How to password-protect a folder in Windows without using any third-party app?

Question

I want to password-protect a folder in Windows 8 without using any third-party app. Does Microsoft provide such service? I don't want drive encryption (for which I can use BitLocker). If there isn't such facility, what is the best app to use? I have heard a little about Vercrypt. Is it 100% secure to use such apps?

Answer 1

While Windows allows you to encrypt folders, I don't think it allows you to password protect them.

Your question of whether Veracrypt is safe has been answered many times: here, here. It's also been audited several times in the past - for all day to day purposes it should be OK.

Answer 2

It is not possible in Windows to password protect folders without a 3rd-party app.

VeraCrypt doesn’t allow you to password protect a folder either. However, you can use VeraCrypt to achieve an experience similar to a password protected folder by creating an encrypted volume in VeraCrypt, putting the contents of your folder there, and then mounting it. The entire process is quite technical, inconvenient and time-consuming. However, if you are looking for a free solution, it is possible to make it work.

If you are looking for an easy-to-use solution for everyday use, I would suggest Safeplicity - but, being one of the founders, I am biased, so don’t take my word for it and be sure to check out some alternatives.

After installing Safeplicity, to password protect a folder, simply right-click on any folder and select “Protect with Password”. Then choose a password and you’re done.

Your folder will get a “shield” icon to indicate that it is protected, and now when you try to open the folder, you will be asked for the password.

Please make sure that you do not forget the password, because without the password there is no way to access the protected data, since it is encrypted with AES 256-bit encryption.