How do you Password Protect your Files & Folders in Windows?

Windows computers have all kinds of security features, but most of the time, users do not know about some of them or how to implement these features. This article will show you how to password protect your files & folders in Windows or encrypt a folder on computers running the Windows operating system.

 In all Windows OS versions, only Windows XP has a feature for password-protecting folders. However, Windows Vista / 7/8 / 8.1 / 10 users can do this with the help of additional software. We start with encrypting folders on Windows Vista / 7/8 / 8.1 / 10, and if you use a somewhat dated Windows XP operating system, you continue to show them how to password protect your files & folders in Windows.

Why do we need Password Protect for a file?

How can we keep the folder safe? Before we learn how to do this, we must first understand why it is necessary. There are several reasons for this, but one of the most important reasons is to secure sensitive data. It contains personal images that you don’t wish to share with others, as well as financial information. This is primarily done in businesses since they have a large number of documents and files that they do not want their competition to see.

For Windows Vista / 7/8 / 8.1 / 10 users

If your computer runs on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, or 10, you can follow the steps below to encrypt your folder. To encrypt your file or folder for Windows, their storage location is in the NTFS format.

• Navigate to the location and select the folder you want to encrypt
• Right-click on the folder you want to encrypt and hit ‘Properties’
• Click ‘Advanced’ under the ‘General’ tab
• Find the box that encrypts the contents to secure the data, on two windows ‘check it and hit’ is OK.

Windows encrypts the selected folder immediately, you click the last ‘OK’. If your system does not ‘encrypt the content to protect your data, it means that your version of Windows may be the Home version, and it does not support file and folder encryption.

For Windows XP users

The step is similar to what we stated in the version for the new Windows version.  If you have more than two user accounts in your system, how to encrypt your folder on a Windows XP computer.

• Navigate to the location and select the folder you want to encrypt
• Right-click on the selected folder.  Click on ‘Properties’
• Go to the ‘General’ tab and click on ‘Advanced’.
• To secure the data: check the box to enable encrypt the content.
• Click ‘Apply’ to save the changes, and hit ‘OK’ to leave the page.

Similar to a folder that encrypts on Windows Vista / 7/8 / 8.1 / 10, if you do not have encrypted content or it is not selectable for the option of securing data, you are likely the home version of Windows XP is using it.

Things to note while you Password Protect your Files

• Of course, the biggest problem with passwords is missing them. If you create a password to use across all your accounts, you are setting yourself up for possible data theft. The common option that is easy to remember, making without a password is just as bad.
• Although passwords are a great security feature, Password Protect your Files does not provide complete protection for your files and folders. Hackers have tools and techniques to break encryption and bypass or crack passwords.
• If you forget their passwords, you cannot recover passwords and files, except to pay an ethical hacker to break them.
• Passwords do not protect malicious players from deleting your file.

Hide a folder

• Hide folder is a sort of software that allows users to safeguard or protect their files and personal information. You can also make our files or folders invisible and inaccessible to others, preventing them from making changes or deleting them. No matter how they try to get in via the internet or locally, they will be unable to access the secured data. To hide a folder you can follow the given below steps:
• Select the folder you want to hide, then right-click on the folder.
• Select the option of Properties from the menu bar.
• Click on the General tab and go to the Attributes section no you will get the Hidden option check the box.
• Click on the Ok button.

Other options for password protecting folders in Windows

The steps to encrypt folders are straightforward.  However, if you want to encrypt a folder that you rarely use, a compression tool can do the trick. What you do here is create a collection of folders to be encrypted using a compression program. Most encryption tools allow you to set a password for the archives they create. Therefore, after compressing your folder, you can proceed to set the password easily.

Last Thought!

We hope that you should clarify how your password protects your files & folders in Windows. If you are still getting some errors or issues then contact our Customer Support Service which will give you simple solutions to any error.