How to easily encrypt files on an Android phone – and the free app I use to do it
How to easily encrypt files on an Android phone – and the free app I use to do it
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-easily-encrypt-files-on-android-with-openkeychain/
Publish Date: 2026-04-20 15:21:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Encrypting files on Android is easy.
- You can encrypt and decrypt files with this simple app.
- OpenKeyChain is free to use and open-source.
If you take mobile security seriously (and you should), then you might want to consider file encryption. I’m not talking about saving a file in an encrypted folder to tuck it away from prying eyes.
No. This is all about encrypting files that you can either leave on your device and view when needed or share with others, knowing they can be viewed only by the recipient.
Also: The Thunderbird email client finally landed on Android, and it was worth the wait
This is made possible by the OpenKeyChain app. This app is all about encryption, and although it makes the process easy, there are some things you’ll need to know before diving in.
Let’s do just that.
It’s all about keys
If you’ve ever used public key encryption on your desktop to securely send a file to someone, you already understand it. If not, let me explain.
Public key encryption uses a key pair: one private and one public. The private key remains on the recipient’s device, while the public key is sent to those who need to send an encrypted file to them. Files encrypted with someone’s private key can only be opened by someone who has the corresponding public key. Without that public key, there’s no way to open the file.
It works, and it works very well. You can have this on Android, and it’s not nearly as hard as you might think. Let’s see how it works.
What you’ll need
To do this, you’ll need an Android device, and you’ll need the OpenKeyChain app installed. Make sure you install that app, and you’re ready to go.
Manage the keys
There are two things you’ll need/want to do. The first is to create your own key.
Open the Keys tab of the app. On that page, tap the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner and then tap “Manage my keys.”
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Creating your first key…
