Then delete the uncompressed folder (or file) and you done! At 'Add to archive' options, specify a strong password and then click OK.Ĥ. Right click on the folder (or file) that you want to protect with a password and choose: 7-Zip > Add to archive.ģ.
Download and install the 7-Zip archiver program.Ģ. To encrypt and password protect a folder/file with 7-zip:ġ. The easiest and most secure method, to protect a folder with a password in Windows, is by using the 7-Zip archiver utility, that also supports encryption.
How to Lock and Encrypt Files with 7-zip (Windows All Versions). How to Lock a Folder with a Password in Windows 10.
Once the file is unlocked, you can delete, move, or rename it normally. You’ll lose any unsaved data in any program killed this way.
You can also click the “Forced Mode” checkbox and then click “Unlock” to forcibly close whatever program is locking access to the file. This method unlocks the file while leaving the process running. Note that this may cause problems if a process expects exclusive access to a file. You can quickly unlock the file by clicking the “Unlock” button.
You’ll see a list of processes that have locked the file or folder. After you install the program, you can right-click a stubborn file or folder and select “IObit Unlocker” to open the app with that file selected. It even puts a command for unlocking files right on the context menu. IObit Unlocker is a useful utility for unlocking files, and it’s free. You can now delete or modify the file normally. Right-click the handle and select “Close Handle.” If multiple processes are listed in the search window, you’ll have to repeat this step to close the handle for each process.