How to decrypt a file with GnuPG

Example of a decryption command

The following commands are equivalent: they will decrypt the file importantfile.txt.gpg and write the resulting information to the file importantfile.txt (the encrypted file is not deleted):

gpg --decrypt importantfile.txt.gpg --output importantfile.txt

gpg -d importantfile.txt.gpg > importantfile.txt

This command is the same for files encrypted using symmetric or asymmetric encryption:

• with symmetric encryption, you must be able to input the passphrase that was used to encrypt the file. By default, a graphical dialog window will ask you to input the passphrase;
• with asymmetric encryption, the secret key corresponding to the public key the file was originally encrypted with must be present in your primary secret keyring.