Where Does GPG Suite Store Keys?
GPG Suite (MacGPG, Keychain, Mail) keeps all keys in ~/.gnupg; back up that folder to move machines.
Last updated
GPG Suite bundles MacGPG, GPG Keychain, GPG Mail and Services into one Mac package, but key storage is vanilla GnuPG: the hidden ~/.gnupg folder in your home directory. Public and secret rings, trust db and agent sockets all live there.
That means standard GnuPG backup advice applies verbatim. The support docs point at ~/.gnupg (visible in Time Machine under Users/YourUsername) for both backup and migration, no export wizard required.
Where GPG Suite stores this, by platform
~/.gnupg
Keyrings, trustdb, agent config. Hidden by default in Finder. Back up with the apps closed; socket copy warnings are expected and safe to ignore.
Frequently asked questions
How do I move my GPG keys to a new Mac?
Copy the whole ~/.gnupg folder (cp -R ~/.gnupg/ ~/gnupg_backup) with Mail and Keychain closed, then restore it on the new Mac and fix ownership with chown -R. Socket warnings during copy are harmless.
Is GPG Suite storage different from plain GnuPG?
Its components (Keychain GUI, Mail plugin, Services) are frontends; MacGPG underneath is standard GnuPG. Keys live in ~/.gnupg exactly like any GnuPG install, so CLI and GUI share everything.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.