Transferring your Key Pair From One Computer To Another

Background:

If you need to decrypt files that were encrypted with your private Key on an additional computer, you need to copy both your private and public keys (the entire Key pair) to that computer.

This tutorial assumes you have already set up a Key pair. If you need guidance to set up the Key pair please refer to this article, which is a prerequisite to the instructions below.

How to transfer your Key pair:

Please select one of the below links, according to your Operating System:

  1. On the machine where the encryption keys are stored, connect a USB drive to a free USB port.

  2. Launch the Kleopatra application and select the encryption key you want to transfer. Then right-click on the selection and choose Backup Secret Keys...

    Do NOT use Export..., as this will only export the public part of the Key while you need to have a backup of both public and private parts.

  3. Select your USB drive as destination and a filename of your preference (e.g. secret-key-KEYID.asc) for your backup copy. Then click Save.

  4. Enter the passphrase you have set when you created the Key and click OK.

  5. A pop-up will confirm the backup has been successfully created. Click OK.

  6. Eject your USB drive safely through the Windows interface to prevent data loss and connect it to a free USB port on the other computer (the one you want to transfer the key to). All the next steps have to be executed on that machine.

  7. Make sure the GPA software is installed, otherwise please install it. Make sure that the component Kleopatra is selected as one of the sub components to include in the installation.

  8. Launch the Kleopatra application and click on the top menu File and select Import...

  9. Click on the letter correspondent to your USB drive and select the file you have previously saved (e.g. secret-key-KEYID.asc). Then click Open.

  10. Click on Yes, It's Mine.

  11. A pop-up will confirm the Key has been successfully imported. Click OK. You may now want to delete the key file from the USB drive and empty the Trash.

  1. On the machine where the encryption keys are stored, connect a USB drive to a free USB port.

  2. Launch the GPG Keychain application and select the encryption key you want to transfer. Please make sure that you see the text Type: Secrete and public key, in the Type column.

  3. With the desired encryption key highlighted, click Export. Please make sure to check the box for the option Include secret key in exported file, as illustrated in the above screenshot. Save the key pair to the USB drive.

  4. Eject the USB drive and connect it to a free USB port on the other computer (the one you want to transfer the key to). All the next steps have to be executed on that machine.

  5. Make sure the GPG Tools suite is installed, otherwise please install it.

  6. Launch the GPG Keychain application and click the icon Import on the top toolbar.

  7. Click the USB Drive and select the previously saved .ASC file that contains the Public and Private key. Then click Open.

  8. The confirmation should read Import successful.

  9. Once the key has been successfully imported, delete the key file from the USB drive and empty the Trash.

Using GPG/RSA encryption keys to guarantee the privacy and security of your Reports

Generate a key pair using GPG for Windows

Generate a key pair using GPG Suite on macOS

Decrypt your Reports using GPG for Windows

Decrypting Reports using your PGP Key pair on macOS

Generate RSA Key Pair on Windows

How to Access your Reports using FTP on Windows

How to Access your Reports using FTP on MacOS

How to set up sFTP for using Certificate Authentication on Windows

How to set up sFTP for using Certificate Authentication on macOS

How to backup your public/private Key pair

How to transfer your public/private key pair from one computer to another