End-to-end encryption
sealed before it leaves the tab
Your private key is made in your browser and never sent to us. Mail to OpenEmail addresses with a published key is sealed in the tab, and mail sealed to you opens there too.
In short
What is end-to-end encrypted email?
The sender encrypts with the recipient's public key, and only the matching private key can open it. Servers in between carry unreadable text. OpenPGP seals only the body, so the subject and addresses stay readable.
15min
idle before an unlocked key locks again
8h
the longest a key stays unlocked
3MB
of files, roughly, fit one sealed message
How it works
Sealed in your tab before sending
When every recipient has a key in the OpenEmail directory, the body and files are encrypted in your browser and reach us as ciphertext.
Green only when it really opens
Mail sealed to a key in this browser opens in the reading pane, whichever PGP client sent it. The Privacy check goes green only after decrypting.
Your passphrase is the only way in
Setup will not finish until you download the backup, and a forgotten passphrase leaves sealed mail unreadable, to us too.
Formats it recognises
Identified on arrival, whoever sent it.
What you get
In the product today
Subject stays visible
The addresses and date do too. Only the body and files are sealed.
Out of search
Rules, search and AI skip sealed bodies, even ones you have opened.
Scheduled sends stay sealed
They wait as ciphertext, sealed to the keys recipients hold when you write.
Good practice
Getting the most out of it
- 01
Guard the backup file
Keep it in a password manager. It is your only way back without this browser.
- 02
Import on each device
A phone or second laptop has no key until you import the backup.
- 03
Rotate after a leak
Suspect someone saw your passphrase or device? Replace the key. Old sealed mail still opens.
Where it stands
Good to know
- Sending beyond OpenEmail
- No keyserver, Web Key Directory or Autocrypt lookup. Your public key leaves only inside a workspace export.
- Replies, forwards, templates
- Cannot be sealed: the quoted thread would sit outside the seal, and templates render on the server.
Questions
Asked often
Keep going
Works well with
Mail moves over TLS on the hops we run, and transport alone never turns the padlock green, because nothing on this backend can read the transport off a delivery.
Start
Your domain,
your mail.
Point a domain at OpenEmail and read it in a mailbox built around it. The free plan covers one domain.
