Mar 22, 2016 4 Ways to Quickly Lock Files and Folders in Windows 10 Natively 1. Locking a File in Windows. Before we move on to the various methods. New User Account & File Permissions. If someone wants to use your PC or want to borrow your. Zip & Lock Files. This method actually requires a third. Aug 19, 2019 How To Password Protect a Folder in Windows 10 1. Right-click inside the folder where the files you want to protect are located. Select 'New' from the contextual menu. Click on 'Text Document.' It doesn't matter what the file will be named. Double-click the text file to.
Recently my boss asked me to lend him my external hard disk (for reasons which can’t be explained). I was little uneasy as it contained some personal stuff which I was not comfortable sharing. Of course, I had the option of telling the true reason but didn’t want to seem rude. So I fired up Google to find some quick ways to lock up the files on Windows.
How To Password Protect a Folder in Windows 10 1. Right-click inside the folder where the files you want to protect are located. Select 'New' from the contextual menu. Click on 'Text Document.' It doesn't matter what the file will be named. Double-click the text file to. Usually, we use 7-zip to extract the file and unzip the folder. The good thing about this program is that also provides an option to password protect folders. Here’s what you need to do to password protect a folder: 1. Download and install 7-zip using this link. Launch 7-zip File manager on your computer.
Turns out there is no way to do that without the help of an external app. Fortunately, I had an internet connection so I downloaded a simple app for the purpose and handed over the drive knowing my personal stuff was safe. But what if you’re stuck in a similar situation without access to the internet? There is popular script floating around the internet which makes it look like you’re actually locking a folder, but in reality, it just hides-unhides the folder and is not an effective method at all. So today we will see four ways in which you can cleverly hide your stuff natively in Windows without any external help (somewhat).
1. Locking a File in Windows
Before we move on to the various methods, it’s important to understand how encryption works in Windows. If you encrypt a file/folder in Windows, you can easily open it, transfer it or mail it and it will still open on the receiving end. So one might wonder what it is the use of Encryption then? The answer is that the encryption key (generated when you encrypt something for the first time) is associated with your account, more specifically to your password. So whenever you log into to your account all the encrypted files are decrypted on the fly and available in the normal state. But in case, if someone physically steals your drive or makes a new account on your PC, he/she will be unable to open them. Also, there are some limitations of encryption, it is only available to Pro edition users & will work only on NTFS partition. Now let’s see what are the basic steps to encrypt a file or folder in Windows.
Step 1: Any file or folder can be encrypted in Windows, provided the above conditions are satisfied. Right-click on the file >Properties >Advanced button under General tab > check the Encrypt contents to secure data.
Step 2: Click on OK and the filename will turn green or a lock symbol will appear depending on Windows version. You can add other users who can access the file by clicking the Details button as shown in the screengrab above and clicking on Add.
Cool Tip: Encryption is not only for Windows, it’s important on all platforms. Learn more about encryption for Mac, iOS and Android.2. New User Account & File Permissions
If someone wants to use your PC or want to borrow your laptop you can just create a new account for them and change the permissions on the files and folders you don’t them to view. Let’s see the step by step process.
Step 1: Go to Control Panel > User Accounts, click on Manage another account > Add someone else to this PC. Make sure that the new account you’re creating is not an admin account or else this whole process will be futile as an admin account can override all permissions irrespective of file or folder.
Step 2: Once you have the new account set up, pool all your files and folder in one single folder. This will make managing permissions for several files easy. Right-click on the folder >Properties >Security tab, click on the edit button. A new window will open.
Step 3: In the new window click on the Add… button to add the new user to the list. One more window will open in which you have to enter the exact account name and then click on Check Names.
If the account doesn’t show up, click on Advanced… > Find Now, which list all accounts present on the PC. Select the account and click on OK, in both the previous windows to return to Permissions window.
Step 4: Once you have added the concerned account, check the Full Control box under Deny column and finally click Apply to save.
Now if someone tries to access those files they will get an Access denied error. For added effect give your folder some technical name like Windows System files or Admin Files to make it look like they are really system files. The above process can also be done in reverse i.e. setting the permissions for the files in the new account so the files cannot be accessed in the original account. This way someone will not get suspicious as why they are being given new account to use. But do mind the Admin account clause I mentioned earlier.
