Tip of the Week: Password Protect Your Files

Have you ever thought about protecting a specific file or folder on your computer? You could always hide the file, but this isn’t doing much to protect it from anyone who has access to your computer and its settings. Sometimes it takes a stronger approach. Windows has some basic file encryption functionality built into it, so let’s go over how you can use it to protect a specific file or folder on your computer!

We want to preface this blog by stating that this is by no means an enterprise-level security solution to protect all files on your computer. If you want to implement enterprise-grade data encryption for your business’ files, you can contact SCW. We are happy to discuss any potential solutions we think you might benefit from!

Now, let’s dive into how you can password-protect a file or folder on your PC.

How to Password-Protect a File or Folder in Windows 10 or 11

To password-protect a file or folder, go to your File Explorer and find what you would like to protect. Right-click on the file and select Properties. From here, click on the Advanced option next to the Hidden checkbox. From here, select the option for Encrypt contents to secure data.

The only downside to this method is that Windows ties the decryption key–in this case, the password–to the user’s account. This means that in order to view the file that is encrypted, you’ll have to be logged in as the user, so if you share an account with someone, perhaps there is a better solution out there for you. Be sure to lock your computer when you walk away from it or log out of your account for maximum protection.

It takes more than some built-in security features in Windows to protect your business. If you want to truly reinforce network security for your business, be sure to discuss your needs with the professionals at SCW. To learn more, reach out to us at (509) 534-1530.