Lock a folder for windows 10

Encryption is like randomly shuffling all the letters of a document and making it so that only someone with a decryption key can unscramble the data and read the document. But encryption and password protection are only as strong as the passwords used to secure their contents.

So, whichever method you choose, be sure to create unique, hard-to-crack passwords and use two factor authentication. Then, get a password manager to keep track of them all. And check out our guide to password locking Word documents if your security needs are specific to the Microsoft Office suite. There are several ways to put a password lock and folder lock on documents on your PC.

Check the box for Encrypt contents to secure data. Then click OK. Finally, click Apply and select Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files. Your file or folder and all its data are now encrypted, as indicated by the little lock overlaying the folder icon. If you add any new items to the folder, those will be automatically encrypted, too. This Windows-compatible folder locking app uses powerful AES encryption to secure each individual file or folder with its own unique password.

Download and install the latest version of 7-Zip. From the 7-Zip control panel, navigate to the file or folder you want to protect, click it, and then click Add. In the Add to Archive window, choose a strong password to use for encrypting and decrypting the file, and select AES encryption for maximum security. Then, click OK. The file or folder is now encrypted and is more secure than if you just protected it with a Windows password alone.

Tweet Share Email. In This Article Expand. Lock a Specific Folder. How Encrypted Files Work. Can You Put a Password on a Folder?

Frequently Asked Questions. To backup encryption keys, open the Run command, enter certmgr. To password-protect folders, install a program like Wise Folder Hider. How do I lock a folder in Windows 10 to prevent deletion? How do I hide a folder on my PC and lock it for myself in Windows 10? Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You\’re in! Thanks for signing up.

There was an error. If that is correct, I cannot understand why. I have such an app on my iPhone. Please advise Using Third Party Software, including hardware drivers can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Third Party Software can be solved.

Using Third Party Software is at your own risk. However Encrypting File System EFS is a feature of Windows that you can use to store information on your hard disk in an encrypted format. Encryption is the strongest protection that Windows provides to help you keep your information secure. Reference: If you are using the Pro or Enterprise edition, you may use bit locker to encrypt the device.

Use BitLocker to encrypt all files on fixed data drives like internal hard drives and use BitLocker To Go to encrypt files on removable data drives like external hard drives or USB flash drives. Was this reply helpful? Yes No. Sorry this didn\’t help. Thanks for your feedback. It doesn\’t matter what the file will be named. You can delete this text file once the lockable folder has been made.

Replace \”Your-Password-Here\” with the password you want to lock the folder with. Click Enter , and the Folder Locker window will disappear, along with the Locker folder itself. Your secrets are now safe. The Locker folder is back. This is where a strong login password can keep you safe. That\’s why you should take steps to prevent hacking by using antivirus software. Keep your data safe with Avast BreachGuard.

That way, you can regain control of your accounts before anyone has the chance to log in with your credentials. These tools offer more security than built-in Windows security features and are highly recommended for sensitive data.

Folder Lock is one content protection feature for Windows worth looking at. Folder Lock makes it easy to put a password on a folder, and it can password protect and encrypt files and folders at blazing speeds. Folder Lock uses a master password to control locked content. And you can assign a unique password and configure the maximum disk space for each Locker.

Folder Lock comes with a powerful file shredder and a cloud-based backup solution as well. After installation, the tool will ask you to set a location for your locked folder. All locked folders will be hidden on your drive until you unlock them. My Lockbox is free and resource-light, making it an ideal solution for older computers or operating systems.

Passwords are almost always the weakest link in a security chain. A password strength checker can be of great use here. Online resources like The Password Meter and my1login are good tools. While strong password protection will be enough for most users, if you have sensitive data, then more advanced methods such as third-party encryption tools can be used to safeguard data.