3. Zip & Lock Files
This method actually requires a third party app, 7-Zip to work. But 7-zip has become the de-facto apps for managing compressed files for Windows, it should always be present on everybody’s PC. If you are having WinRar, it will also work.
Step 1: Pool all your files in a single folder as you can’t add files once the archive is created. Right click on the folder and select 7-Zip > Add to archive….
Step 2: A new window will open with options to tweak. You may keep the default as they are. Under Encryption, enter the password of your choice, without which anyone will be able to open them. Finally, click on OK and you are done.
Note: Due to the way in which archives works, one can open the archive and see the filenames and file type. It’s only when they try to open or extract the file they will be asked for a password. So if you don’t want your, oh let’s just say collection of documentaries, to be browsed, first add them to a zip file and then add the zip to archive.Changing File Extension
This method is one of those simple things which you would be astonished that you didn’t know before. Used in conjunction with zip files, it will effective for most of the users. And this also one of the only effective methods for Home edition users as their Windows doesn’t have encryption or Bitlocker.
Step 1: As usual put all your stuff in a single folder. Create a new zip file as shown in the screenshot below.
Step 2: Right-click on the zip file and change the extension .zip to something else. Again try avoiding popular extensions and name the file something technical . If you can’t see the .zip extension, you need to enable the setting by going to Control Panel > Folder Options > uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option. It’s wise to turn this option ON again to confuse someone further.
4. Make a New Partition & Hide it
If you have enough free space on your hard disk you can make a free partition and dump all the stuff you want to lock in it and then hide it.
Step 1: Create a new partition by following the guide here or here.
Step 2: Copy all your stuff to the partition. From here on, Windows Pro edition users can just use Bitlocker or encrypt the contents (if the partition is on an external HDD) and Windows Home edition users can hide the partition by following the next step.
Step 3: Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Create and format hard disk partitions > right click on the partition you created in Step 1 >Change Drive Letter and Paths …. In the new window, click on remove.
It will show a warning, accept it. Now your partition will not be visible in My Computer or anywhere in Windows. Of course, a clever user might figure this out and make the partition visible again following the method shown in the next step. To not let this happen, change the permissions for the partition as described above.
Step 4: To bring back the drive, again go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Create and format hard disk partitions > Change Drive Letter and Paths …. In the new window, click on Add, to assign a letter to the drive.
One other method is to create the new partition in Linux formats (ext2 or ext3). But that will require an external app but is also one of the simplest ways to hide something. To make an ext3 you can use any of the major partition managers available. This ext3 partition will not be visible in My Computer and to read or transfer the files stored on it, you will need an ext3 partition reader. I would recommend using this excellent open-source app. Of course, other alternatives are just a Google search away.
So, Whats Your Method?
The above methods are mostly for locking access or hiding files sans any external help. If you venture out there are numerous solutions available, some open source, some proprietary. If you have some other methods do share with us through comments.
SEE ALSO:How to Protect Your Windows 10 PC from Unknown Threats using Shade Sandbox
Also See#bitlocker #encryption Did You Know
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Sometimes privacy is important for all of us, especially when you use a common computer in a family. You may be interested in protecting a personal file or folder from someone accidentally opening and viewing the content. Unfortunately, when it comes to protecting a file or folder in Windows 10, there is no such feature to do that specifically. Though other versions of Windows 10 do provide you with an option to encrypt your files or folders. But, Windows 10 Home sometimes does not do that. There is a particular option to hide your files/folders but it’s just for the hiding or showing purpose.
So, if you want to protect your files in Windows 10, there are some tricks and third-party apps which you can opt for it. In this guide, we are going to show you how to do that.
3 Ways to Password Protect a File or Folder in Windows 10
There will be three methods in this guide and all are pretty easy, you just need to follow the steps in order.
- First method is by protecting with a locker folder.
- second is by using a third-party software.
- Third is by using Windows 10 inbuilt feature for encrypting files.
1. Using a Locker Folder
Make sure that you are trying this method only with the files not with the folders because this method will not work on folders. Also, make sure to test these steps (though we have already tested) on the file which is not important.
- Go to the folder inside which you want to password protect the files. To do this in a more confirming way, try to make a sample folder for yourself and add some sample files in it.
- Copy and paste the below code inside a Notepad document and save the text file. You can give any name, let’s name it ‘PasswordPro.txt’.
