You’ve started storing important data on your computer and want to keep it away from prying eyes without setting up complex locks that could slow down your work. That’s why you are thinking about putting a password on your PC folders, but since you are not very computer-savvy, you’re afraid that your knowledge might not be enough to achieve your goal.
Well, I’m happy to tell you that you have nothing to fear because with the tips I’m going to give you in this guide, you will understand how to password protect folders on your PC, even without advanced technological knowledge, and you can do it on Windows, macOS, and Linux completely for free. All you have to do is sit back, take some free time, and read the lines that follow: I guarantee that before you know it, you will learn to apply the right protection to your important data and keep prying eyes and hands away from your most important files.
Before diving into the tutorial, however, I want to give you an important recommendation: choose a secure password that cannot be easily guessed by others (for example, avoid using your birth date or other such simple information), and write it down in a safe place so you don’t forget it: in most cases, losing the password means you won’t be able to access the protected files, always keep that in mind!
Table of Contents
- How to Password Protect Folders on Windows
- How to Password Protect Folders on macOS
- How to Password Protect Folders on Linux
How to Password Protect Folders on Windows
For the Windows operating system, there are multiple solutions you can rely on to password protect your PC folders: the simplest solution is undoubtedly to create a password-protected compressed archive using dedicated software that you can access by entering the password when needed. Other solutions involve installing and configuring tools that allow you to encrypt and protect files and folders.
Each of these methods has its pros and cons: for example, there are specific programs that can “force” the passwords set to protect compressed archives, meaning there is a chance of recovery even in the case of a forgotten password. Programs for protecting folders after they have been encrypted are harder to bypass but require a bit more setup. Therefore, let’s see how to password protect folders on your PC with Windows.
7-Zip
7-Zip is a well-known program for creating compressed archives, which allows you to set a password that you will need to enter when opening files created with it. How is it used? Let me explain quickly. First, go to the 7-Zip website and click on the Download link corresponding to the .exe 64-bit x64 or .exe 32-bit x86 option, depending on your operating system version (32 or 64 bit), found in the top table. Then, run the downloaded file and click the Yes, Install and Close buttons to complete the setup.
Now, to protect a folder, right-click on it and select 7-Zip > Add to archive… from the menu that opens. The next window allows you to set the parameters for creating the archive: therefore, choose from the Archive format menu the type of compression you want to apply (7z or zip, as the others won’t allow for protection), enter the password you wish to use for the archive protection in the Enter password and Re-enter password fields , select AES-256 from the Encryption method dropdown, finally tick the Encrypt file names option and click on the OK button.
Once you have completed the procedure, double-click on the newly created archive to open it, enter the password to extract it, and verify that all files are in their place. At this point, all that’s left is to delete the original folder containing the unprotected files: while holding down the Shift key, right-click on its icon, select Delete from the context menu, and respond Yes to the warning that appears on the screen. It wasn’t difficult at all, was it?
VeraCrypt
Another very useful program for securing folders on your PC is VeraCrypt: it is software that allows you to create true “volumes” protected by password in just a few clicks, which you can open and modify exactly like external disks or USB drives.
To download the program, go to the dedicated website, click the Download button on the right and then the VeraCrypt Setup xx.exe link next to the Windows icon. Now run the downloaded exe file and click the Yes button, tick the box I accept the license terms, and to complete the installation process, click on the Next button twice, then Install, OK, Finish, and No. At this point, launch the program from the desktop or Start menu, click on Settings > Language, choose the option Italian, and finally click on OK.
To start creating the “protected folder”, click the Create volume… button, tick the box Create an encrypted file container, click the Next button, and select the Standard VeraCrypt Volume option. Click on the Select file… button and choose the folder where you want to save the new volume, assign a name to it by typing in the designated box and click Save and Next.
In the next window, choose the encoding and “confusion” algorithms (you can safely leave the default options AES and SHA-12 if you don’t know what they are), click the Next button, specify the maximum size you want your volume to have, and select the unit of measure (KB, MB, GB or TB) through the respective boxes and click Next.
Now, it’s time to choose a secure password that you can easily remember: type it in the Password and Confirm fields (you can tick the Show Password checkbox if you want to ensure the input is correct) and click the Next button.
Then, you need to choose “how” your folder should behave regarding saving files (i.e., the file system to use for your volume): if you plan to save files larger than 4 GB (e.g., movies or ISO images), tick the Yes box, click on the Next button and select NTFS from the File System dropdown in the next window, otherwise, select the No box, click on the Next button, and choose the FAT option from the dropdown menu.
At this point, generate a strong encryption key by moving your mouse randomly in the program window until the bar turns green, finally click on the Format button, and when the procedure is completed, click on the Yes, OK, and Exit buttons.
