decrypting emails.
(How to export and install your private Proton Mail decryption key tested with Gnupg 2.4.4; first published September 2024)