# Any good free software programs to add password protection to PC folders **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226 "2013-02-03T16:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/1 "2013-02-03T16:41:41Z")
I am mostly the only user on my PC, but if other people should steal it or borrow it I want some of my folders to have password protection. Are there any decent, free software programs out there that will add this function to a windows 7 OS? I am checking CNET download and not finding anything so far. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/2 "2013-02-03T17:40:26Z")
[http://www.truecrypt.org/](http://www.truecrypt.org/) ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/3 "2013-02-03T17:50:59Z")
I found the following article: [How to Password-Protect a Folder in Windows 7 | PCWorld](http://www.pcworld.com/article/230946/Passwords.html) Some of the suggestions offered in there sound pretty good. Disclaimer: I don’t have anything to do with PC World or any of the software products mentioned in the article. I also have not tried any of the products. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/4 "2013-02-03T17:52:49Z")
Do you want just password protection, or encryption as well? People stealing your won’t be stopped by simple password protection if they think there is valuable data to mine. But if you are just planning to lock out users who sign on to Windows you can already set up multiple user accounts and permissions for those using the Standard Windows tools. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/5 "2013-02-03T19:27:49Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [http://www.truecrypt.org/](http://www.truecrypt.org/) Super Like, +2 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![the\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@the\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/6 "2013-02-03T19:54:54Z")
Here’s the old batch file protection how to: > **[The Best Ways to Hide or Password Protect a Folder in Windows](https://www.howtogeek.com/105633/how-to-create-a-password-protected-folder-without-any-extra-software/)** > > Got some files you don’t want other people to see? Or maybe they’re just cluttering up your Documents folder, and you want to hide them? Here are a few different ways to obscure your files, and when you might want to use each. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/7 "2013-02-03T20:42:40Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [http://www.truecrypt.org/](http://www.truecrypt.org/) This is what I do. It’s not for an existing folder, though (AFAIK). You mount the container as a drive letter (I use X: Y: or Z: to make it more obvious). Then copy the folders you want secure onto the the secure drive, and use a secure deletion utility to delete the old folder. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/8 "2013-02-05T18:34:01Z")
I suggest you start by taking a look [here](http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-file-encryption-utility.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-software-programs-to-add-password-protection-to-pc-folders/649226/9 "2013-02-07T04:35:04Z")
You may already have encryption software built in: [BitLocker - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitLocker_Drive_Encryption)