Windows

How Encrypt Files And Folders On Windows 10?

If you keep classified information, along with the folders that have personal data, then obviously you do not want them in the hands of some other people or showcased on the internet. In order to protect your data, you need to password protect or encrypt all the files and folders. If you do not know how to encrypt files & how to encrypt folder in Windows 10 then here, there will be specific information about that only. So, read on.

How to encrypt a File & Folder in Windows 10?

Here, there will be different methods that will certainly help you to encrypt folder Windows 10.

One: Use the Encrypted File Service

Windows 10 has an in-built utility that allows you to encrypt files and folders easily. This in-built utility, that helps you to protect all your precious personal information is known as ‘Encrypted File Service’ or ‘EFS’. Here are steps to perform file and folder encryption with ‘EFS’. So, follow along.

First, navigate to a file or folder that you want to encrypt and then right-click on the same.
As soon as you do that, then a popup menu will appear, in it, select the ‘Properties’ option.
This action will open up a new ‘Properties’ dialog box. In it, select the ‘General’ tab. Under that tab, go to the bottom-right section and click on the ‘Advanced…’ button.
As you click on that button, then a new dialog box will appear with the title ‘Advanced Attributes’. Inside that dialog box, navigate to the ‘Compress and Encrypt attributes’ section.
Inside that section, locate the option ‘Encrypt contents to secure data’ and put a checkmark on it.
Next, tap on the ‘OK’ and quit from the ‘Properties’ dialog box.
Finally, if you get prompt to set this encryption to all the folders, subfolders and files, then tap on the ‘Apply’ button.

Two: Keep Backup of the Encryption Key

Whenever you encrypt a folder with the EFS utility, you will get a popup to create a backup of the encryption key and certificate. Keeping the backup of the encryption key will help you in case you forget the key in question. In order to do that, follow the steps below.

Right after you encrypt a folder with the EFS utility, then a dialog box will come up with three distinct options.
Out of all the three options, select the ‘Back up now (recommended)’ option. As soon as you do that, then a new dialog box will appear, with the name ‘Certificate Export Wizard’.
In that dialog box, follow the information that comes up until the ‘Security’ page appears. After that, type the password two times on the correct fields and tap on the ‘Next’ button.
Once done, you will see another page with the title ‘File to Export’. Inside that page, provide the location where you want to save the encryption certificate and provide a name to the backup file.
Now, tap on the ‘Next’ button to create the encryption key backup.
At last, hit the ‘Finish’ button.

How to Encrypt File & Folder in Windows 10 using Bitlocker?

Bitlocker is an encryption program that is available with Windows 10. This application helps you to encrypt the whole drive and its partition. Along with the drive encryption, this application also protects the machine from any alterations that are not authorized.

One thing to note is that with the Bitlocker software you cannot encrypt an individual file or folder. Instead of separately encrypting files and folders within the computer, what you can do is keep all your sensitive information within a single partition and encrypt it. Here is the process on how you can achieve it is as follows.

First, hit on both the ‘Windows + S’ key together. This opens a new default search area. In that area, type the text “control panel” and then from the output section locate and click on the ‘Control Panel’ option.
Once you click on that option, next a new window will appear with the title ‘Control Panel’ and the list of all the setting categories.
Now, among all the categories find and tap the one that says ‘System and Security’.
This action will open a new page, in it, locate the ‘Bitlocker Drive Encryption’ option and click on it.
As you click on that option, then a page with the title ‘Bitlocker Drive Encryption’ will come up.
On that page, you will get a list of all the drive partitions, under the ‘Operating system drive’ subheading. Next, locate the drive partition that you want to encrypt and then click on the ‘Turn on Bitlocker’ link.

Additional Steps for Bitlocker Encryption Process

Here, you will get more steps regarding the encryption via the Bitlocker software. So follow along, right after the last step of the main method.

Once you choose the ‘Turn on Bitlocker’ option, next, the new window will appear.
Inside that window, there will be two options. Now, out of the two options, choose the ‘Enter a password’ and provide the details for two times on correct fields and click on the ‘Next’ button.
Now, you will get two options to save the recovery key, if you forget the password to access the encrypted drive. Those two options are ‘USB flash drive’ and ‘Microsoft account’.
Choose an option that you prefer and click on the ‘Next’ button. At this time you will get two encryption options ‘Encrypt used disk space only’, ‘Encrypt entire drive’.
Select an encryption option that you want and tap the ‘Next’ button.
From two more encryption options: ‘New encryption mode’, ‘Compatible drive’, select the first one and tap the ‘Next’ button.
Next, put a checkmark on the ‘Run Bitlocker system check’ option and tap on the ‘Continue’ button.
At last, go to the ‘This PC’ and then inspect if there is a lock icon present beside the encrypted drive partition.

How to Encrypt Microsoft Office Files

If you want to encrypt some documents or files, then there is a proper tool available within the related Microsoft Office application. To do it, follow the steps below.

First, locate and double-click on an Office file that you want to encrypt. This action will open the file in question with the help of the proper Office application.
Now, within the Office application window go to the menu bar and choose the ‘File’ item. As soon as you click on that item, then a new page will appear, in it, navigate to the left pane and choose the ‘Info’ option.
Next, move to the right side and click on the ‘Protect Document’ option to reveal a drop-down list.
From that list, select the ‘Encrypt with Password’ option. As soon as you click on that option, then a new dialog box with the title ‘Encrypt Document’ will come up.
Within that dialog box, input the password and then click the ‘OK’ button. After that, once again provide the password and tap ‘OK’ to set it.
Lastly, to check whether the encryption is successful, go to the Office file in question and try to access it normally. If it asks for a password that means the encryption is working correctly.

How to Encrypt a File & Folder in Windows 10 by Reliable Encryption Software?

If you do not want to encrypt files & encrypt folder in Windows 10 with the in-built utilities, then get and utilize the reliable encryption software from the internet. In order to do so, follow these steps below.

First, open a browser and then search for a reliable encryption application.
Now, if you found a software, then visit its official website and download the setup file.
Once the download process is over, next, find the location of the setup file and double-click on it. This will open a new installer window.
As soon as the installer window comes up, then follow the instructions on the screen and press the ‘Install’ button.
Once the installation of the reliable encryption application is over, next, right-click on the folder or file that you encrypt.
After that, from the popup menu that appears, find and choose the reliable encryption application option, to reveal a sub-menu.
From the sub-menu that comes up tap on the ‘Add to archive…’ option. This action will open a new dialog box with the name ‘Add to Archive’.
Within that dialog box, go to the ‘Archive’ field and provide a new name to the folder. Next, go to the ‘Encryption’ section and input the password two times in separate fields, then put a checkmark on the ‘Encrypt file names’ option.
At last click on the ‘OK’ button to exit the reliable encryption software.