Password Protect File in Windows 10
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 | @ECHO OFF ifEXIST'Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}'gotoUNLOCK :CONFIRM set/p'cho=>' if%cho%ygotoLOCK if%cho%NgotoEND gotoCONFIRM ren Locker'Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}' attrib+h+s'Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}' gotoEnd echo Enter password toUnlock folder ifNOT%pass%Enter-Your-Password-Here gotoFAIL attrib-h-s'Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}' ren'Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}'Locker gotoEnd echo Invalid password :MDLOCKER echo Locker created successfully :End |
- Move this text file to the same folder in which you want to protect the files.
- Open the ‘PasswordPro.txt’ text file and go to the line having the text ‘Enter-Your-Password-Here’. This is a placeholder text and change this with your own password. We use the password ‘enjoytheevening’.
- Go the ‘File’ options from the top menu. Click on ‘Save as’ and select ‘All Files’ from the bottom ‘Save as type’.
- Give your file a name with ‘.bat’ extension. For example, ‘PasswordPro.bat’
- Click on ‘Save’ button. Basically you save the ‘PasswordPro.txt’ file into ‘PasswordPro.bat’ file.
Saving File With Bat Extension
- Double-click on the file and a new folder name ‘Locker’ will be created in the folder.
- Move your files inside the ‘Locker’ folder.
- Double-click on the file ‘PasswordPro.bat’ and it will ask you to lock the locker folder in a command prompt window.
- Type ‘Y’ and press ‘Enter’ key. The window will close and the locker folder will be hidden.
Allowing To Lock The File
- The only files which will be left are ‘PasswordPro.bat’ and a text file ‘PasswordPro.txt’ which you have created.
- To unlock and see the folder again, double-click on the ‘PasswordPro.bat’ file.
- It will open up a new CMD window and ask you to unlock the folder. Enter your password which you have set in previous step, ‘enjoytheevening’ is our password.
Unlocking The Folder
- Press ‘Enter’ key from the keyboard and it will show the locker folder again.
- Repeat the steps again to hide and password protect the folder.
Now, the main thing, you can delete the text file which you have downloaded from our site if you want. You can move the ‘PasswordPro.bat’ file too. But the problem is you won’t be able to see the files in any other folder/drive/path in your hard drive. Make sure if you are moving this file then remember the path where the files were hidden. You need to move this ‘PasswordPro.bat’ file back and then use it in locking/unlocking the ‘Locker’ folder.
Related: How to setup PIN, picture and fingerprint password in Windows 10?
2. Using a Third-Party App
There are many third-party apps which help you in protecting your files/folders with a password. WinRAR is a software which allows you to compress/archive your files/folders as well as protect your files with a password. You can also use WinZip to archive and set password to the archived folder. To do this:
- Download and install the WinRAR from their official website.
- Go to your file/folder and right-click on that file.
- Choose ‘Add to archive’ option.
Add To Archive
- Give this file a ‘Name’ and click on ‘Set password…’ button.
- Enter the ‘Password’ in the given field.
- Make sure you check the option ‘Encrypt file names’.
Setting Password For The File
- Click on ‘OK’ and then ‘OK’ again.
Your file has been secured with a password successfully. This method is very effective but this is ok when you are dealing with file/folders. In case you have an application, then this can be hectic. You have to extract it every time. Also you should delete the original folder after archiving it.
3. Using Inbuilt Feature of Windows 10
This feature is the encryption feature which is only available in Windows 10 Pro and other versions of it except Windows 10 Home. This is not a complete password protection, it only does not allow other accounts on Windows to open your files.
- Right-click on your file and select ‘Properties’. You can also highlight the file and press ‘Alt + Enter’ keys to ‘Properties’ window.
- Under the ‘General’ tab, click on the ‘Advanced’ button.
- A new popup will open up and you need to check the option ‘Encrypt contents to secure data’.
Encrypting File With Windows 10 Pro
- Click on ‘OK’.
- Then, click on ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’.
A small notification popup will arise which contain the keys. You need to click on that and export all the keys to a file and save it.
Conclusion
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Sometime you only need to hide the files from others and not protect with password. I such a case, simply right click on the file or folder and go to properties. Here you can set the attribute as ‘Hidden’. You can also hide or show the files from File Explorer or File Options settings. If you really wanted to protect with password or encrypt a file, then follow one of the above explained methods in Windows 10.