{
  "slug": "signal",
  "name": "Signal",
  "maker": "Signal Foundation",
  "category": "chats",
  "verdict": "y",
  "answer": "Yes. Only you and the people you message can read your Signal chats and hear your calls, every time. Backups are optional and sealed with a key only you hold.",
  "title": "Is Signal encrypted? Chats, calls and backups",
  "description": "Only you and the people you message can read Signal chats and calls, with post-quantum keys. Backups are optional and sealed. Checked at the source.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "key": "msg",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Only you and the people you message",
      "note": "Always on: Signal has no unsealed mode.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Messages"
    },
    {
      "key": "grp",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Only you and the group",
      "note": "Signal says every message is end-to-end encrypted, every time, group chats included.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Group chats"
    },
    {
      "key": "call",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Only you and the people you call",
      "note": "Signal says every call is sealed, every time.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Calls"
    },
    {
      "key": "bak",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Only you",
      "note": "Backups are optional, and when you turn them on they're locked with a 64-character recovery key that's never shared with Signal.",
      "sources": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "label": "Backups"
    },
    {
      "key": "pq",
      "status": "y",
      "words": "Yes",
      "note": "Signal added post-quantum keys to chats in 2023 (PQXDH) and began rolling out post-quantum re-keying (SPQR) in October 2025.",
      "sources": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "label": "Post-quantum"
    }
  ],
  "extra_parts": [],
  "keys": "Your devices. Signal never has them, and your backup recovery key stays with you.",
  "can_see": "Signal says the only account data it can hand over is the date the account was created and the last date it connected.",
  "business": null,
  "fix": null,
  "fix_line": null,
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "is-signal-encrypted-by-default",
      "q": "Is Signal end-to-end encrypted by default?",
      "a": "Yes. Signal says every message and every call is end-to-end encrypted, every time, and that privacy isn't an optional mode [1]. Group chats are sealed too.\n\nYou can check you're talking to the right person by comparing safety numbers [1]. Since August 2026, Signal can also check a contact's keys for you automatically [6]."
    },
    {
      "id": "is-signal-quantum-safe",
      "q": "Is Signal quantum safe?",
      "a": "Yes, against chats recorded today and opened later. In 2023 Signal added PQXDH, which mixes a post-quantum key with the usual one when a chat starts, so an attacker would have to break both [2].\n\nIn October 2025 Signal began rolling out SPQR, which keeps adding post-quantum keys as a chat goes on. Signal calls the result the Triple Ratchet [3]. It's rolling out gradually, and chats with someone on an older version use the previous protocol until they update [3]. As of 25 October 2026, Signal hasn't said the rollout is finished."
    },
    {
      "id": "are-signal-backups-encrypted",
      "q": "Are Signal backups encrypted?",
      "a": "Yes. Signal Secure Backups are optional. When you turn them on, the backup is locked with a 64-character recovery key that's never shared with Signal, so no one, including Signal, can read it [4].\n\nThe free plan keeps all your texts and the last 45 days of media [4]. Since September 2026, backups work on Android, iPhone and desktop [5]. If you lose the recovery key, Signal can't restore the backup for you [4]."
    },
    {
      "id": "what-can-signal-see",
      "q": "What can Signal see about me?",
      "a": "Very little. When Signal gets a legal demand, it says the only account data it can produce is when the account was created and the last date it connected to Signal [7].\n\nSignal publishes these demands and its replies on its website [7]."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Is it private? Can I trust it?",
      "publisher": "Signal",
      "url": "https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007320391-Is-it-private-Can-I-trust-it-",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Quantum Resistance and the Signal Protocol (19 September 2023)",
      "publisher": "Signal",
      "url": "https://signal.org/blog/pqxdh/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Signal Protocol and Post-Quantum Ratchets (2 October 2025)",
      "publisher": "Signal",
      "url": "https://signal.org/blog/spqr/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Signal Secure Backups",
      "publisher": "Signal",
      "url": "https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/9708267671322-Signal-Secure-Backups",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Back to Backups: A Year in Review (28 September 2026)",
      "publisher": "Signal",
      "url": "https://signal.org/blog/backup-improvements/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Introducing Automatic Key Verification (11 August 2026)",
      "publisher": "Signal",
      "url": "https://signal.org/blog/automatic-key-verification/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Government communication",
      "publisher": "Signal",
      "url": "https://signal.org/bigbrother/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-25",
      "text": "First published."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "whatsapp",
    "imessage",
    "telegram",
    "google-messages"
  ],
  "url": "https://isitencrypted.com/signal/",
  "checked": "2026-10-25"
}