Reviews & Comments of Mailvelope chrome extension

In one word: it just WORKS. Goodbye, Gmail reading your email and profiling you based on what keywords you type. Mind you — at least for the free version! — this is a minimalist approach to PGP encryption on a web-based email interface, such as provided by Gmail. It allows you to read and write encrypted messages, and is reasonably simple to do so (you get a BIG Mailvelope icon to click :-) ). If you're a die-hard PGP power user, you can get Mailvelope to use whatever keyrings you already have on your system. If you're just starting, and just need to keep a handful of keys around, and will never use any other browser, then you can simply store your keyring in the browser itself (it's *very* safe to do so).

On Windows 10 it doesn't work at 1st, meaning, it doesn't recognize my GnuPG key (I installed gpg4win with "browser integration"). When I say "at 1st", it means that it recognizes the GnuPG key at 2nd try, if one of these conditions apply: (All the browsers I tested with have mailvelope installed) 1) I open another browser after I close the 1st one, and Mailvelope finally shows my GnuPG keyring (no more "Let's Start" each time I click the extension icon) 2) Same as 1), but I keep the 1st browser open 3) Opening only one browser, but I disable and then enable the Mailvelope extension. I tried this with Chrome, Firefox, and several forks of those two, and it's *always* the same. Once it works, it works on all browsers, until I restart the PC, and then I have no GnuPG key at 1st try again, and have to either restart the browser, the extension, or open another browser, which is a pain. Here's the debug console Mailvelope extension messages at 1st try (when it doesn't work) for each browser: ====== FOR CHROME: Building keyring for id localhost|#|gnupg failed Error: A connection timeout was exceeded. at gpgme_error (list-types.js:1:8) at list-types.js:1:8 ======FOR FIREFOX: Building keyring for id localhost|#|gnupg failed Error: A connection timeout was exceeded. GPGME_Error moz-extension://bcd7dafd-6a30-4a4c-8c6d-4246684e1e6f/background.bundle.js:56181 gpgme_error moz-extension://bcd7dafd-6a30-4a4c-8c6d-4246684e1e6f/background.bundle.js:56146 post moz-extension://bcd7dafd-6a30-4a4c-8c6d-4246684e1e6f/background.bundle.js:56621 So there's a timeout error of some sort. Please correct this. For some reason in Mac and Linux, though it needs those mainfest files and gpgme, aka it should be more tricky, it works always and flawlessly, no restarts of anything. In windows it was supposed to be "install with browser integration" and that's it. I will change my rating once you correct this. This seems pretty basic for the developers to correct.

I just discovered this works for thexyz.com Surprised me how easy it was to set up

unable to connect 'gpg4win'

I just discovered Mailvelope also works in NextCloud's mail plugin! Amazing. (just add your Nextcloud instance's domain to the rules for webmail providers.) Very easy to use extension for enabling end-to-end encryption. If Google *really* wanted to protect peoples' privacy this would be the way to do it. They should fund development of this plugin, drive its adaptation to all major browsers and webmail clients, and help usher in an era of end-to-end encryption where everyone's grandmother can use PGP as easily as doing a cut-and-paste :P OK I should wake up now. :/

Best alternative to OpenKeychain (Android) that I can find for PC.

when will the iOS and android bower support this plugin the web and word filtering advertising co prating must hate this plugin due to cannot scan the keyword to warning or block the message travel throw , the privacy force tailsOS already using it ten years ago

Finally, encrypted GMail!

100% awesome

Liked

Very useful!

Seems to work as advertised.

Works great

Easy to set up & understand. Import keys and can create new ones if needed. (Dana-Office Admin)

Easy to use, works well.

Very Helpful

Helpful

great extension, only missing feature is PGP/MIME, as it can only decrypt PGP Inline messages

Must have extension!

Works well and easy to install/use for a non-techie like me. Thank you for making this great tool freely available. Mind you, I am slightly puzzled as a recipient of my Mailvelope public key (using Enigmail on Thunderbird) said that my Mailvelope public key was not 'asc armoured' just asc. Is this true and, if so, what difference does it make, if any?

This is the only way I will send an email, and this program makes it extremely easy.

This is definitely done right, with regard to plain text message encryption on webmail, since it encrypts (and decrypts) in a pop-up that exists only on your end, not on Google's server. (By contrast, Mymail-Crypt has you write normally in Gmail, which saves your "secret" message as-is to Google's servers as a draft, then encrypt it before sending, – a seriously false sense of security). I agree with other commenters that proper handling of attachments is a must. This was done over a decade ago for SquirrelMail (by a team I was a part of, though not on the coding side). I would also prefer the plugin to just get/add keys from/to an already existing keyfile, at least optionally. It's a hassle to try to sync Mailvelope's keys with those in GPGKeyring. (The GPG plugin for SquirrelMail plugin also got this part right, too.) These two lacks are enough to knock of a star, to me, but I want to re-stress that the main function of this, to encrypt e-mail text and do it properly, is implemented spot-on in Mailvelope. That alone is sufficient to install this plugin, and the world would be a lot safer from prying eyes if more of us used it. It's not hard at all once you get used to the concept.

