Use Forward Slashes for GPG Homedir | Generated by AI
Path Separators for GPG’s --homedir in Git Bash (Windows)
In Git Bash on Windows, always use forward slashes (/) for the --homedir path. Git Bash is a Unix-like environment (based on MSYS2), so it expects POSIX-style paths with / as the separator. Backward slashes (\) will likely cause errors, as GPG in this context doesn’t handle them natively without escaping, and it’s unnecessary hassle.
Why /?
- Git Bash maps Windows drives to a Unix-like structure:
C:\Users\YourNamebecomes/c/Users/YourName. - GPG (bundled with Git for Windows) follows the same convention. Using
\can lead to path resolution failures or require double-escaping (e.g.,\\), which is error-prone. - Official examples and community setups (e.g., for Git signing) consistently use
/in Git Bash.
Example Usage
gpg --homedir /c/Users/YourName/.gnupg --list-secret-keys
- This points to your default GPG dir on C: drive.
- For a custom dir:
gpg --homedir /d/MyCustomGpgDir --full-generate-key(D: drive).
Quick Test
In Git Bash:
- Run
pwd—it’ll output something like/c/Users/YourName(all/). - Try
gpg --homedir /c/Users/YourName/.gnupg --version(works). - Compare with
\:gpg --homedir C:\Users\YourName\.gnupg --version(fails or warns).
If you’re mixing with Windows CMD/PowerShell, those accept both / and \, but stick to / in Git Bash for consistency. For more, see GnuPG Manual on Configuration Options.