Text Encryption Tool
Type a message and a passphrase to turn it into a block of locked text you can paste anywhere. Use the same passphrase to open it again.
If you forget the passphrase, the text cannot be unlocked by anyone, including us. There is no reset and no recovery. Write the passphrase down somewhere you trust before you rely on this.
Worked examples
What a locked block looks like
Text: Meet at 9. Passphrase: a long passphrase here
VT1. followed by about 80 letters and numbers, different every time
Unlocking it with the same passphrase gives back the original text exactly.
About Text Encryption Tool
A text encryption tool turns a readable message into a block of scrambled text that only someone with the passphrase can read. It is useful when you need to send a password, a recovery code, an address or a note through a channel you do not control, such as email or a chat, or when you want to keep a note in a document that other people can open. You type the message, choose a passphrase, and copy the locked block. Anyone who sees the block without the passphrase sees only random-looking letters.
The lock is built from standard parts. Your passphrase is stretched with 600,000 rounds of PBKDF2 and a random salt to make a 256-bit key, and the message is then locked with AES in GCM mode. GCM does two jobs: it hides the contents and it adds a check that fails if even one character of the locked text has been changed. Every lock uses a fresh random salt and a fresh random number, so the same message locked twice gives two different blocks. The result starts with VT1. so the tool knows what it is when you paste it back to unlock it.
How to use Text Encryption Tool
- Choose Lock text, type or paste your message and enter a passphrase twice.
- Press Lock the text and copy the block that appears. Keep the whole block, including the VT1. at the start.
- Send the block by one route and share the passphrase by a different route, such as a phone call.
- To open it, choose Unlock text, paste the block, enter the same passphrase and press Unlock the text.
Common uses
- Sending a Wi-Fi password or a recovery code by email
- Keeping a sensitive note inside a shared document
- Passing login details to a colleague through a chat
- Storing a short secret in a place you do not fully trust
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I forget the passphrase?
The text cannot be recovered. The passphrase is not stored anywhere and there is no reset, so nobody, including us, can open the block without it. Write the passphrase down in a place you trust before you rely on the lock.
How strong is the lock?
The method is AES with a 256-bit key, which cannot be broken by trying every key. The weak point is the passphrase. The 600,000 rounds slow down guessing, but a short or common passphrase can still be guessed. Use a long passphrase made of several unrelated words.
Why does the same text give a different result each time?
Each lock uses a new random salt and a new random number. This is deliberate. It stops anyone telling that two blocks hold the same message, and it means the same passphrase never produces the same key twice.
Why does unlocking fail with the right passphrase?
The block has probably been altered. Check that the whole block was copied, that no characters were added or lost, and that your email program has not inserted line breaks. The tool refuses to open a block that fails its check, rather than showing damaged text.
Can I unlock text that another tool locked?
No. The block has this tool's own layout, which holds the salt, the random number and the number of rounds in front of the locked data. Other tools use other layouts, so they cannot open each other's output.