{
  "slug": "x",
  "name": "X",
  "maker": "X Corp",
  "category": "chats",
  "verdict": "o",
  "answer": "Only if you turn on Chat, and the person you message has too. X says it can't read those chats then. Message requests and anything you share with X's AI assistant are not sealed, and X doesn't say calls are.",
  "title": "Are X DMs encrypted? X Chat, calls and known limits",
  "description": "X DMs are end-to-end encrypted only in Chat, once both people set it up. Message requests aren't, X doesn't say calls are, and Chat has known limits.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "key": "msg",
      "status": "o",
      "words": "Only you, once you turn it on",
      "note": "Sealed once you and the other person have both set up Chat and they follow you or you've chatted before; message requests stay unsealed until accepted.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Messages"
    },
    {
      "key": "grp",
      "status": "o",
      "words": "Only you, once you turn it on",
      "note": "Group messages and media can be sealed in Chat; for a group shared by invite link, X says its name and picture are public.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Group chats"
    },
    {
      "key": "call",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "X can read it",
      "note": "X says group calls are not yet end-to-end encrypted, and it doesn't say one-to-one calls are, as of 25 October 2026.",
      "sources": [
        2
      ],
      "label": "Calls"
    },
    {
      "key": "bak",
      "status": "o",
      "words": "Only you, once you turn it on",
      "note": "Sealed chats are stored on X's servers and can only be unlocked with your keys, which your Chat PIN restores on a new device.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Backups"
    },
    {
      "key": "pq",
      "status": "x",
      "words": "Not yet",
      "note": "No post-quantum protection announced as of 25 October 2026.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Post-quantum"
    }
  ],
  "extra_parts": [],
  "keys": "Your devices hold your Chat keys; a backup copy is split across three key servers, all run by X, and only your 4-digit Chat PIN unlocks it.",
  "can_see": "Who you message and when, since X doesn't seal that information, plus message requests, any chat that X's AI assistant is in, and which posts you share in a chat.",
  "business": null,
  "fix": {
    "title": "Set up Chat and check for the lock",
    "steps": [
      "Open the Chat tab in the X app or on x.com.",
      "Follow the steps and create your 4-digit Chat PIN.",
      "Before you send, check the icon next to the send button. An open lock means the message won't be sealed."
    ],
    "after": "Takes about a minute. The other person has to set up Chat too. Keep the PIN in a password manager: after 20 wrong guesses, your sealed chat history is gone for good."
  },
  "fix_line": "Set up Chat: open the Chat tab › follow the steps › create a Chat PIN.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "are-x-dms-end-to-end-encrypted",
      "q": "Are X DMs end-to-end encrypted?",
      "a": "Only in Chat, X's newer messaging, and only when both people have set it up [1]. X says every message, link, reaction and file in a sealed chat is encrypted before it leaves your device [1]. If the other person hasn't set up Chat, the message goes unsealed, and the send button shows an open lock [1].\n\nMessage requests from people you don't follow stay unsealed until they're accepted [1]."
    },
    {
      "id": "x-chat-known-limits",
      "q": "What are X Chat's known limits?",
      "a": "X lists several itself. Who you message and when isn't sealed [1]. Chat is not forward secure: if someone steals a device's private key, they could unlock every sealed message that device sent or received [1]. Anything you share with X's AI assistant, or any chat it's added to, is no longer sealed [1].\n\nThe security firm Trail of Bits reviewed Chat in June 2025 and found several serious flaws. When it checked again in October 2025, X had fixed three of the six issues it reported [3]. The same report notes the researcher Matthew Garrett's warning that a 4-digit PIN is a weak lock for anyone inside X's systems; X says hardware limits of 20 guesses stop that [1][3]."
    },
    {
      "id": "are-x-calls-encrypted",
      "q": "Are X calls encrypted?",
      "a": "Not as far as X says. Its help page says group calls are not yet end-to-end encrypted, and it doesn't describe one-to-one calls as sealed, as of 25 October 2026 [2].\n\nOne-to-one calls normally go straight between the two devices, which can show each person's IP address to the other. Turning on Enhanced call privacy routes the call through X instead [2]."
    },
    {
      "id": "where-does-x-keep-my-chat-keys",
      "q": "Where does X keep my Chat keys?",
      "a": "On your devices, with a backup on X's servers so you can read old chats on a new device [1]. The backup is split into three parts on servers X runs, two of them in tamper-resistant hardware, and it can only be put back together with your Chat PIN [1].\n\nX says the hardware locks the backup for good after 20 wrong guesses, so X can't guess its way in [1]. X says it may later let you pick key servers run by other organisations [1]."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "About Chat",
      "publisher": "X Help Center",
      "url": "https://help.x.com/en/using-x/about-chat",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Audio and Video Calls",
      "publisher": "X Help Center",
      "url": "https://help.x.com/en/using-x/direct-messages/audio-video-calls",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "X XChat Security Assessment (28 October 2025)",
      "publisher": "Trail of Bits",
      "url": "https://github.com/trailofbits/publications/blob/master/reviews/2025-10-x-xchat-securityreview.pdf",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-25",
      "text": "First published."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "signal",
    "instagram",
    "messenger",
    "telegram"
  ],
  "url": "https://isitencrypted.com/x/",
  "checked": "2026-10-25"
}