How to Password Protect Your MediaFire Files and Folders
In the previous article here https://rosariocomputertips.com/microsoft-office-file-protection-settings-guide/ I covered how to apply password protection to Microsoft Office files when they are opened. Going through the process outlined in the article requires opening one document at a time to apply password protection, and it only applies to Microsoft Office files. If you need to password protect other Office files along with different types of files and folders at the same time, there is a much easier and faster method. This process involves compressing the content and creating a zip folder.
Although Windows does not provide a built-in option for the above process, you can use a free application called 7-Zip that allows you to apply password protection to a zip folder. To download 7-Zip, you can simply do a Google search for 7-Zip or go directly to the download link on the website here: https://www.7-zip.org/download.html. If you use the Google search path, select only the result pointing to www.7-zip.org, as attempting to download this application from other websites may prompt installation of unnecessary software that may or may not be unsafe.
How to password protect a folder in Windows
Windows provides native encryption when you add a password to a folder. To do this, you may first need to start the Encrypting File System service on your PC before the option is available (note that this option is only available in Windows Pro editions).
Follow these steps to start the service:
Use BitLocker
A great way to protect folders that you want to keep private uses two Windows 11 features: virtual drives and BitLocker . You need to create a virtual drive to serve as a folder, and then add a layer of protection to it with BitLocker. This is a safer solution than just editing the folder properties.
BitLocker is available in Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. If you have Windows 11 Home, you might want to skip to the next section for another solution.