Good, But there is somthing error when encrypt end give signature, the result message just send encrypted message and dont show the seignature. but if i send normal message with signature it work properly, so Please fix it

Good work when sending mail out to Enigmail

Would be MUCH better if it also supported symmetric decryption at least but also encryption would be useful. Sometime I need to encrypt to people that don't really have the best key management but still have pgp.

Very good indeed. I did have a problem with it not recognising gmail.com web based. After lots of messing about I finally uninstalled and then then reinstalled it again, now it is working as normal. Not sure why it stopped working but an uninstall and install seem to work. Ubuntu 16.04

Inbox support maybe ?

Good for text emails, but encrypting attachments should be more seamless. You have to jump through lots of hoops to encrypt a file attachment, and also to decrypt it on the other side, if this was easier this would get more stars

Creates a nice web interface for signing and encrypting messages with Chrome on OSX.

NO LINUX MINT CHROME SUPPORT. WTF?

Smooth, adds a "missing feature" to gmail for me

Great. Makes sending and receiving encrypted emails easy and keeps them encrypted from your mail provider's view. Uses OpenPGP.js, a JavaScript implementation of the OpenPGP standard.

Great!

solves

This is probably the best extension ever developed on the Chrome web store. Mailvelope is right next to Signal in terms of encryption. When you use it, you compose messages in a separate window that Google or anyone else can't read. This extension makes PGP incredibly easy when it used to be hard. I love it and recommend it to everyone.

Great, easy to use and super flexible tool.

Clearsigning outbound gmail emails verifies in the browser, but they have bad signatures when verified by others/pasted into terminal.

Super, it works as it is described.

Once I figured it out, it is so simple! Easy to use!

Its works but it only works on one machine. The extension loads if you log into chrome elsewhere but the keys don't follow. I guess its secure but pretty inconvenient and possibly unusable for some.

Works well, at least in Chrome 47.0.2526.106 m (64-bit) on Windows 8.1. One suggestion: allow a decrypted pop-up window to remain open while searching (Ctrl+F) in the main Chrome window.

Does what it says

Great app, wish I would be able to automatically attach the message signature (as attachment, rather than inline) before sending for unencrypted email.

It works does its job well. But I need to encrypt attachments as well.

Was working great up until a the last update a week back. Since then, it is unusable

Works great, but not compatible with facebook's e-mails: Error! Error decrypting message!

Works very well on gmail!

Very good. Be great if they added the ability to encrypt attachments.

Love it, but I desperately need to be able to label my keys since I've had to revoke some keys and remake new ones for the same e-mail address. I can't delete the revoked keys because I need them around to read the old e-mail encrypted with those keys, but I can't distinguish between the new and old keys that are in my key list.

Very much simplified PGP encryption for Gmail. Super impressed.

Encrypt/Decrypt and Key Management works great, but signing keeps giving a Bad Key error.

Absolutely brilliant. It not only generates and stores the keys, so I don't have to put them in manually each time. But it also has an intuitive interface ease of use. Love it.

I love the extension

Excellent and easy to use once you get the feel for it.

Thank you to the Mailvelope team!

very nice software - just make sure you backup your keys to a usb key.. sometimes mailevelope loads up with no keys in it!

Awesome extension once you get the feel of it. Most Awesome extension made. :)

Very helpful, easy to use, and I agree, never thought gnupg encryption in Chrome could be this easy. Wish it can be used in Gmail in Android, too!

Really easy to use with gmail once you figure it out. Best Chrome extension for secure mail I've used.

Excellent work, well done

works well. Very nice integration with gmail.

Works fine and very simple.

Works in Gmail for me just fine and was able to easily import keys generated from APG, GPG, and PGP without issue.

Does not work in current gmail for me.

this app is simply awesome! couldn't believe encryption and decryption would so freakin' simple!!!!

tried a couple of other plug-ins and this one actually lets you import your public/private keys better and more secure than the other plug-ins

I can't figure out how to add my private key to decrypt messages.

The complaints about the visible Private Key aren't a big cause for concern. Someone can only access this if they gain access to your machine. Fully encrypting your hard drive resolves this concern if it's stolen. And even if you forgot to do that, one would have to crack your password. Making a 20+ strong character password makes this pretty unlikely. So unless you're some extremely interesting person to some powerful and resourceful entities, Mailvelope gives you Pretty Good Privacy.

Does what it says. Easy enough for my non tech wife to use. Use in in conjunction with keybase.io for key management.

