In a previous post, i outlined the procedure you should follow when wanting to increase your Windows based PC security by encrypting a file in Windows XP. 

But what if you want to secure your work by encrypting an entire folder?

Here’s how you can do the same trick in Windows Vista:

Note: This procedure is applicable only to  NTFS volumes only

• Open Windows Explorer
• Right click the folder you would like to encrypt and click Properties.
• In the General tab, click Advanced. Check the Encrypt Contents to secure data box.
• Click OK
• If the folder contains subfolders, Vista will display a dialog asking whether you would like to encrypt also those subfolders.

Decrypting a folder is also quite easy:

Open Windows Explorer

Right click the folder you would like to encrypt and click Properties.

In the General tab, click Advanced. Uncheck the Encrypt Contents to secure data box.

Click OK

Just FYI, Vista ships with a bice command line utility named Cipher (accessible via Start>>run>>cmd>> Type cipher /? for the entire list of switches) that allows administrators to manage all encryption activites in the system. Be warned that the tool is for advanced users only.

Important Note

When you encrypt your first file or folder in a PC, a key pair is generated. The key pair consist of a public and private key. If the key pair is lost or damaged you won’t be able to access your encrypted data.

Thus it’s extremely important that you follow the procedure specified in section How to back up your certificate in the Microsoft Best Practices for encrypting files.

[tags] Windows Vista, Vista, Encryption, PC Security [/tags]

Feel free to look into these related tips:

• Windows Tips
• How to easily show hidden files in Vista ?
• Speed up file search in Vista

Posted by Gili

Find the info you are looking for: A Virtual Exit Home » Windows Tweaks » How to encrypt and decrypt your Windows Vista folders ?

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9 Comments

9 Responses to “How to encrypt and decrypt your Windows Vista folders ?”

1. on 05 May 2007 at 11:55 pm1Madhur Kapoor’s Blog » Links for 05-05-2007

   [...] Gili tells you how to encrypt/decrypt Windows Vista Folders [...]

2. on 26 May 2007 at 11:49 pm2Tim

   I use Vista Home Premium and the “Encrypt Contents to secure data” box was disabled (uncheckable) when I tried to do the above. Should I upgrade the Vista to be able to do that or does that have something to do with my settings?

3. on 27 Jun 2007 at 7:34 pm3vbzvtbuwza

   Thanks for this site!
   hifue.info

4. on 27 Aug 2007 at 5:50 pm4viki

   I use Vista Home basic and the “Encrypt Contents to secure data” box was disabled (uncheckable) when I tried to do the above. is there something wrong with my settings?

5. on 27 Aug 2007 at 6:57 pm5Gili

   Viki,
   Good point. Vista Home basic and premium do not deliver the capability to encrypt but just to decrypt folders and files.
   I will write a post on that tomorrow, and mention this question.

   Thanks,
   Gili

6. on 10 Sep 2007 at 6:15 am6MrGroove

   FYI – The Microsoft Open Source project – codeplex.com has a few great EFS tools for System Admins:

   http://www.codeplex.com/EFSAssistant
   http://www.codeplex.com/EFSCertUpdater

   Great for getting all certs under control

7. on 22 Apr 2008 at 2:06 pm7Bashar

   I also use Vista Home basic and the “Encrypt Contents to secure data” box was disabled (uncheckable) when I tried to do the above. is there something wrong with my settings?

8. on 25 Apr 2008 at 8:08 am8Gili

   Bashar,

   Vista Home basic and premium do not deliver the capability to encrypt but just to decrypt folders and files.So nothing wrong at your end.

9. on 17 Sep 2009 at 2:03 pm9sensi

   I use Vista Home basic and i know about the folder encrypt and decrypt in windows vista, and this is great explanation,keep up your work gili……

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