Accessing the newly created volume is very simple: open VeraCrypt, select one of the drive letters from the designated section (e.g., G), click the Select file… button, and choose the protected volume created earlier. Then click the Mount button, type the password in the appropriate field, and click OK. If all went well, you can access your “protected folder” directly from the This PC or Computer section in Windows: double-click on the chosen drive letter and manage the files inside just like an external disk or USB drive. This means you can copy files, rename them, move them from one folder to another, and so on.
Once you have finished your work, to unmount the volume and lock it, simply open the main screen of VeraCrypt, select the chosen drive, and click the Unmount button.
How to Password Protect Folders on macOS
Do you have a Mac and want to understand how to password protect folders on your Mac? Don’t worry; it’s possible and also quite simple! Below, I will explain how to use Disk Utility to create encrypted volumes, as well as how to use the Encrypto app.
Disk Utility
To start, let’s see how to use the Disk Utility application already present in your Mac’s operating system, which allows you to create an encrypted volume (protected by a password) containing all the files you want to protect.
To proceed, launch Disk Utility from the Other folder in the Launchpad, click on the File menu at the top left, then on the New Image > Blank Image… options, then set the menus as illustrated below.
- Name – enter the name you want to assign to your volume.
- Where – choose the location where the volume and its data will be saved.
- Size – set here the maximum size your archive can reach, based on your needs.
- Format – select APFS.
- Partitions – select Single partition – GUID partition map.
- Image Format – select Sparse disk image.
- Encryption – select 256-bit AES encryption.
After selecting the type of encryption, enter the password to protect your volume in the Password field, and re-enter it in the Verify field, then click the Choose, Save, and then Done buttons.
Once the procedure is complete, go to the location where you saved your “protected folder,” open it by double-clicking on it, and enter the password you set in the appropriate field, then click the OK button.
At this point, the encrypted volume opens in Finder, and you can manage it just as you would an external disk or USB drive: for example, with a simple Cut/Paste operation, you can move files inside it, rename them, create new folders, move files from one folder to another, and so on. When you’re finished, remember to unmount the volume by clicking on ⏏ next to the volume in Finder’s sidebar, or by right-clicking on the icon on the desktop and selecting the Eject option from the menu that opens. Simple, right?
Encrypto
To password protect a folder on Mac, you can use a third-party application called Encrypto, available for free download on the Mac App Store, which allows you to encrypt folders and files using AES-256 encryption, compatible with both macOS and Windows (in this case, it’s available on the official site).
After downloading and installing the application, open it, and in the main screen, click the Accept button, then Next, and in the newsletter window, click Subscribe if you want to subscribe, or Skip if you do not want to subscribe to the newsletter.
In the main screen of the application, you just need to click on the yellow arrow icon and select the file or folder you want to protect with encryption, or you can drag them into the program with the mouse.
Once done, you only need to enter the password you want to use to protect the folder or file inside the Password field and click the Encrypt button. After a few seconds of waiting (depending on the number of files to encrypt), the procedure will be automatically completed: click the Save as… button if you want to save the file on your Mac (with a .crypto extension), or Share File if you want to share it directly within other applications using macOS’s sharing menu.
How to Password Protect Folders on Linux
Are you using the Linux operating system and want to know how to password protect folders on Linux? Don’t worry; password protecting folders on your PC is not difficult in this case either: you just need to know the right tools! First of all, I want to tell you that you can use VeraCrypt to create encrypted volumes, just as I explained in the section dedicated to Windows. If you are looking for something more specific, I recommend the open-source program EncFs, which allows you to create an encrypted volume where you can store all the files to protect.
To install it on Ubuntu, open a Terminal from the Activities view of GNOME or from the Unity Dash, type the command sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gencfsm followed by Enter, enter the administrative password followed by Enter, then type the command sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-encfs-manager, press Enter, then S and twice Enter, and finally close the terminal once the installation procedure is complete. Do you have another distribution? No problem: you can find dedicated packages on this website.
Once the installation procedure is complete, restart your computer and open the program from your operating system’s application list. Click on the green + button at the top, type the chosen password in the Enter password and Re-enter password fields, then click on the Create button and wait for the confirmation message. Note: You can customize the name of the encrypted volume or the mount point by ticking the appropriate boxes and entering your desired parameters in the fields.
Now, to access the created volume, double-click on the icon present on the Desktop or in the left sidebar of Files. You can use the encrypted volume exactly like an external disk or USB drive: you can move files into it with a simple Cut/Paste operation.
When you are finished, unmount the protected volume by clicking on ⏏ next to it in the left sidebar of Files, or right-click the icon on the Desktop and select Eject from the menu that opens.
To mount your “protected folder” again, click on the folder with a key icon in the upper panel of GNOME, select the name of the archive you want to mount, and when prompted, enter the password. Easier said than done!