Our PC and mobile device have become the means we use the most on a day-to-day basis and where we store a large amount of information of all kinds, both from work and from studies, as well as personal bank information, identification documents, loans and more. Whether we use a shared PC with other people or if the only one who has access is us, we must always protect access to the folders that store our personal data.
The tools that Windows makes available to us to protect access to this type of folder with private information are limited to creating user accounts, the best option when we use a computer shared with other people. However, when we are the only user of a PC and we are forced to allow access to friends or family temporarily, it is useless, unless we create a local user account.
Create a local user account
The best method, as explained above, is to create a local user account. Local user accounts can be created in Windows without the need to use a Microsoft account, so it never hurts to have a hand if from time to time we are forced to lend our equipment to third parties. In this way, from this account, which does not have Administrator permissions, you will never be able to access the content stored in our user account and access our personal data.
Hide the folder
Another method, although much less effective, but easier to carry out, is to hide the folders that contain the data to which we do not want anyone other than ourselves to have access. Windows allows us to hide both files and folders through their properties, which we can access through the right mouse button. To hide the folder or file, we just have to check the Hide box.
When we want to have access to that folder or file again, we access the file browser and, in the options quote, click on View to check the Hidden items box.
Add a password
Natively, Windows does not allow us to protect access to a private folder through a password. Fortunately, the solution to this problem is to use one of the different applications available on the market that do offer us this functionality. One of the best known and used is Lockdir , an application that, as its name describes, allows us to protect folders with a password , an application that we can use for free, although the paid version does enable AES 256-bit encryption not available in the free version, however, it is more than enough for most home users.
Compress folder and add password
If we usually use an application to compress and decompress files, we can use it to compress the folder on our computer and add a password to it. In this way, if the person who has access to our computer clicks on the compressed file, they will never be able to access its content unless they know the access password. That yes, once we have created a compressed folder with the files and to which we have added a password, we must eliminate it from the computer, since, otherwise, it will have been absolutely useless. This method is the least recommended of all since it is not that fast to do, especially if the number of files to be compressed takes up a lot of space. WinRar, 7Zip, WinZip are some of the applications that allow us to compress folders and add a password to protect access to their content.