Importing a public key

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    To be able to send someone an encrypted message (e.g. your address to a vendor), you need their public key. In order to get a vendor’s public key you have to visit his profile and look out for a link that is named like “PGP key” or “Vendor public key”. Sometimes it is also featured directly on the vendor’s profile page.

    A public key looks like this:

    -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
    Version: GnuPG v1
    
    mQINBFhNDOsBEACzwJJVsMo7sIiLhvCsLx2n+DVHzw1trM/C8Yao8EmWdDYe3ei9
    mXRqSudbD6S4KvJfm+ZeOlEQ6gGoG2q3aFYASRgcK7WDhs+jwG42EA+j2oIpU/EO
    8EQXTmTn8T+LQT84JZ5KkiZZp2CqLU8RVszfkKEj1oX/sO5watxNQur4fbk9FiCA
    1MjHMYir1g==
    =TV04
    -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

    The gibberish part in the middle will be a bit longer though. The “Version” line may also be different or not exist at all.

    • To import a key in Kleopatra first click the notepad option
    • Paste the public key you want to import into the text field
    • Click the import notepad option
    • A box will pop up telling you to certify the key you just imported.
    • If you are sure of the key you can click Yes then certify
    • You should see cerified successful
    • Click the Notepad option again to go back to your keyring. You should see the name of the key you imported.
    Updated on June 7, 2026
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