How to Password Protect a Folder in Windows 10?

Fix Password Protect a Folder in Windows 10

Sometimes we need to hide files in our computer system and we want to keep secrets from the world, but not everyone knows how to password protect a folder in Windows 10. Whether you are hiding notes from someone with access to your computer or something less extreme, you are allowed to have some privacy. But, in Windows 10, you can hide those forbidden plans or files in a secret folder that is password-protected.  Once you have created a new folder in Windows 10, here's how to password protect a folder in Windows 10.

Tips from readers:

• Never use a password with space, it may create an issue with the batch file.
• Yes, files placed in your locked folder can appear in the Recent Files list in various apps, such as Microsoft Word. 

Here’s the process for password protect a folder in Windows 10.

Using Inbuilt Feature of Windows 10

To start, use File Explorer to find the file or folder you want to protect. 

• Right-click on it and click ‘Properties’ at the bottom of the context menu. 
• Now, press the ‘Advanced’ button in the Attributes section of the window.
• Below this pane, select the ‘Encrypt contents to secure data’ checkbox. 
• Click the ‘OK’ button to get back to the main Properties window. Here click ‘Apply’ and Windows will start to encrypt your files.
• Once the process completes, you will be asked to back-up your encryption key if you have never used the feature before. 
• Tap on the toast notification and follow the advice making a note of your encryption key. You will need this information if you ever lose access to your encrypted files,so you must take the time to back it up now.
• Back-up has been done, now your files are secured. They are encrypted with a key that’s tied down to your Windows user account. If someone else tries to access the
• file whether from another user account or by physically removing your hard drive – the contents will appear to be meaningless garbled text.
• You can turn the encryption at any time by heading back to the Properties window and opening the Advanced Attributes pane again. 
• Just unselect the ‘Encrypt contents to secure data’ checkbox and click OK to close the windows. After encoding, you can also press the ‘Details’ button next to the checkbox to see information about the encryption certificate and available recovery procedures.

That’s all there is to it. Once more, we will recall you this method isn’t intended for high-security purposes. Although, it’s perfect if you are using a shared PC and
just want to keep some files inaccessible to other user accounts on the device. Just remember to lock your account (Win+L) whenever you walk away from the screen your files will be unencrypted as soon as you log in.

If you need stronger protections, you might want to consider investing in third-party software that’s specially designed for this purpose. Allowing Windows’ BitLocker
feature (Pro and Enterprise edition only) can also provide peace of mind if you want all your files to be encrypted. This gives full-disk encryption with the keys tied
down to a TPM, a hardware module dedicated to certificate storage.

BitLocker performs at a different level to file-based encryption, solving different problems. The feature encodes the complete drive, not individual files so once Windows starts, everything on the drive is decrypted and made available to everyone. Based on files encryption gets unlocked only after you log in, and deals with individual files and folders.

There is another way to password protect a folder in Windows 10. You can follow the
third party apps.

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 a 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 the ‘Add to archive’ option.
• 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’.
• 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.