Whether you want to shop sensitive information on a USB bulldoze, securely email it, or merely add an additional layer of security on your hard drive, there are a diverseness of ways to protect your files with a password.

When we say nosotros're "password protecting" a file, we more often than not mean we're encrypting the file so information technology can't be decrypted and understood without your encryption countersign. That's the most secure way to password protect files.

Create an Encrypted Archive

Windows XP allowed you to create password-protected ZIP files, just Windows 7 doesn't. That's fine — you lot tin can download a free third-party file pinch program that will handle this for you. There are many file-pinch programs you lot could use, but we recommend the completely free and open-source 7-Zip.

Afterwards installing seven-Nix, utilize it to create a new archive — either via the 7-Cypher option in your Windows Explorer right-click carte du jour or the Add push button in the 7-Zip application. You'll exist able to specify a password for your archive — be sure yous get out AES-256 selected as the encryption type. Any files and folders you add to your .zip file (or whatever other type of archive you choose to create) volition be encrypted with your selected password. Yous'll demand to enter your password when you open your archive file in the future.

Encrypt an Office Document

Microsoft Role allows you to apply encryption to documents, securing them with a password. Microsoft switched to AES encryption in Role 2007, so if you're using an earlier version of Office, the encryption volition be nowhere about every bit secure.

To password protect a document in Role 2010 or afterwards, click the File carte, click the Protect Document button in the Info department, and select Encrypt With Password. You'll exist prompted to enter a password, which yous'll accept to provide each time y'all open the document in the future. You lot tin can also fully decrypt the certificate in the hereafter, removing the need for a password.

RELATED: How to Password Protect Documents and PDFs with Microsoft Office

Check out this guide for more data on encrypting Word documents, Excel workbooks, PowerPoint presentations, and fifty-fifty PDFs.

Other productivity programs may offering similar features. For case, Adobe Acrobat allows you to create password-protected PDF files, if Office'southward PDF encryption isn't your style.

Create Encrypted Volumes With TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt allows you to create encrypted volumes. TrueCrypt is a very flexible encryption solution, and you lot can use information technology in a variety of means:

  • Create a small encrypted container stored in a file on your difficult bulldoze. You lot'll demand your encryption password to "mount" this file as a special bulldoze, allowing you to view and manipulate its contents. When you "unmount" the drive, no i can come across its contents without providing your encryption passphrase.
  • Utilize TrueCrypt to create an encrypted book on a USB wink drive or other removable drive, assuasive you lot to carry sensitive files effectually with you worrying that they could be viewed if you ever lose the drive. TrueCrypt can be used every bit a portable application, allowing y'all to admission your encrypted data even on computers that don't have TrueCrypt installed — the TrueCrypt plan files tin be stored on the external drive itself.
  • Encrypt your unabridged Windows system bulldoze, forcing anyone to enter a password when booting your estimator or resuming from hibernate. This ensures that no 1 can access the contents of your hard drive as long as you exit your figurer locked or powered off. (Unless they use the freezer attack, which is uncommon in the real globe.)

Use Congenital-In Windows Encryption Features

If you're using a Professional or Enterprise edition of Windows, you likewise accept access to some special encryption features. Home versions of Windows — and the standard edition of Windows 8, which technically isn't named a "habitation" version — don't have admission to these features. Professional editions of Windows include the following two encryption features:

  • BitLocker, which allows you lot to create encrypted volumes on drives, including external USB wink drives. BitLocker functions in much the same way every bit TrueCrypt, and then you tin apply a similar feature on the more common editions of Windows.

  • Encrypting File System (EFS), which allows you to encrypt individual folders and files. To use this feature, right-click a file or folder, select Properties, and click the Advanced button on the Full general tab. Enable the Encrypt contents to secure data choice — this will be grayed out if yous're non using the correct edition of Windows. Files are substantially encrypted with your Windows user business relationship password, then yous'll lose them if you forget your Windows password. Bear in listen that these files are only encrypted when stored on your difficult drive, so you can't e-mail them securely without encrypting them in a different way.

There are many other tools that can be used to encrypt files, simply the in a higher place methods are some of the easiest and nigh powerful.

If yous just want to hibernate files from other people using your computer, yous could try hiding them or mark them equally organization files, but this doesn't forbid anyone who knows how to view organization files from finding them. You could too use steganography to hibernate files inside other files. If you want to store passwords, you can encrypt them with a password manager like KeePass or LastPass — both allow you lot to attach files, although this works best with minor files associated with countersign entries.