Encryption, Decryption using OpenSSL

Question

How to use OpenSSL in windows for encryption and decryption ?

Answer 1

First, download OpenSSL for Windows from a reputable source. Here is a good place to start: https://wiki.openssl.org/index.php/Binaries

After installing OpenSSL, open a command prompt. You can chose among the many algorithms, but if you dont know what you want, going with AES-256 in CBC mode is a good start.

C:\Users\admin>openssl aes-256-cbc -a -salt -in file.txt -out encrypted-file.txt.enc
enter aes-256-cbc encryption password:  
Verifying - enter aes-256-cbc encryption password:

C:\Users\admin>type encrypted-file.txt.enc
U2FsdGVkX19v2JTUzRF/BRwy7egsmi+4A1KXyJfQmBF70cg0Go+EvroxvXd8ugiI

C:\Users\admin>openssl aes-256-cbc -d -a -in encrypted-file.txt.enc -out decrypted-file.txt
enter aes-256-cbc decryption password:

Here is a screenshot of what it looks like on Windows 10. Note, you can't see the password being typed, but you will have to type a password to encrypt the file, and the same to decrypt it.

I hope this helps you get started.