Quick Encrypt & Decrypt
Quick Encrypt and Quick Decrypt are standalone operations accessed from the inspector footer tiles. They're designed for fast, on-the-fly encryption of individual files or small collections — without needing to set up a vault.
Quick Encrypt
How to Access
Click the Encrypt tile in the inspector footer (the bottom of the right-hand panel). A Quick Encrypt modal dialog opens over the main window.
Adding Files
Build your file list using the modal controls:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Add files | Opens a file picker — select one or more files |
| Add folder | Opens a folder picker — all files inside are added recursively |
Files are expanded recursively — if you add a folder containing subfolders, all nested files are included.
Choosing a Destination
By default, encrypted files are saved next to the original files. To change this:
- Click Choose destination in the modal
- Select a folder for the output
All encrypted files will be written to the chosen directory.
Encryption Options
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Encrypt filenames | On / Off | When on, filenames are encrypted into deterministic tokens. When off, original names are preserved with a .ncv3 extension. |
| Create zip file | On / Off | When on (requires 2+ files), all files are bundled into a single .zip archive before encryption. |
Note
Quick Encrypt always uses the NCV3 format, regardless of whether filename encryption is enabled. When filenames are encrypted, the output uses the .ncrn extension; otherwise, it uses .ncv3.
Zip Archive Mode
When you have two or more files selected, the "Create zip file" checkbox becomes available:
- When enabled, all selected files are first bundled into a single
.ziparchive, and then that archive is encrypted as one file - This is useful for sending a collection of files as a single encrypted package
- Reduces the number of encrypted files to manage
Tip
Zip mode is especially handy for email or file-sharing scenarios: instead of sending 20 encrypted files, you send one encrypted zip.
Running the Encryption
Click Encrypt to start. The modal shows:
- Per-file progress for each item being encrypted
- Overall status (processing, complete, errors)
- Result summary — count of successfully encrypted files
Output Formats
| Setting | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Filenames off (default) | report.pdf |
report.pdf.ncv3 |
| Filenames on | report.pdf |
a7B2x9Kp...Qm.ncrn |
| Zip mode + Filenames off | Multiple files | archive.zip.ncv3 |
| Zip mode + Filenames on | Multiple files | x9Kp...a7.ncrn |
Quick Decrypt
How to Access
Click the Decrypt tile in the inspector footer (the bottom of the right-hand panel). A Quick Decrypt modal dialog opens.
Adding Encrypted Files
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Add files | Select encrypted files (.ncrn) |
| Add folder | Select a folder — all encrypted files inside are found recursively |
Choosing a Destination
By default, decrypted files are saved next to the encrypted originals. You can change this by clicking Choose destination.
Running the Decryption
Click Decrypt to start. For each file, the app:
- Reads the header to determine the format
- Validates the key against connected dongles
- Decrypts the file content
- Restores the original filename (if it was encrypted)
- Writes the decrypted file to the destination
Warning
Quick Decrypt only supports NCV3 (.ncrn) files. Legacy NCV2 or OTP1 format files will be rejected with a "Quick Decrypt supports NCV3 AEAD (.ncrn) files only" message. To decrypt legacy formats, use vault-based decryption with the DECRYPT FILES toolbar button.
Key Matching
Quick Decrypt requires a connected dongle that matches the key used to encrypt the file. If the connected dongle doesn't match, decryption will fail with a "key mismatch" error.
Quick Encrypt vs. Vault Import
| Feature | Quick Encrypt | Vault Import |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Encrypt tile in inspector footer | ADD FILES / ADD FOLDER in toolbar |
| Format | NCV3 | NCV2 |
| Vault required | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Zip mode | ✅ Available | ❌ Not available |
| Filename encryption | ✅ Toggleable | Always encrypted |
| Pad efficiency | Very high (small fixed amount per file) | Proportional to file size |
| Replication | Single output location | All vault locations |
| Best for | Quick one-off encryption | Organized encrypted storage |