Encryption at Rest

Protect your email archive so your data stays private even if your drive is lost or compromised.

What encryption protects

When encryption is turned on, all your backed-up email files are encrypted with a strong passphrase you choose. This means:

  • Your emails, attachments, and message content are unreadable without your passphrase.
  • If someone gets access to your backup drive (theft, lost NAS, etc.), they can’t read your emails.

Good to know: Basic info like sender names, subjects, and dates stays searchable without the passphrase. Only the full email content is encrypted.

Turning on encryption

  1. Open Settings and scroll to Encryption at Rest.
  2. You’ll see “Encryption is disabled” with a form to set a passphrase.
  3. Choose a passphrase (at least 8 characters) and confirm it.
  4. Optionally check “Encrypt existing files” to encrypt emails you’ve already backed up. (New emails are always encrypted once enabled.)
  5. Click Enable Encryption.

Once enabled, you’ll see a green “Encryption is enabled” indicator.

Changing your passphrase

  1. In the Encryption section, click Change Passphrase.
  2. Enter your current passphrase.
  3. Enter and confirm a new passphrase (at least 8 characters, must be different from the current one).
  4. Click Change Passphrase.

The change happens instantly — your existing emails don’t need to be re-encrypted.

Turning off encryption

  1. In the Encryption section, click Disable Encryption.
  2. Confirm when prompted.

BeeMail will decrypt all your email files and remove the encryption settings.

What if I forget my passphrase?

Warning: If you forget your passphrase and it’s been removed from your computer, there is no way to recover your encrypted files. BeeMail has no recovery key or backdoor.

Day to day, your passphrase is saved securely on your computer, so BeeMail decrypts your emails automatically. You’d only need to re-enter it if:

  • You move to a new computer.
  • You reinstall your operating system.
  • You want to open your backup on a different machine.

Tip: Save your passphrase in a password manager, just in case.