./thunderbird Get Enigmail for Thunderbird. Thunderbird cannot do encryption on its own, so it relies on third-party add-ons like Enigmail. Unfortunately, the developers haven’t chosen to ship Enigmail out of the box, so if you want PGP encryption for Thunderbird, you need to install the feature yourself. After restarting the application, launch the main Mail window, which should now have an Enigmail menu on the menubar. Choose the About Enigmail option, which should display the version number and the GnuPG executable details.Enigmail has only been tested with official releases of Mozilla Thunderbird and SeaMonkey.

To use to exchange secure emails you have to bring together three programs: GnuPG, Mozilla Thunderbird and Enigmail. GnuPG is the program that actually encrypts and decrypts the content of your mail, Mozilla Thunderbird is an email client that allows you to read and write emails without using a browser, and Enigmail is an to Mozilla Thunderbird that ties it all together. What this guide teaches is how to use PGP with Mozilla Thunderbird, an email client program that performs a similar function to Outlook. You may have your own favorite email software program (or use a web mail service like Gmail or Outlook.com). This guide won't tell you how to use PGP with these programs. You can choose either to install Thunderbird and experiment with PGP with a new email client, or you can investigate other solutions to use PGP with your customary software. We have still not found a satisfactory solution for these other programs.

Using PGP doesn't completely all aspects of your email: the sender and receiver information is unencrypted. Encrypting the sender and receiver information would break email. For similar reasons, PGP does not encrypt the subject line of your emails so you may want to use a generic subject line when sending encrypted emails. What using Mozilla Thunderbird with the Enigmail add-on gives you is an easy way to encrypt the body of your email. You will first download all the software needed, install it, and then end with configuration and how to use the result. () is a way to help protect your email communications from being read by anyone except their intended recipients.

And, to a lesser extent, it can save your emails from being read if the computer on which they are stored is stolen or broken into. It can also be used to prove that an email came from a particular person, instead of being a fake message sent by another sender (it is otherwise very easy for email to be fabricated).

Both of these are important defenses if you're being targeted for surveillance or misinformation. To use PGP, you will need to install some extra software that will work with your current email program. You will also need to create a private, which you will keep private. The private key is what you will use to emails sent to you, and to digitally sign emails that you send to show they truly came from you. Finally, you'll learn how to distribute your public key—a small chunk of information that others will need to know before they can send you encrypted mail, and that they can use to verify emails you send.

Getting and Installing GnuPG You can get GnuPG (also known as GPG) on Mac OS X by downloading the small installer from the Click on GnuPG for OS X next to “Simple installer for GnuPG modern” which will download the GPG installer. You’ll get redirected to the SourceForge download website. Getting Mozilla Thunderbird Go to the Click on the green button labeled “Free Download.” The Mozilla Thunderbird website will have detected your preferred language. If you want to use Thunderbird in another language click on the “Systems & Languages” link and make your selection from there. Installing GnuPG Click the Download icon in the Dock and then click the GnuPG-2.11-002.dmg file.

A window will open, indicating your progress. A window will open, giving you an overview of the Installation file and some other files. Click the “ Install.pkg ” icon. Next, a window will open starting the guided installation. C lick the “ Continue ” button. GnuPG is installed as a system package and requires your username and to install. Enter your password and click “Install Software.” You will see a window that will say “The installation was successful.” C lick the “ Close ” button.

Installing Mozilla Thunderbird Click the Download icon in the Dock and then click the Thunderbird 45.2.0.dmg file. A window will open indicating your progress.

A window will open with the Thunderbird icon and a link to your Applications folder. Drag Thunderbird to the Applications folder. A window with a progress bar will open, when it is done, it will close.

Make sure to eject the mounted DMG files. Preparation for Enigmail installation When Mozilla Thunderbird launches for the first time, Mac OS X will ask you if you are sure you want to open it. Mozilla Thunderbird was downloaded from mozilla.org and should be safe, click the “Open” button. Mozilla Thunderbird can integrate with the Mac OS X address book, we leave this choice to you. When Mozilla Thunderbird launches for the first time, you will see this small confirmation window asking about some default settings. We recommend clicking the “Set as Default” button. When Mozilla Thunderbird launches for the first time, you will be asked whether you would like a new email address.