Emacs Failed to Verify Signature (ELPA Package Install Error)

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Install the keyring update package with checking off

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   1. Evaluate: (let ((package-check-signature nil)) (package-refresh-contents) (package-install 'gnu-elpa-keyring-update))
   2. Run M-x package-refresh-contents again
   3. Restart Emacs so package-check-signature returns to its normal value
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Retry later if the error is brief

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   1. Wait an hour and run M-x package-refresh-contents again
   2. Check the Emacs bug tracker for a current ELPA signature report
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Check GnuPG itself

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   1. Make sure gpg is installed and on the Emacs exec-path
   2. Delete ~/.emacs.d/elpa/gnupg and retry so the keyring is rebuilt
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

package-refresh-contents or package-install fails with 'Failed to verify signature archive-contents.sig', 'Bad signature from GNU ELPA Signing Agent' or 'No public key'.

Why it happens

• The GNU ELPA signing key in your local keyring has expired or rotated
• The key is missing because Emacs was freshly installed with an empty ~/.emacs.d/elpa/gnupg
• The keyring update package cannot itself be installed because the check fails
• A stale .sig file on the server for a short time (retrying later works)

This guide also covers

• emacs failed to verify signature
• emacs bad signature from gnu elpa signing agent
• emacs package-refresh-contents error

The same problem in other apps

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• IntelliJ IDEA JDK Not Found or Invalid (JetBrains IntelliJ)
• Obsidian Stuck on Loading Cache or Slow to Start (Obsidian)

Other GNU Emacs errors

• Emacs Slow Startup
• Emacs Native Compilation Warnings Popping Up
• Emacs Slow or Freezing With Large Files
• Emacs Eglot / LSP Not Working
• Emacs macOS Operation Not Permitted (Documents, Desktop, iCloud)
• Doom Emacs Errors After Update or doom sync
• Emacs package-install Fails (Package Not Found or Archive Error)