Password-Protect Folders
If you want to protect folders with passwords without encrypting the files, then Folder Guard is the tool you need. The password protection is instantaneous, no matter how many files the folder contains or how large the files are. However, the password protection takes effect only on your computer, where Folder Guard is running: if you move the folder to another computer, it will not be protected, unless that computer has Folder Guard installed and configured, as well. Read more about Folder Guard...
Encrypt external USB drives
If you have an external drive that you want to protect with a password, then USBCrypt is the software you need. This software creates an encrypted area on the external drive that you can use to keep your sensitive files. You can use the encrypted drive with other computers, that don't have USBCrypt software installed. If you lose the encrypted drive, your files will be safely protected with the password you've chosen. Read more about USBCrypt...
How to password-protect a folder with Folder Guard
You can use Folder Guard software to protect folders with passwords.
To lock a folder with a password: run Folder Guard and drag and drop the folder you want to protect to its window, or click the Lock another folder with a password link:
Select the folder to protect, enter the desired password, adjust the password properties, as needed:
You can specify that the password may be used only by the local users, or by the network users, or both. You can choose the password to unlock a full access to the folder, or give the user the read-only access. (You can create several different passwords for the same folder, giving different access types to the users.)
Now apply the changes and try to open the folder you have just protected. Navigate to the protected folder, and you should see an empty window with the Unlock button in the middle:
Click the Unlock button, and prompt for the password should appear:
If you have entered the correct password, the folder should become unprotected and you should be able to work with the files and subfolders it contains without restrictions, as usual. However, if you don't enter the correct password, the folder will remain protected.
(Note that in order to unlock the folder this way, you need to double-click on the folder in the right-hand panel of the Windows Explorer window. If you select the folder in the left-hand panel that shows the folder tree, the password prompt will not be shown and the Access denied message will be shown instead.)
Now, after you have unlocked the folder, try to close the Windows Explorer window, and you should see a prompt to lock the folder back:
Reply Yes, and the folder will be locked back with the password again, and will remain inaccessible until you enter the correct password again.
In addition to the basic password-protection described above, Folder Guard lets you customize the way it works to suit your specific requirements:
Encrypt and password-protect external drives with USBCrypt encryption software for Windows 11,10,8.
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- You can direct Folder Guard to add the Lock and Unlock commands to the Windows shortcut menu. You can use them to lock and unlock the password-protected folders by right-clicking on them, instead of (or in addition to) double-clicking on the folders as described above.
- If you have locked many folders with passwords, you can make them all accessible at once by running Folder Guard and pausing the protection (you will need to enter your Master password, or course!) When you are done working with the protected folders, run Folder Guard and choose to resume the protection, to lock all folders at once with one click.
- Instead of locking files and folders with passwords, your can completely hide them!
And more! Please feel free to download the fully functional evaluation version and give it a try. If you don't like it, use Windows Control Panel to uninstall it: no strings attached.
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This article is available in other languages:
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See also:
- Lock folders and drives with passwords
- Hide folders from prying eyes
- Restrict access to Control Panel
- Restrict Internet Explorer from downloading programs from the Internet
More information
- Encryptability vs Folder Guard: which one to choose?
- What people are saying about Folder Guard...
- Folder Guard videos
- A FREE 30-day license is included
- What's new in the new version
- Folder Guard press release
- Folder Guard licenses explained
- End User License Agreement (ELUA)
- Emergency Recovery Utility
- How to lock folders and drives with passwords
- How to hide folders and files
- How to unhide a folder hidden with Folder Guard
- How to restrict access to Control Panel
- How to set up Folder Guard to stop downloading from the Internet
- Locking access to the external drives with Folder Guard
- How to make Folder Guard recognize network drives
- Preventing installations of specific programs with Folder Guard
- How to restrict access to Task Manager with Folder Guard
- How to password-protect a USB flash drive
- Always have a backup of your important files
IT IS GOOD TO USE THE FOLDER GUARD
it is help much more…… i need
wow!!!… good software
good software
Nice, but what if I have an external HDD and share it with my son;
He has his files inside the external HDD, also!!!
How can I secure (Password-Protect Folders) my files when he take the HDD to his pc;; or to his friends pc’s ;;;; Is there any solution to that;;;;
dimos: looks like USBCrypt is just the software for the task. You can use it to create an encrypted area on the external HD that takes only a portion of the whole HD (from example, a half of it). This way, you could put your own files in the encrypted area and they would be protected with your password. Your son could use the remaining unencrypted half of the drive for his files. Please feel free to download USBCrypt and give it a try, to see how it could work for you (the evaluation version is fully functional!). Good luck!
Wow, Very Good Software.
Its a very good software instead of others.
We are currently using FolderGuard with our small network, to lock a few employee folders. Is it possible also to lock an outlook email folder? Any help would be appreciated if possible.
Martin: Outlook stores the emails in a .pst file. If you restrict access to that file, you would restrict access to the Outlook data. You may also want to visit office.microsoft.com for information on protecting the Outlook data as suggested by Microsoft.
That’s Great ! i wanna get in a software like this so long !
this is the life
Finally a protection for my annoying little brother that keep messing up with my work (games,essay,etc) thx man :)
this software is too good.
very very good i love it
Pl advise how to buy this software and the conditions that apply. Will you give auto update and which all windows version this will support.
R Muthukumar: to buy this software, click on the Purchase button. If you have questions, click on Help!
it is very good application to prevent our personal security but m in trial version, can anybody hep me for license key
Dear siddiq kathat: the trial version does not need a license key, it already comes with a built-in license for 30 days of the full use, free of charge.
বিশাল সফটওয়্যার বানিয়েছ আমি সব ঢেকে রাখতে পারছি!!!!!!!!