In Windows 10, the strongest native protection is the Encrypting File System (EFS). For those reasons, we suggest using a free third-party service such as VeraCrypt or WinZip.1 How to Encrypt a Folder via Advanced Attributes2 How to Encrypt Files via Advanced Attributes3 How To Encrypt Folder in Command Prompt4 How To Encrypt Files via Command Prompt

companies to hand over data or encryption keys. If you're very serious about security and privacy, you might not trust a Microsoft solution. It's fairly easy for an attacker to break Windows encryption using a brute-force attack, which is when an attacker uses a program that methodically guesses every possible combination of letters and numbers, starting with common passwords.

If you encrypt a single file, the computer stores an unencrypted version of that file in its temporary memory, so a savvy snoop can still access it. Windows' built-in encryption isn't a perfect solution.

How good are Windows' encryption services? Open a Microsoft Office program and click Open These steps work for all up-to-date versions of Office, across Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. You won't be able to open it in Google Docs, Adobe Reader or LibreOffice. Once you encrypt a file this way, you'll need to reopen it in Microsoft Office. This process encrypts individual files compatible with Microsoft Office applications such as Word, PowerPoint or Excel. How to encrypt files using Microsoft Office So, again, keep an unencrypted backup of the file on a physical drive somewhere safe where it won't be found.

If you lose your encryption passwords, you've lost your encrypted files forever.

Files encrypted using the below methods can still be deleted, so you might want to have a backup on a secondary location.

You might want to find a paid solution if your files are truly valuable.

Any file can be decrypted if you're targeted by a savvy enough, or well-financed foe.

Before you startīefore you start altering your files, there are some tips you need to keep in mind.

To set up your Windows file encryption, you'll want to follow these step-by-step instructions.

Windows encrypt file