



Just make sure to keep your password secure and stored safely. If you’re sending funny cat pictures or other files that don't require extra security, it's unnecessary to guard the data with a password.īut if you’re sending very private pictures, information, or data, password protecting zip files is an excellent way to ensure safety. You’ve now learned what a password protected zip file is and discovered the best ways to password protect zip files in Windows 10 and Mac.īut do all your zip files need protection with file encryption? Probably not. To get a fast and secure, all-around encryption setting, choose 128-bit AES. Set the level of encryption and click Save. With this app, you choose the files to add to an archive, set the password, and let the app secure your archive’s contents. Click the Options tab in the Actions pane and choose Encryption Settings. Password Protect a ZIP Using 7-Zip 7-Zip is a free and open-source app that you can use to create and extract files from various archive formats, including ZIP.Enter a secure password when the dialog box appears.

Drag and drop your files to the center NewZip.zip pane.Open WinZip and click Encrypt in the Actions pane.Start by downloading WinZip on Windows 10 or Mac and follow these steps: Password protect a zip file (Windows 10 and macOS) With over a billion downloads, it's the most popular method to protect zip files, while effectively reducing file size.īecause WinZip works to password protect zip files on both Mac and Windows 10, you can safely follow the steps below regardless of which operating system you use.Įncrypting a file with a password in WinZip is simple. Thanks in advance.While you can password protect a zip file directly in both Windows 10 and macOS, the steps are unnecessarily long and complicated.Ī more natural, faster way is with the compression software WinZip. Beginning with Windows 10, it only asks for the password the first time. Ever since then, whenever the zip file is extracted Windows always prompted to enter the password. This is kind of ridiculous that there seems to be no way to simply password protect a local file on windows 10, other than compressing it and adding a password through WinRar, doing stupid unsecure methods or doing through Windows which doesn't even seem to work for me. The zip files were created in XP with password protection using the compressed file option within Windows. I have also tried to do it through windows explorer in the advanced properties with the encrypt option, however I couldn't do that because the option to encrypt it was greyed out. I have tried using the technique of creating a bat file to hide the folder with a password, however this no longer locks and hides the file for some reason and it is unsceure anyway due to the bat file being able to be opened. I currently use WinRar but I absolutely hate how every file is compressed and therefore if I have a file full of photos open in WinRar, for example, each one takes a while to load and I can't navigate through them using arrow keys. It doesn't need to necessarily be encrypted or anything it just needs to be secure.
