GnuPG decryption failed secret key not available error from gpg on Windows

Question

Environment  HP laptop with Windows XP SP2  I had created some encrypted files using GnuPG  gpg  for Windows   Yesterday  my hard disk failed so I had reimage the hard disk   I have now reinstalled gpg and regenerated my keys using the same passphrase as earlier   But  I am now unable to decrypt the files   I get the following error     C  sureshr gpg -a c  sureshr work passwords gpg gpg  encrypted with 1024-bit ELG-E key  ID 279AB302  created 2008-07-21        Suresh Ramaswamy  AAA  BBB  gpg  decryption failed  secret key not available  C  sureshr gpg --list-keys C  Documents and Settings sureshr Application Data gnupg pubring gpg -------------------------------------------------------------------- pub   1024D 80059241 2008-07-21 uid                  Suresh Ramaswamy  AAA  BBB sub   1024g 279AB302 2008-07-21    AAA   gpg comment  BBB   my email address  I am sure that I am using the correct passphrase   What exactly does this error mean   How do I tell gpg where to find my secret key   Thanks   Suresh

User · Answer

when reimporting your keys from the old keyring, you need to specify the command:

gpg --allow-secret-key-import --import <keyring>

otherwise it will only import the public keys, not the private keys.

User · Answer

Yes  your secret key appears to be missing   Without it  you will not be able to decrypt the files   Do you have the key backed up somewhere   Re-creating the keys  whether you use the same passphrase or not  will not work   Each key pair is unique

User · Answer

The resolution to this problem for me  was to notify the sender that he did use the Public key that I sent them but rather someone elses   You should see the key that they used   Tell them to use the correct one

User · Answer

when reimporting your keys from the old keyring, you need to specify the command:

gpg --allow-secret-key-import --import <keyring>

otherwise it will only import the public keys, not the private keys.

User · Answer

You need to import not only your secret key  but also the corresponding public key  or you ll get this error

User · Answer

when reimporting your keys from the old keyring, you need to specify the command:

gpg --allow-secret-key-import --import <keyring>

otherwise it will only import the public keys, not the private keys.

User · Answer

Yes  your secret key appears to be missing   Without it  you will not be able to decrypt the files   Do you have the key backed up somewhere   Re-creating the keys  whether you use the same passphrase or not  will not work   Each key pair is unique

User · Answer

workmad3 is apparently out of date  at least for current gpg  as the --allow-secret-key-import is now obsolete and does nothing   What happened to me was that I failed to export properly  Just doing gpg --export is not adequate  as it only exports the public keys  When exporting keys  you have to do  gpg --export-secret-keys  gt keyfile

User · Answer

workmad3 is apparently out of date  at least for current gpg  as the --allow-secret-key-import is now obsolete and does nothing   What happened to me was that I failed to export properly  Just doing gpg --export is not adequate  as it only exports the public keys  When exporting keys  you have to do  gpg --export-secret-keys  gt keyfile

User · Answer

One more cause for the  secret key not available  message  GPG version mismatch   Practical example  I had been using GPG v1 4  Switching packaging systems  the MacPorts supplied gpg was removed  and revealed another gpg binary in the path  this one version 2 0  For decryption  it was unable to locate the secret key and gave this very error  For encryption  it complained about an unusable public key  However  gpg -k and -K both listed valid keys  which was the cause of major confusion

User · Answer

Yes  your secret key appears to be missing   Without it  you will not be able to decrypt the files   Do you have the key backed up somewhere   Re-creating the keys  whether you use the same passphrase or not  will not work   Each key pair is unique

User · Answer

when reimporting your keys from the old keyring, you need to specify the command:

gpg --allow-secret-key-import --import <keyring>

otherwise it will only import the public keys, not the private keys.

User · Answer

Yes  your secret key appears to be missing   Without it  you will not be able to decrypt the files   Do you have the key backed up somewhere   Re-creating the keys  whether you use the same passphrase or not  will not work   Each key pair is unique

User · Answer

One more cause for the  secret key not available  message  GPG version mismatch   Practical example  I had been using GPG v1 4  Switching packaging systems  the MacPorts supplied gpg was removed  and revealed another gpg binary in the path  this one version 2 0  For decryption  it was unable to locate the secret key and gave this very error  For encryption  it complained about an unusable public key  However  gpg -k and -K both listed valid keys  which was the cause of major confusion

User · Answer

You need to import not only your secret key  but also the corresponding public key  or you ll get this error

User · Answer

The resolution to this problem for me  was to notify the sender that he did use the Public key that I sent them but rather someone elses   You should see the key that they used   Tell them to use the correct one

[windows-xp] GnuPG: "decryption failed: secret key not available" error from gpg on Windows

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