Best ways to share files securely of 2024 (2024)

Sharing files securely is an important consideration in today's world. In picking the right app or tool for the job, it's important to consider audience and use-case, as not every file-sharing or messaging app is airtight.

This is especially true of the many cloud storage services that exist to transfer files online. Google Drive, for instance, has long dragged its heels over introducing end-to-end encryption - where not even the service provider knows what you're storing on its servers.

Different levels of encryption, especially symmetric methods that rely on a single key to decrypt files, may not satisfy the security protocols businesses often need, particularly when complying with data protection law.

Secure file sharing has become even more of an issues now that remote working has become the norm for many, in the face of an ever increasingly number of hacking attempts directed. It's no longer enough to rely on the promises of collaboration apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams, as big-shot game developer Rockstar found out last August.

This guide lists existing popular apps and software that offer encryption, and that we believe you can trust to keep your data safe across a variety of use-cases, from file transfers, to storage, and just plain old messaging.

We aim for most, if not all of the software on this list to be available open source, meaning that the source code is publicly hosted and can be contributed to by anyone, while the projects are typically offered for free, thanks to surviving on community donations.

While businesses may instinctively rush to trust household name companies, it's more than likely that they're using their products to collect data about you, your business, and your files.

We’ve also picked out the best free cloud storage.

Best for messages

Signalis widely regarded as the gold standard of encrypted messaging apps, not least because its encryption engine is open source and available for anyone to inspect. That doesn't make it any easier to hack, but it does mean there are a lot more pairs of eyes looking at the robustness of the encryption methods.

Besides the industry-leading encryption on offer here, putting it a cut above Meta's ubiquitous own messaging service WhatsApp, for example, the app itself sports a clean interface and several familiar features, like group chats and multimedia messaging, which should cover all bases.

Signal can replace the default SMS app if you want it to, but basic SMS texts aren't encrypted – you and the person you're chatting with both need to have Signal installed.

The app also includes several other useful features on top of the tight security, such as video calling, and disappearing messages that vanish after a certain time period (perfect for those conversations you don't want to stay on the record).

That's not a feature unique to Signal, but on top of its end-to-end encryption, your message content quite possibly couldn't be any more secure.

Read our full Signal review.

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Best for syncing files securely

SyncThing is a free and open source P2P file-syncing program, similar to Resilio (formerly known as BitTorrent Sync). Like Resilio, it uses the Bittorrent protocol to efficiently copy files between devices on the same network or over the Internet.

SyncThing uses TLS to protect data in transit, which combined with the open BitTorrent protocol makes for ultra-secure communications. Another advantage of using TLS is that SyncThing can make use of digital certificates to authenticate devices, so only those you authorize can access your data.

The fact that there's no central server, as is the case with all major cloud storage providers, means that your data is much harder to be seized or stolen by a nebulous third party.

True to its name, SyncThing is designed to sync files between devices, not share them with other users. You can get around this by setting up folders specifically to share with other people, then adding files to them so that they can be synced to other devices but this means you have to take the time to learn all the app's features.

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Best for emails

GnuPG is a free and open source implementation of Symantec's PGP encryption software. It uses 'public key' encryption to securely send e-mails. If you secure a message using a recipient's freely available 'public key', they can then decrypt it using their separate 'private key'.

GnuPG is compatible with the OpenPGP standard and many e-mail client programs like Mozilla Thunderbird support it out of the box. Some can use it if you install additional tools e.g. GPG4win to enable e-mail encryption in Microsoft Outlook.

Some e-mail providers such as ProtonMail also allow you to use GPG encryption via their web interface, though you'll have to trust that they didn't make a copy of your private key during setup.

In order to get started you must first generate a public/private "key pair". In theory you can do this via your computer's command line but most modern e-mail clients have a handy wizard for this purpose. It's very important to choose a strong public key (ideally 4096 bits) and keep your private key safe.

Another great feature of using GnuPG is that you can use your private key to digitally sign e-mails. Your recipient can then use your public key to verify the digital signature - if the message has been altered in any way, the signature check will fail.

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Best cloud storage

Internxt has already been making waves as a major cloud storage provider. There's a generous 10GB free allowance and low-cost pricing plans for monthly, annual and lifetime plans with various payment methods also available such as credit and debit cards, PayPal, bankcontact, iDeal, and SOFORT. The dashboard software is also easy to use and upload speeds for large files worked well in our tests. Internxt is accessible for users across the world, as it is available in seven languages, including English, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French and German.

The provider offers 'Internxt Send' as a way for members to send large files securely across the internet.

Internxt's commitment to open source makes it for the community to check that their "end-to-end encryption" claims are valid.

As it stands, Internxt is built on zero-knowledge architecture, guaranteeing to not scan or save any data you send through the service, although even if they did it wouldn't be much use since they wouldn't have access to your decryption keys.

All encryption takes place client-side, so only you, and those with whom you choose to share the file(s), can view the data.Anyone with access to Internxt's servers would only see encrypted information.

Internxt Send doesn't impose any file size limits, nor is there any restriction on the types of files you can send. You can share files either via e-mail or a dedicated, password protected link which can be sent to anyone regardless of whether they have an Internxt account or not.

Besides this, Internxt also offers some additional free services, including a password checker, temporary email, byte converter, file virus scanner, and a password generator. Internxt excels as a 'swiss army knife' for security.

Read our full Internxt cloud storage review.

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We've also featured the best document management software.

FAQs

How we test

To test for the best ways to share files securely we first set up an account with the relevant software platform. We then tested the service to see how the software could be used with different files and folders, from different devices, in different situations. The aim was to push each platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.

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