Four Ways to Quickly Lock Files And Folders On Your PC

There are many times when the need arises for us to give out our computers to someone for a quick use, and we are stuck as to whether we should, because we have some personal files and documents on it. Considering the urgency of the situation, we may not have the time or resources to download an app to fix this problem or we may not have the data connection to quickly Google out a solution. These tips may come in handy.

Method ONE: Encrypt The File or Folder

Encryption is not peculiar to Windows. It is a form of security found on other platforms and operating systems. Encryption is a process whereby contents of files or folders are converted to a form that is not understandable unless it is decrypted with an encryption key, which is created when an item is encrypted. On most operating systems, the user has to create the encryption key, in form of a password, which will be used to decrypt the information whenever it is needed. However, on Windows, the scenario is somewhat different. The user just encrypts the documents without the use of an encryption key. The files can be opened and viewed easily at any time. What then is the use of encryption, you ask. The logic behind it is this. When a document is encrypted, an encryption key is created by Windows System, which is then associated with the password to the User’s account. Then when the account is locked, the files are encrypted as explained above, and are decrypted when the correct password is entered. Therefore, for this method to be effective, you will have to password-protect your account, and create another user account for the person to whom you are giving your computer. All said and done, here are the Ways to Encrypt Your Files on Windows.
STEP 1: Right-click on the file you want to encrypt > Properties > Advanced under General tab > tick the Encrypt contents to secure data box.
STEP 2: Click on Ok and a lock symbol will appear next to the file or it will turn green, depends on your Windows version. If you have multiple user accounts and you want to grant one or more of them access to these files, simply click on the Details button in the dialog that appears after clicking on the Advanced button under General tab, and then click Add.

METHOD TWO: Change File Permissions

In case you want to lend someone your computer and want to hide something personal, create a new user account and change the permissions on those files and folders. Here’s how:

STEP 1: Go to Control Panel > User Accounts > click on Manage another account > Add someone else to this PC or Create another account. While creating another account, make sure you choose Standard User and not Administrator because an Administrator account will still have access to all your files regardless of whether you change permissions on them or not.
STEP 2: Create a new folder and put all the files and folders you want to protect in it. This will make changing permissions for a large number of files easy, as you only have to do it for that single folder. Right-click on the folder > Properties > Security tab. Click on the edit button.
STEP 3: In the window that opens, click on Add button, and then type in the exact name you used to create the user account above in the window that opens. Then click on Check Names. Select the account and click on Ok.
STEP 4: Once you have added the account, tick the Full Control box under Deny and then click Apply to save the settings for the account.
Now if someone tries to access these files and folders from the new user account, they will get an Access denied error.

METHOD THREE: Zip them and Lock them

For you to use this method you need a zipping application called 7-zip.

• Download 7-zip for 32-bit x86
• Download 7-zip for 64-bit x64

STEP 1: Create a new folder and put all the files and folders you want to protect in it. Then right-click on the folder and select 7-zip > Add to Archive.
STEP 2: In the new window that pops up, enter a password of your choice under Encryption. Click on OK and that’s it!

METHOD FOUR: Change the File Extension

This method is useful for people who can’t encrypt files on their PC. And when combined with zip files, it can be particularly effective.
STEP 1: Create a new folder and put all the files and folders you want to protect in it. Create a new zip file by right-clicking on an empty space > New > Compressed (zipped) folder or WinRAR zip file for WinRAR devices.

 Then put the new folder you created above in the zip folder. You can also do this before changing file permissions so that no one will be able to view even the names of your personal files and folders.
STEP 2: Right-click on the zip file and change the extension .zip to something else. I recommend something technical like .pak to confuse others. If you can’t see the .zip extension, you have to enable the setting by going to Control Panel > Folder Options > untick the Hide extensions for known file types box. Then after changing the extension, you can come back and tick this option to make sure no one else can change the extension.
Well, those are the simplest and quickest Ways to Quickly Lock Files And Folders On Your PC. So, what method(s) did you use? Or did you encounter any problems while trying them out? Let me know in the comments section.