How can I send an email using a GPG public key?

Question

I would like to send an email (on Windows), which I would like to encrypt using a GPG public key.

I tried to use a Thunderbird plugin, but it requires both the public and the private key.

But I have the public key only, and I don't want to receive, just send an email. How is it possible?

Answer 1

The private key for your email is needed for signing the message (authenticity of the sender), so the receiver can check if the message is really from you.

So disable signing the message, then the private key is not needed. In Enigmail this can be done by clicking the icons on the lower right bottom of the compose-window, or in the Enigmail-menu in the menu bar.