What it does
Evolution is a mail and calendar application whose official help covers GPG/OpenPGP and S/MIME signing and encryption. The documentation separates account setup, public keys, received messages and certificate management.
Evolution’s help treats encryption as an account and key workflow. The GPG section covers creating a key, obtaining contacts’ public keys, configuring the account and reading signed or encrypted messages. S/MIME has its own certificate-management and sending instructions.
That separation is useful when an organization already uses certificates while personal contacts use OpenPGP. Start with the standard used by the intended recipient, then follow that part of the guide. The application handles mail and calendars; the help pages do not turn it into a mailbox-hosting service.
Strengths
- Both GPG/OpenPGP and S/MIME workflows are documented.
- Separate guidance covers sending, receiving and key or certificate management.
Best for
- GNOME users who need standard encrypted mail alongside calendar work
Sources
- Mail encryption and certificates (Oct 26, 2026)