How to find public keys of your friends and import them

OpenPGP keys can be exchanged in various ways with the most common being:

Key Server

To search for public keys on the key server, open GPG Keychain, press ⌘F (or click the Spotlight icon to Lookup Key). Type the email address for which you are looking for a public key and click Search.

When a verified key for this email address exists you are asked to Import the public key:

Optionally we recommend to verify public keys. This KB-article explains how to verify and sign a key.

Import key from asc or txt file

If you receive a public key in from of an asc or txt file, to import the key, drag the file in question into GPG Keychain. Make sure to never use .rtf .odt .doc .docx files to transfer keys or OpenPGP messages as that will render the key or message invalid. Should you receive a public key in such format, ask the key owner to resend the key in asc or txt format.

Import key from text form

To import, select the entire key from

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

to

-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

then copy (⌘C) and paste (⌘V) the information into GPG Keychain to import the key.