en	[[!meta title="Chatting with Pidgin and OTR"]]

en	For chatting and instant messaging, Tails includes the *[Pidgin Instant Messenger](https://pidgin.im/)*.

en	<div class="note">

en	Dino is being considered as an option to replace Pidgin in Tails.

en	You can already try using Dino in Tails. See our documentation on [[chatting with Dino and OMEMO|doc/advanced_topics/dino]].

en	</div>

en	You can use *Pidgin* to connect to [[!wikipedia Internet_Relay_Chat desc="IRC"]] or [[!wikipedia XMPP]] (also known as Jabber) servers. You can have several accounts connected at the same time.

en	Even though *Pidgin* supports other protocols, it is only possible to use IRC and XMPP with *Pidgin* in Tails for security reasons.

en	To open *Pidgin*, choose **Apps&nbsp;▸ Internet&nbsp;▸ Pidgin**.

en	For more documentation, visit the official [*Pidgin* FAQ](https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Pidgin).

en	OTR encryption

en	[OTR (Off-the-Record)](https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/) encryption allows you to have private conversations over instant messaging by providing:

en	**Encryption**

en	No one else can read your instant messages.

en	**Authentication**

en	You are assured the correspondent is who you think it is.

en	**Deniability**

en	The messages you send do not have digital signatures that are checkable by a third party. Anyone can forge messages after a conversation to make them look like they came from you. However, during a conversation, your correspondent is assured the messages are authentic and unmodified.

en	**Perfect forward secrecy**

en	If you lose control of your private keys, no previous conversation is compromised.

en	<div class="caution">

en	OTR is deactivated by default, and your conversations are not private.

en	File transfers are not encrypted by OTR. OTR only encrypts conversations.

en	<div class="tip">

en	To store your OTR keys and Pidgin settings across different Tails sessions, you can turn on the [[Pidgin Internet Messenger|persistent_storage/configure#pidgin]] feature of the Persistent Storage.

en	In a private OTR conversation over IRC, a message sent using the /me command is not encrypted. The person receiving the message is notified by a warning.

en	IRC servers blocking Tor

en	Some IRC servers block connections from Tor because Tor is sometimes used to send spam.

en	[OFTC and Tor](https://www.oftc.net/Tor/)

en	[List of IRC/chat networks that block or support Tor](https://gitlab.torproject.org/legacy/trac/-/wikis/doc/BlockingIrc)