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  • If the input is no valid OpenPGP message, GnuPG fails with an error message. Try investigating the file with pgpdump or gpg --list-packets. Are you running the very specific command, or do you have any further redirects applied (ie. discarding STDERR)? Commented Aug 20, 2016 at 18:18
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    "decrypt an unencrypted file".. this is just nonsense. do you have a source on this? Commented Aug 20, 2016 at 19:57
  • Have you tried encrypting with your private key? That's the correct use... Commented Aug 20, 2016 at 20:50
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    @Ben You can't encrypt with a private key. (With some algorithms you can carry out the encryption primitive with the private/public keys swapped, but not all of them, and even when it's mathematically possible, it's pointless.) Don't confuse encryption with signing. Signing is not encryption with a private key. Read tim's answer. Commented Aug 20, 2016 at 21:32
  • My mistake. I had the misunderstanding that signing was encrypting a digest of of a message using the private key. I didn't remember it's actually a decryption operation. Very informative answer! Although now I'm curious: without the public key, can this operation be reversed? So wouldn't that be a (useless, since the key is known) form of encryption in some sense? I know it's irrelevant to the specific question... Commented Aug 20, 2016 at 21:46