Beyond regular password protection, you can also use disk-encryption software that offers more robust security. Full-encryption tools block even the most advanced cold-boot and brute-force attacks , which try to crack passwords and encryption keys using different combinations. It is essentially a file archiver that uses high compression and strong AES encryption. Your files are compressed and encrypted, so when you go to access them, you simply need to decompress the file first. To secure your data with 7-Zip, follow these steps:.

Download the latest version of 7-Zip and install it.

Lock a folder for windows 10

Almost everyone has important or not-so-important files that we like to hide and protect from others. In fact, using the attrib command , you can hide a folder so that it will not be visible even if someone tries to unhide folders using common methods. Apart from that, there are several ways you can lock a folder and password protect it. Below are some of the easiest methods you can use to lock folders or even drives in Windows The simplest way to lock a folder in Windows is to use a batch file.

All you have to do is add all the contents you want to lock away in the folder created by the batch file, lock the folder, and the batch file will completely hide it from plain sight.

When needed, you have to enter the password in the batch file to reveal the folder. Follow the below steps, and you should have a working batch script to lock a folder in Windows. This method is not a secure way to protect your files and folders.

Anyone with a bit of knowledge about bat files or who knows where and how to look can unlock the content. Open the File Explorer and go to the drive or folder where you want to store the locked folder. The first thing we need to do is create a batch script. You can do that with a regular text file.

Rename the text file to lock. You can name the file anything you want. Just make sure that the file extension is. This action will open the batch file in Notepad. Here, copy and paste the below code. Close the file after saving it.

You will be prompted for a password. You can save any number of files or folders in the Locker folder. Next, execute the lock. Type Y and press Enter. If you want access to the locked folder, execute the batch file again, enter the password, and you will see the locked folder. Note: You need to be using the Pro version of Windows. Moreover, the file system should be NTFS. Since Windows uses your user account to encrypt the folder, other users on your system cannot access the contents of the encrypted folder.

Only you can access the folder by logging into your user account. If your system only has a single user account, then create another one for other users and change the password for your user account so that only you can log into your user account. First, verify that the folder you want to protect is located in an NTFS formatted drive. Now, create a folder in the NTFS drive. As soon as you apply the changes, you will see a notification to back up the private key.

This is not essential. However, backing up allows you to recover data stored in the encrypted folder if you lose access to your user account. Once you are done backing up, you should see the key file in your Documents folders. Follow the following steps after completing the backup. Files added to the encrypted folder have a little lock icon. Since your user account encrypts the folder, you can use the encrypted folder like any other folder.

If any other user from other user accounts tries to access the contents of the encrypted folder, they will be greeted with an error message like the one below. Keep in mind that this method is better than the first one; however, it is still not perfect. Windows 10 Pro version has a built-in powerful encryption tool called BitLocker. You can use the BitLocker tool to encrypt entire drives. Once encrypted, it is almost impossible to get access to the contents of the encrypted drive without proper authorization.

To encrypt a drive using BitLocker, follow the below steps. The BitLocker Management screen will list all the available drives. You will be asked to choose the authentication type. For recovery purposes, you will be asked to back up the recovery key. Keep this file safe and secure so that if you ever forgot the BitLocker password, you can use this file to decrypt the drive and access the contents.

Depending on how much data there is in the drive, it can take time to complete the encryption process. So, it back and wait. Once the drive is encrypted; you will see a lock icon on the drive icon in the File Explorer. You can use it as your regular drive. Every time you log into your system, you will see a locked drive. To unlock the drive, double-click on it. You will be prompted to enter the BitLocker password. Enter the password, and the drive will be unlocked and decrypted so that you can use it like any other drive.

That is it. It is that simple to encrypt a drive with BitLocker in Windows If you are looking to protect important files and folders, this is the method you should be using. For important files like your financial documents, personal media, etc. The BitLocker method is the most secure of all three.

As long as you use a good password, it is almost impossible to access the contents of a BitLocker encrypted drive without proper authentication. If you like this article, check how to enable Windows defender sandbox and how to enable Windows 10 sandbox to run applications in a sandboxed environment. Scroll to Top.