Drop a file. Enter a password. Done.
A minimal file encryptor for macOS. Drag and drop any file onto the window to encrypt it, or drop an .enc file to decrypt it. Uses AES-256-GCM with Argon2id key derivation — the same cryptography used by modern password managers.
Download
CipherDrop.appfrom Releases.
Encrypting:
- Drop any file onto the window
- Enter a password
- Click ENCRYPT FILE
- A
.encfile appears next to the original — ready to share safely
Decrypting:
- Drop a
.encfile onto the window - Enter the password
- Click DECRYPT FILE
- The original file is recovered with its exact original name
The app auto-detects the mode — no buttons to toggle, no settings to configure.
[ 0 : 32 ] Argon2id salt
[ 32 : 44 ] AES-GCM nonce (12 bytes, random)
[ 44 : 48 ] original filename length (uint32)
[ 48 : 48+N ] original filename (UTF-8)
[ 48+N : ] AES-256-GCM ciphertext + 16-byte authentication tag
The original filename is stored inside the encrypted payload — decryption always recovers the exact original name, regardless of what the .enc file is called.
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Encryption | AES-256-GCM — authenticated, 128-bit tag |
| Key derivation | Argon2id — time=3, memory=64 MB, parallelism=4 |
| Wrong-password detection | GCM tag verification — no checksum stored |
| Nonce | 12-byte random, unique per encryption |
A wrong password produces a GCM authentication failure — it never outputs garbage data.
- Download
CipherDrop.appfrom Releases - Drag to Applications
- First launch: right-click → Open (Gatekeeper bypass for unsigned apps)
git clone https://github.com/AML-COL/CipherDrop
cd CipherDrop
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python3 main.pychmod +x build_mac.sh && ./build_mac.sh
# → dist/CipherDrop.app- macOS 11+ (for the app bundle)
- Python 3.11+ (for running from source — works on Windows and Linux too)
MIT © AML-COL