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ASC SIG
File conversion

Convert ASC to SIG

Verified by Adam B.· reviewed by FE Editorial ·updated Jul 7, 2026
QUICK ANSWER
Is it possible to convert ASC to SIG?
Yes - ASC converts to SIG.

Run gpg --dearmor < file.asc > file.sig in a terminal to produce the binary .sig directly. The resulting file verifies a target file exactly the same way the .asc does.

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Tested on macOS, Windows & Linux
Last verified Oct 2026

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Why convert ASC to SIG?

An .asc detached signature and a .sig detached signature carry identical OpenPGP cryptographic data - the only difference is encoding. Some verification scripts or tools, including certain Linux kernel release workflows, expect the binary .sig form and refuse ASCII-armored .asc input.

How to convert ASC to SIG

GnuPG FREE

Run gpg --dearmor < file.asc > file.sig in a terminal; GnuPG strips the Base64 armor and writes the raw binary OpenPGP signature to file.sig.

Gpg4win FREE

Install Gpg4win, open Command Prompt or PowerShell, and run gpg --dearmor file.asc; rename the output file.asc.gpg to file.sig.

About these formats

.ASC OpenPGP ASCII-Armored File

An ASC file is almost always an OpenPGP ASCII-armored block: a digital signature, a public key, or an encrypted message from PGP or GnuPG, encoded as readable Base64 text. Open it in a text…

Open .ASC details →
.SIG OpenPGP Detached Signature

A SIG file is a small companion file that proves a download (such as an installer or ISO) is authentic and untampered. It contains a cryptographic OpenPGP signature, not readable content.…

Open .SIG details →

Quality & what to watch

  • Both .asc and .sig contain the same OpenPGP signature packet; gpg --verify produces the same result with either.
  • Not every .sig is an OpenPGP signature - confirm the .asc starts with -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- before converting; a public key or message block would produce a meaningless .sig.
  • Running gpg --dearmor file.asc outputs file.asc.gpg, not file.sig; use the pipe form for a clean filename.

Frequently asked questions

Does converting `.asc` to `.sig` affect whether the signature verifies?
No - the cryptographic content is identical; gpg --verify file.sig release-file and gpg --verify file.asc release-file produce the same result.
Do I still need the original public key after converting?
Yes - converting between .asc and .sig does not affect the key requirement; you still need the signer's public key imported into your keyring.
Can I go back from `.sig` to `.asc`?
Yes - run gpg --armor < file.sig > file.asc to re-add the ASCII armor.