The interface and functionality is nice BUT, I'm concerned about having the private key openly available as well as being able to create key pairs to an account I don't own. An MITM could theoretically create a key pair against an account they do not own and use that key to pretend to be the "actual" account owner. I suggest implementing a protocol that *only* allows the account owner to create keys for their account and no other through a verification process. Preferably applying Google 2-step verification.

This is app is fantastic. I largely stopped using GPG after I started using webmail clients exclusively because everything out there was lousy. Mailvelope is super easy to use, and just seems to work. The only bit I can't figure out is how to compose messages in RTF within the webmail client. I have RTF setup for gmail, but Mailvelope only seems to allow me to select plaintext. It's not a deal-killer, but it would be nice to be able to have formatted messages once in awhile!

Extremely easy to setup, easy to use, can do everything on line, but can also export keys for use in mail client - waouh!

Very easy to use. No issues so far and the PGP keys are easy to set up and export/copy and paste to your intended recipient! I highly recommend it.

Really good and seamless. I struggled with mymail-crypt. It refused to encrypt or decrypt. This just works!

Never had a problem with it :) works fine

Super easy to use. Found that I didn't need GPGTools once I had this up and running and since I use Gmail, this was just a more practical way to go. Took all of 5-10 mins to dial this in.

Works great. Pretty simple and I only watched a short video on PGP.

Great add-on. If, like me, you no longer have the mailvelope option show up in a gmail window - open your mailvelope preferences and change to plain text input.

Pretty nice compared to others. I don't like that it changes what the creation tool was when it pastes your public-key It really does need a key ring to store other people's public keys. As a more experienced user, it's less work for me to use GPG tools, a text document, compose, encrypt then cut/paste into an email. Your extension makes me open GPG tools anyway to retrieve someone's public-key. Fix those two things and it's five stars and worth money.

I would give it 5 stars if it included context help. Unless you are used to key rings and exporting and importing keys this may seem a little daunting to you. It's hard to make a serious thing (encryption) easy for the uninitiated but this program is OK once you figure it out. Works great and will cover multiple accounts in the browser once it's installed in chrome. I use it with my gmail accounts and it has worked flawlessly.

Awesome, but too complicated. Make it as simple as GPG tools and I'd even pay for it.

It is almost great! It needs to support the context menu for attachments like KeyNotes and other such tools. Too often the interaction between the sending client and GMail convert the encrypted email to binary attachment than you are sunk! There is no way to change the mime type or to force feed the attachment to Mailvelope. I am looking for another tool now since it does not handle this situation....

Great extension, works really well, and pretty simple for non-techies to understand instructions for sending secure mail. Love the interface, very clean and professional. Encourages me to encrypt mails when necessary! Ruth

Great app. Thank you very much. Additional thanx for signing facility.

First decent gmail + pgp extension I've found. I'd like to trust it more though?

A great and easy way to use PGP and send secure emails

Simple and effective, but not very secure. Private key is stored in the Chrome extension. This would be easily available to anyone with control over the user's account. Protecting the private key needs to be a higher priority!

does what it is supposed to do and allows PGP encryption without an additional client, for those who like webmail a perfect solution.

Great extension, keep up the good work.

Nicely done. I wonder, though, if it supports the automatic on-demand import of keys from key servers. I could find anything on this. The current key import supports only one key at a time, which is cumbersome. Why not just use the GPG keychain instead?

Very nice, and simplest and easiest pki solutions for gmail.

Very nice... I tried all the others first, and this is the only one that actually worked at all (what, you mean you want software to actually do something?? How picky!)

It works well to me. The integration in Gmail is almost perfect. If I should look for something to criticize, I would mention, that I cannot import keys from a public key server. All the other stuff is very helpful and awesome. Thank you guys!

wow, very impressive

Works great and a awesome interface. Tested on Gmail and MS webmail.

Easiest webmail encryption I have used. Cheers keep up the good work!

You'd better turn off the draft-auto-saving feature from the mail providers when you use it. Some of the other GPG extensions can block draft-saving for Gmail.

Lacks signing. Can't import keys from key servers. Can't sign your friends keys. By far the best way to integrate GPG into GMail, however. The above missing features aren't dealbreakers.

This extension makes email encryption extremely easy and convenient. Excellent!

Excellent, installed in a minute, intuitive, works as promised. Great work by authors.

(Note: I have edited this review to more clearly articulate my concerns.) Nice extension. However, my main concern is that it can give people a false sense of security when the product is used in ways other than the specific way intended by the developer. Note that while writing your message in the native editor, it is saved as a draft copy in clear text. The product, as it stands today, will copy the content of the native editor to the Mailvelope editor if there is anything in it. This may give the user the false impression that this is the/a proper way of using the product by enabling it and by virtue of convenience. The recommended use is to use the Mailvelope editor and only then transfer the encrypted content to the native editor. If you use the native editor first, nothing prevents your email provider from reading your messages before they're encrypted. As with all software, nothing prevents your browser/extensions from grabbing the text before it's encrypted. Use only trusted software.