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Your First Encryption

This guide walks you through encrypting your first file with Necron Vault Manager. By the end, you'll know how to encrypt and verify a file.

Choose Your Method

Method Best For Description
Vault Import Organized encrypted storage Add files to a managed vault — the primary workflow
Quick Encrypt Individual files or quick jobs Standalone encryption without setting up a vault

For your first encryption, we recommend Vault Import — it's the core workflow. If you haven't created a vault yet, see Creating a Vault first.

Before You Begin

Make sure:

  1. Necron Vault Manager is open and you've passed the Gatekeeper screen
  2. Your key is active — either a Key Drive is connected or you've logged in with your Free Tier account
  3. You have a vault selected — click a vault in the sidebar
  4. You have a test file — use a non-critical file for your first attempt

Tip

Create a small test file (e.g., test.txt with some text) specifically for learning. This way you can experiment freely without worrying about important data.

Vault Import Walkthrough

Step 1: Select Your Vault

Click a vault in the sidebar. The vault browser shows its contents (empty for a new vault).

Empty vault selected in the vault browser

Step 2: Add Files

Toolbar buttons for adding files

Click ADD FILES in the toolbar to select files, or ADD FOLDER to add an entire directory. You can also drag and drop files directly onto the vault browser.

Step 3: Watch the Import

Files are encrypted and imported automatically. The vault browser updates to show the newly imported files with their names, dates, and sizes.

Vault browser after importing files

Quick Encrypt Walkthrough

For standalone encryption outside of a vault:

Encrypt action tile in the inspector footer

  1. Click the Encrypt tile in the inspector footer (bottom of the right-hand panel)
  2. Click Add files to select files
  3. Optionally choose a different destination and toggle Encrypt filenames for extra privacy
  4. Click Encrypt

Quick Encrypt modal

Encrypted files appear with a .ncrn extension next to the originals (or in your chosen destination).

Output Examples

Original File Encrypted Output
report.pdf report.pdf.ncrn
photo.jpg photo.jpg.ncrn

If Encrypt filenames was enabled, filenames are replaced with random-looking tokens for extra privacy.

Verify Your Encrypted File

It's good practice to verify encryption worked:

  1. Check the output exists — confirm the .ncrn file is in the expected location
  2. Try opening it — opening in a text editor should show unreadable encrypted data
  3. Decrypt and compare — decrypt the file and confirm the output matches the original

Danger

Never delete your original file until you've verified you can successfully decrypt the encrypted copy. Always keep backups until you're confident in your workflow.

Common Questions

Can I encrypt the same file twice?

Yes. Each encryption uses fresh random values, so encrypting the same file twice produces different encrypted output. Both copies can be decrypted independently.

What happens if I lose my Key Drive?

Without the matching Key Drive (or a backup Key Drive), encrypted files cannot be decrypted. This is by design — only the holder of the correct key can access the data. See Backup Key Drives for how to protect against Key Drive loss.

Can someone else decrypt my files?

Only if they have access to your Key Drive or your software key. Necron never transmits your key material over the network.

Next Steps