In the digital world, security and privacy is a myth. We can protect the data up to a certain level. But, that’s the basic protection which you can use with an Android emulator for PC. The more advanced we get, the more threat we have of data theft. That’s why you should always stay alert and store your data by protecting it with a secure password. You should not ignore the data safety, as it will cause you a massive headache when the data gets stolen. There is no better way than a password protecting the files and folders. There are multiple ways available to password protect your files and folders in the Windows operating system so you don’t have to worry about their security.
In Windows operating system, password protecting the folders is very beneficial. As the malware, virus, adware, spyware, and even ransomware enter the system and steal the data; it is essential to password protect the folders. As you might store some sensitive data on your computer, password protecting the folder is essential. You don’t want the other computer users to accidentally or intentionally open the folder and check the data on your behalf. You can either put a lock on your Windows PC, but that will just restrict other people from your home and office to use that device which might not be a good solution to the problem.
Most of the time, people get frustrated due to data theft. Not just the people, but the multinational companies are tired of data theft. That’s why password protecting the important folders is the way to go. If you are concerned about your safety and want to keep your data safe from the other users, then you should know how to password protect a folder in Windows. In this post, we are going to share some working methods that will help you to password protect a folder in Windows OS. All you have to do is to follow these methods and set the passwords to the folders that contain sensitive data.
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Why Password Protect The Folders?
If you are sharing the computer with a bunch of people from your office or the home, then you might have to keep the password to important data. If there is any personal information that you don’t want others to see, then this is the only thing you should do. As you are sharing the computer with the other people, there is a high chance that they will accidentally check your data. Well, if you have something sensitive to images or the financial data, then it will become a bit awkward.
If you have a lot of files on your computer, then there is no way you can add a password to all of the available files. To fix this issue, you should put everything in one folder and password protect the folder in Windows. As this is the only feasible to encrypt a lot of data with ease, you should always choose the same way.
How To Password Protect A Folder In Windows
With the built-in password protection feature in Windows, you can easily set passwords to the folders. Here is the exact step-by-step guide that you should follow properly to password protect a folder in Windows.
- First of all, click on the File or the Folder that you want to encrypt with the password and click on “Properties”.
- In the Properties, click on the “Advanced” option in the bottom left corner to open the advanced settings for the selected files or folders.
- Now, Click on the “Encrypt Contents To Secure The Data” checkbox and click on the “OK” button. This will save the settings.
- You’ll get the prompt window confirming if you want to encrypt only the file or the entire folder. You can choose whatever option you want.
- The password will be automatically set to what the password of your user account it.
- If there are multiple user accounts, the other users won’t be able to open the files or the folders without entering your user account password.
This is how you can immediately encrypt the folders and files in Windows with ease.
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Password Protect a Folder Using The 7-ZIP Utility
The 7-Zip is one of the most popular Archive creator application for Windows. With the 7-Zip, you can create or extract the zip archives with ease. The same application allows us to create a password-protected zip folder with ease. The folder will have the data compressed and will have the password to it. Without the password, the compressed folder won’t extract, and no one can access the data without the password. Here are the exact steps that will help you password protect a folder using the 7-ZIP utility.
- First of all, download and install the latest version of 7-ZIP on your computer if you don’t have it already. After that, open the Program on your computer.
- In 7-ZIP, you can easily navigate through the files and choose all the files that you want to compress and encrypt.
- After selecting, click on the “Add” button on the top right corner to start creating the compressed folder with a password.
- Now, choose the compression options and name the folder according to your needs. In the same window, you’ll see the option to add a password to the folder.
- Type the strong password for the folder and confirm the same by typing it again in the next field. Select the Encryption Method as “AES-256″.
- After that, Click “OK” and you’ve successfully created the password-protected compressed folder with the 7-ZIP utility.
How To Password Protect A Folder In macOS
Just like Windows 10, macOS is very popular in the industry and you must also know about the meaning of INB4 in online conversation. All of the Apple computers and laptops run on macOS, and there are millions of people using the same. If you are using the macOS computer and want to password protect a folder, then you should follow these steps to immediately protect your sensitive information from the other users.
- First of all, press the “Command + Shift + A” key combination on your keyboard to open the Applications Window.
- In the Applications, find and open the “Utilities” folder and open the “Disk Utility” program from the list of available applications.
- In the Disk Utility, and then navigate to “File -> New Image -> Image from Folder” to select the folder and click on the “Open” button.
- Now, click on the “Image Format Options” and then select the “Read/Write” option from the drop-down menu.
- Select the Encryption method as per your requirements or leave it to the default.
- After that, enter the password for the folder twice and then click on the “Choose” button to proceed.
- Now is the time to rename the folder to your choice and click on the “Save” button.
The process will take some time to complete, and you’ll get the password protected DMG file, which you can easily open after entering the password on your Mac. Also, you can transfer it securely to the other computers. To access the protected folder disk image, just mount the same, and you’ll be able to add, remove, or access the files with ease.
Final Words
Keeping your sensitive information safe from other people is essential. Be it the office or the home; if there are people accessing your computer all the time, encrypting the data is the only option you’ve left. With these methods for password protecting a folder in Windows 10 and macOS, you can easily do the same to protect the data. There is nothing to worry about the process, as it’s pretty simple for most of the methods like removing IDP.Generic virus. All you have to do is to follow the step-by-step guide that we’ve provided with the screenshots, and you’ll be able to get the password-encrypted folder with ease.
