Gpg4win (Kleopatra) review

Gpg4win is the tool to pick when you need to send encrypted files to people who already use OpenPGP or S/MIME, such as journalists, developers or security teams. It is the official GnuPG distribution for Windows, maintained by the GnuPG developers, and its creation was supported by Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Kleopatra, the certificate manager, lets you create keys, import other people's public keys from key servers and certify them. From Windows Explorer you can sign and encrypt single files or whole folders, and the GpgOL plugin does the same for email and attachments in Outlook. Because it uses public keys, you encrypt for a named recipient and never have to share a password. Gpg4win is free for any use. The learning curve is the cost: certificates, trust and key servers are more to understand than a password prompt, and every recipient needs a key of their own.

Who it is for

people exchanging encrypted files with OpenPGP keys

Price

Free software.

The usage of Gpg4win is for free.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 14, 2026.

Key features

• Supports both OpenPGP and S/MIME (X.509)
• Kleopatra manages all certificates in one tool
• Sign and encrypt files or whole folders from Windows Explorer with GpgEX
• GpgOL plugin signs and encrypts email in Microsoft Outlook
• Smartcard support and SHA-256 file checksums

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Free for commercial and non-commercial use under the GNU GPL
• Strength: Public-key encryption means you never share a password
• Strength: Maintained by the GnuPG developers; version 5.1.1 released September 23, 2026
• Weakness: Key and certificate concepts take time to learn
• Weakness: Windows only
• Weakness: Recipients need their own OpenPGP or S/MIME key

Key facts

• Price: Free
• Platforms: Windows
• Standards: OpenPGP, S/MIME (X.509)
• Latest release: 5.1.1, September 23, 2026

Where it ranks

Gpg4win (Kleopatra) is No. 7 in our Best File Encryption Software verdict.