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PGP is a powerful tool, but it can be confusing to set up. If your contact is also digitally signing the messages, this green padlock will have a tick in it. You’ll see a green padlock near the “From” field when an email has been encrypted with PGP. With keys exchanged and associated with the right email addresses, you should be able to communicate securely, regardless of which email provider the recipient is using. Make sure that you select “Use for Encryption” for outgoing mail.
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RELATED: What Is ProtonMail, and Why Is It More Private Than Gmail? Option 2: Set up PGP with Non-ProtonMail Users
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The contents of the message stay private, and they can sign in to ProtonMail to view it. They can even configure ProtonMail to send them a notification email whenever they receive a new secure message in ProtonMail. In order to communicate with someone securely, you might want to ask them to set up a ProtonMail account just for that purpose. You’ll know that an email has come from a ProtonMail account (and thus, that it’s been encrypted internally) when you see a purple padlock in the “From” field next to your contact’s email address. ProtonMail also allows you to use a private domain name with the service, so it’s possible to use internal encryption on non-ProtonMail domains, too. Domains that use and will use this high-level encryption.
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