How to Send Secure and Encrypted Email in Gmail (2024)

Your Gmail inbox holds important stuff. It has your holiday pictures and private chats with friends, colleagues, and family.

If someone hacks into your emails, they could find many secret stuff like passwords, bank info, and what you've bought. That's why it's super important to keep your inbox safe.

The best way to do that is to have a strong password for your Gmail account and use email encryption. Encryption stops hackers from seeing your messages when they're sitting there and being sent.

Are you interested in keeping your messages safe? In this quick guide, we'll show you how to encrypt an email in Gmail. That way, your sensitive info stays protected, and your inbox stays private.

What Does an Encrypted Email Mean on Gmail?

Sending an unencrypted email is the same as sending a letter with your message written in clear, easy-to-read text. If someone intercepts your email, the recipient can read what you wrote.

To make sure your private messages stay safe, most email services use something called email encryption. They use a special code to scramble your message into something called ciphertext.

This ciphertext makes it impossible for someone to read your email, even if they somehow get hold of it or access your email server without permission.

Email encryption is like mixing up the words in an email to make it a secret code only you can understand.

The public key infrastructure (PKI) is a system for scrambling and unscrambling emails. Each person gets a special code called a public and private key.

The public key is kept on a special server with the person's name and email; anyone can use it.

The private key is used to unlock these secret emails. It's kept safe and private on your computer, and only you can use it. This key can also confirm that a message came from you.

How to Send Secure and Encrypted Email in Gmail App

Sending emails from a computer can feel safer than doing it from a phone, but not the only way if you follow these steps to send an email confidentially:

1. Open the Gmail app on your phone.
2. Tap on the Compose icon.
3. Tap the three vertical dots at the top of the email screen and select Confidential mode.
4. Toggle "On" Confidential mode.
5. Choose an expiration date from the pop-up menu.
6. Optionally, turn on the option for an SMS passcode.
7. You'll see a message showing when the email will expire.
8. Continue the process as you normally do to send email

And that's it! Now, you can send secure and encrypted emails using the Gmail app on your phone. If you do these things, your emails will stay private and safe.

How to Send Secure and Encrypted Email in Gmail iPhone

If you're using Gmail on your iPhone or iPad and want to send an email securely, here's how to do it:

1. Open the settings on your device and tap on "Mail."
2. Choose "Accounts."
3. Select the email account you're sending from.
4. Tap on "Advanced" and turn on "Encrypt by Default."
5. When you write a new email, you'll see a Lock icon next to the recipient's name. Please tap on the lock to ensure it's closed and your email is encrypted.
6. Continue the process as you normally do to send email.

It's easy, right? Just follow these simple steps, and your emails will be protected. Keep your communication safe, and enjoy using Gmail on your device.

How to Send Secure and Encrypted Email in Gmail Mac

You can make your emails secret on your Mac using Gmail's special mode. If you've ever wanted to send an email that needs a password to open, follow these steps:

1. Open Gmail and click on Compose to start a new email.
2. At the bottom of the email, click on the Lock icon.
3. Here, you can choose a password and decide when the email will expire. If the person you're sending it to uses the Gmail app, they can open it without a password. If they don't do it, they'll receive a password via email or text.
4. Click Save when you're done.
5. Continue the process as you normally do to send email

That's it! Your email will now be sent securely and encrypted through Gmail on your Mac.

Conclusion

Email is safer than texting or messaging on social media. But nowadays, finding a completely secure way to communicate online is challenging.

Hackers are always trying to get their hands on valuable personal information.

Using tools like password managers can give you some protection, but the safest option is to take the idea of sending encrypted and confidential emails seriously.

This way, you can do your best to keep all your private information secure from prying eyes.