Can I Password Protect a Folder?

[@askleonotenboom]

No, but kind of, yes.

[@haysgoodman8068]

Thanks for this, exactly what I've been looking for!

[@askleonotenboom]

Thank you!

[@BlackLight--z]

You can just right click the file or folder and choose 'add to rar. archive', add a password, choose 'store' in the compression method (means no compression, fast lockup, fast unlock). Boom. Done in under 30 seconds. This is essentially a simple password locked windows folder. You can compress it if you want, and add heavy levels of encryption. And it is already on your computer (comes standard with windows)..

[@kadrimouhanned6021]

leo please answer me i use 7zip to protect very sensitive data with AES256 and put it on external drive it can be hacked or impossible this part of incryption?

[@askleonotenboom]

7zip uses strong encryption so you're fine. (I'll NEVER say anything is "impossible", but I will say EXTREMEMLY unlikely.).

[@vincenthudry7864]

7zip is good however keep in mind that it does a copy of a decrypted file, whereas veracrypt/cryptomator decrypt on the fly. What that mean is that a (skilled) hacker can look for ghost deleted files (for more info look at the methods used to recover deleted files), and recover your file from there.

[@trish6977]

Thank you! It works. It would be even better to provide another video on how to use Cryptomator itself on Windows 11. Never-the-less, thank you!

[@ryucheese]

I seem to remember years ago that Windows had a password protected folder as part of the OS or at least a separate program that Microsoft offered that could be added to Windows. I think it was called Secure Folder?

[@juutakaster]

I searched it up, it was Microsoft Private Folder, and it was released back in 2006, only for Windows XP, and soon discontinued for any later releases of Windows.

[@ryucheese]

@juutakaster Yes, that was it. I also remember it used to crash all the time lol

[@BlackLight--z]

Yea there was. But guys. We have rar. supplied with windows. you can use it as a password locked folder real simple and quick. if you chose 'store' as the compression = no compression, it is basically a windows folder lock. I use it all the time.

[@outby50]

OneDrive Personal Vault is an option if OneDrive storage is acceptable.

[@johnburgess2084]

The easy work-around to VeraCrypt's single-huge-file-to-backup-when-anything-changes is this . . . never back up! Just kidding. Thanks for the helpful information.

[@gravef1ghter]

I worked on a customer floor machine some years ago, Windows 2000, and when I attempted to open the Documents folder, a password dialog box immediately popped up. The IT guy probably did that, but since then, I have found no information on setting that up. What gives, Leo?

[@airmailman1971]

This would be great for external backup drives.

[@dongunderson9352]

At the end you say that the tools that make the most sense are Veracrypt and crypt domainer. Why would you not recommend Cryptometer over Veracrypt, since earlier in the video you explained the advantages of Cryptometer over Veracrypt?

[@askleonotenboom]

"crypt domainer"? That's Cryptomator, so I'm not sure what you're pointing out.

[@dongunderson9352]

@@askleonotenboom Yes, I listened again and you did say Cryptomator. But the on-screen real-time printed dialogue I copied the spelling from said "And the tools that probably make the most sense are Vereacrypt and crypt dominator." Anyway, now it makes sense. I'm so impressed with such a quick response. You always seem to cover the perfect topics - the ones that I can really use, the ones that are of great use to me.

[@geoffphil]

Veracrypt is frustrating if you wish to encrypt an existing collection of folders and files. I have over 1 TB of files already saved to a portable drive, but Veracrypt will NOT encrypt these "in place". I am confronted by a confusing set of instructions that involves copying files again - something about NTFS and Windows. I ended up giving up, as I did not want to delete 1TB and resave after creating a new VC volume.

[@askleonotenboom]

Correct, VeraCrypt volumes are not encrypt-in-place. You do need to create the volume and copy the files into it.

[@russellmarano]

I've used bitlocker, it encrypts and locks the folder, in my case a usb drive actually. You cannot get in without a password. However, if you lose or forget the password, there is no geting the data back....usb brick at that point

[@askleonotenboom]

Not quite a brick. You can still reformat it and use it again. :-)

[@russellmarano]

@@askleonotenboom thats righ, reusable brick heh Anyway, I bought the basic version of winzip, and encrypt and password files I want to protect. You can open the winzip, but you cannot see the file without the password. After I open the file, it is viewable but actually still not extracted. So when done with the file I can save and it auto goes back into the winzip but will ask is you want to update. Then close the winzip and you are asked to update a second time. A little inconvenient but worth it to me for the protection.

[@Darkknight9035]

bruh i just want to lock a folder in explorer and to have it access to just put on a password and that's it.. why is that so hard 😑

[@askleonotenboom]

Because windows doesn't support that, bruh.

[@theapocalypse5752]

@@askleonotenboomSo, technology isn’t that advanced, bruh, bruh.

[@askleonotenboom]

@@theapocalypse5752 Yes. Because it doesn't have that one feature, "technology" isn't that advanced. Bruh.

[@peter0071000]

Bruh....😂

[@BlackLight--z]

We have rar. supplied with windows. you can use it as a password locked folder real simple and quick. if you chose 'store' as the compression = no compression, it is basically a windows folder lock. I use it all the time.

[@hanionline563]

And how we can trust those app and make sure that they wont steal or upload our files to their servers ?

[@neutraluser4019]

Can we put a password on a folder under windows 11 HOME? I just need a password on a folder and don't need to encrypt the content ? Update...I bought Kakasoft USBsecurity to protect a few USB drives. Beware their after sales service is bad and will not respond 😢

[@askleonotenboom]

The video has the only answers I'm aware of.

[@thefpvlife7785]

I wish it were that easy. Just a password. No need to encrypt. Geeeze

[@Anxiou5Panda]

I seriously hate the fact that Windows does not provide us a simple solution. I don't really need encryption just yet. All I need is to simply right click a folder and click a lock button. A copy of the password can then be stored on the cloud and linked to my microsoft account. Are there any solutions like this currently available?

[@askleonotenboom]

The problem with that solution is that unless files are encrypted it's trivially bypassed. (And no, I'm not aware of that solution available.)

[@Anxiou5Panda]

@@askleonotenboom I see. Thank you for answering. I really just want to lock a folder though and maybe make it temporarily undeletable and inaccessible to someone else that might use my computer who also happens to be a non-techy person.

[@soundNTechdude2022]

Is there a comparable feature in MAC and IOS?

[@askleonotenboom]

Don't know about iOS, VeraCrypt works on Mac as well. There may be other solutions as well.

[@glasslinger]

What about files that MUST NOT EVER be read by others? (your bitcoin key record, your collection of child porn videos, etc.) The FBI no doubt has breaks for the publicly available encryption programs.

[@askleonotenboom]

To the best of my knowledge they do not. Strong encryption should fine, there are no back doors. If you really want it never read by anyone, then don't keep it on a computer. For example for crypto use a hardware wallet.

[@1768ify]

NOT FUNNY

[@askleonotenboom]

@@1768ifyGot it. I'll try to be more humorous in the future.

[@1768ify]

It’s not your reply Leo, it’s the disgusting reference in the original comment.

[@stevejohnson1321]

I had an interesting discovery, bringing a Digital Reseach copy of attrib.exe into the school's Unisys lab. If I set a text (etc) file on the windows share to +R, no one but me could alter or delete it. That wasn't security, but msDOS on the system didn't know how to deal with the attribute. I never ran into such a thing elsewhere. The system administrator could kill the file, and I explained to Paul what I did. He found it odd too. How strange that attrib.exe on a floppy could walk across a network like that.