---
name: "sq-packet-armor"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "sequoia-sq"
version: "1.4.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sq-packet-armor"
---

# sq-packet-armor(1)

Convert binary to ASCII

## NAME

sq-packet-armor - Convert binary to ASCII

## SYNOPSIS

**sq packet armor** \[*OPTIONS*\] *FILE*

## DESCRIPTION

Convert binary to ASCII.

To make encrypted data easier to handle and transport, OpenPGP data can be transformed to an ASCII representation called ASCII Armor.  sq emits armored data by default, but this subcommand can be used to convert existing OpenPGP data to its ASCII-encoded representation.

The converse operation is \`sq packet dearmor\`.

## OPTIONS

### Subcommand options

- **--label**=*LABEL*

  Select the kind of armor header

-

  \[default: **auto**\]

-

  \[possible values: **auto**, **message**, **cert**, **key**, **sig**, **file**\]

- **--output**=*FILE*

  Write to FILE or stdout if omitted

-

  \[default: **-**\]

- *FILE*

  Read from FILE or stdin if FILE is '-'

-

  \[default: **-**\]

### Global options

See [**sq**(1)](/sq/1.md) for a description of the global options.

## EXAMPLES

Convert a binary OpenPGP message to an ASCII armored OpenPGP message.

```
sq packet armor message.bin
```

Convert a binary OpenPGP message to an ASCII armored OpenPGP message explicitly choosing the armor label.

```
sq packet armor --label=message message.bin
```

## SEE ALSO

[**sq**(1)](/sq/1.md), [**sq-packet**(1)](/sq-packet/1.md).

For the full documentation see \<https://book.sequoia-pgp.org/\>.

## VERSION

1\.4.1