Picocrypt NG is a lightweight file encryption tool designed to protect files with a simple, approachable workflow.
Drop files into the application, enter a password, and Picocrypt NG creates an encrypted volume. It’s a community-developed continuation of the archived Picocrypt project, with desktop builds, Linux packages, a command-line interface, an Android app, and a limited web version for standard volumes.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Uses the XChaCha20 cipher with Argon2id key derivation.
- Offers both graphical and command-line interfaces.
- Supports password-based encryption and keyfiles.
- Includes a paranoid mode that cascades XChaCha20 and Serpent encryption.
- Provides Reed-Solomon error correction for long-term archival storage.
- Can split large encrypted output into custom-sized chunks.
- Offers optional Deflate compression when encrypting multiple files.
- Supports deniable volumes that appear as random data.
- Registers .pcv file associations with Linux .deb packages.
- Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, Android, macOS, and Windows.
Website: github.com/Picocrypt-NG/Picocrypt-NG
Support:
Developer: Picocrypt-NG
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
Picocrypt NG is written in Go. Learn Go with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| GUI File Encryption Tools | |
|---|---|
| Cryptomator | Multi-platform transparent client-side encryption of files in the cloud |
| VeraCrypt | Strong disk encryption software (File and Disk) |
| Picocrypt | Very small (hence Pico), very simple, yet very secure encryption tool |
| Kleopatra | KDE tool for managing X.509 and OpenPGP certificates |
| Vaults | Create encrypted vaults in which you can safely store files |
| Qccrypt | Qt cross-platform frontend for the ccrypt command-line tool |
| PGPTool | Java-based desktop GUI for PGP decryption/encryption |
| OpaqueFiles | Store or archive files in the cloud |
| Volaris for Desktop | Wrapper for Volaris |
| File Lock PEA | Password Encrypting Archive |
| SiriKali | Qt/C++ GUI front end |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |