How Do I Lock a Specific Folder?
Windows has an encryption tool to prevent other users from opening your files, but install a more robust third-party tool for greater privacy. While there’s more than one method, the easiest doesn’t involve any third-party programs. Windows 10 has this feature built-in.
How to Back Up Locked Folder Encryption Keys in Windows 10
Follow these steps to manually back up keys for encrypted folders: Windows will prompt you to back up your file encryption key to avoid permanently losing access to your encrypted files. You can follow those steps (keep reading) or ignore them.
How Encrypted Files Work on Windows 10
You should know how encrypted files behave in Windows to ensure this is the method you want to use. Take this as an example: An encrypted folder exists on the root of the C drive of a computer with two users. John encrypts the folder and all the files inside it. He has complete control over the data. Another user, Mark, logs in to his account, where he can do nearly everything John can:
See file namesRename filesMove and delete the folder and its filesAdd more files to the folder
However, because John encrypted the files in the folder, Mark can’t open them. Mark can, however, do essentially anything else. Any files Mark adds to the encrypted folder are automatically encrypted, but now the permissions are reversed: Since Mark is the logged-in user, he can open the files he adds, but John can’t.
Can You Put a Password on a Folder?
Windows 10 doesn’t have a way to put a password on a folder, apart from what we described above. That method is similar to other password protection techniques in that you need to provide the correct user account password before you can view the encrypted data. There are, however, third-party tools that let you define any password as the folder password, utterly independent of the logged-in user. The methods described below are arguably more private than Windows’ encryption procedure because they can obfuscate the file names and hide even the folder itself.
Password Protect and Hide the Folder
Wise Folder Hider is a good example. This program is ideal if you’re protective of the data because it can hide the folder behind two passwords. It can also secure entire flash drives and encrypt individual files.
Make a Password Protected Copy
7-Zip is another favorite. Instead of hiding the original folder, it creates a copy and then encrypts the copy. After choosing it, the folder will immediately disappear from its original location. To view it again, select the menu button to the right and select Open; it will open in File Explorer. Select Close to hide it again, or Unhide to permanently restore it. Other apps are available if you prefer to put your secret files on a virtual hard drive with a custom password.
Archive is the file name and path to where the encrypted file should be saved.Encrypt file names prevents someone from seeing the file names without providing the password.Create SFX archive lets someone provide the password to decrypt the folder even if they don’t have 7-Zip installed. Ideal for sharing the folder; it turns the file extension into EXE.Compression level can be set to a different level to make the file smaller, though it might also increase the encryption and decryption time.
