Press Windows Key + E to open File Explorer and then navigate to the file or folder you want to compress. Select the first option, "Encrypt the file and its parent folder" and click OK. Method 1: Zip or Unzip Files and Folders in Windows 10 using File Explorer. It'll ask you if you want to only encrypt the folder or if you want to include the subfolders and files in the folder as well. Once you do this, a confirmation window will pop up. The Advanced Attributes dialogue box will appear.Ĭheck the option "Encrypt Contents to Secure Data" at the bottom of Advanced Attributes. Go to the General Tab and click on Advanced in the property settings window. Navigate to the compressed folder you intend to password protect and right-click on it.Ĭlick on Properties to open up the properties settings of the folder. Also, after the procedure, some programs will need to be re-configured because they will not be able to find some configuration files due to changes in the file structure. Given a zip file, uncompress the file, by clicking on it, through a file menu, or tool such as Winzip on Windows and unzip on a Mac.
This method is suitable only for Windows 10 Home users.
Encrypting a ZIP File in Windowsīefore encrypting ZIP files in Windows, compress your files into. Method 2: Renaming the user data folder in Windows 10 Home Edition. Let's take a look at how Windows 10's single system encryption works before discussing password-protecting files using third-party software. It takes the path to any files you want to compressmultiple files are separated with a commaand archives them in the destination you specify.
Thus, either you are using Windows 10 Home, or you plan to share the password-protected files on the Internet, you will need to use third-party software or tools to enable encryption. Let’s start off by compressing some files into a ZIP file archive using the Compress-Archive cmdlet. Unfortunately, this method won't work if you're using Windows Home. Find the Send To option and place your mouse cursor over it. The Enterprise, Education, and Pro versions of Windows 10 come with this function. To zip a file in Windows 10, right-click with your mouse on the file or folder you’d like to zip to open up an options menu.
However, this type of encryption will not work if you plan to share the password-protected ZIP file with others. Therefore, no other user on your system will be able to access it. You will only be able to access this file if you are logged in with the same account. Microsoft Windows 10 comes with a built-in feature for encrypting ZIP files, but only on the system you encrypt it on. When you use this method, Windows 10 will encrypt the file using a key, then automatically save it to the active user's account. From there, all you have to do is select your files and use either the Send To menu or the Ribbon. The Different Ways to Password-Protect a ZIP File To zip one or more files or folders in Windows 10, the first step is to open up File Explorer.