When it comes to a computer that generally has a lot of people accessing it, like your friends, family, or coworkers, it becomes important to keep some of your files safe and protected. The best way is to create password-protected zip folder on your computer so that only people with the password can access the contents of the folder.
In this article, we are going to list down several tools that will help you create password-protected zip in Windows 10.
Create Password-Protected Zip in Windows 10: Top Tools
WinZip
With over 1 billion-plus downloads, WinZip is one of the best third-party tools to create password-protected zip in Windows 10. All you have to do is download and install WinZip on your computer and follow the steps below:
Step 1: Open WinZip.
Step 2: Click on the ‘Actions’ pane and navigate to ‘Encrypt’.
Step 3: Now you have to drag and drop the files that you want to password protect to the NewZip.zip pane.
Step 4: Now enter your password when prompted and finally click on OK.
You can also choose the Encryption level from Encryption Settings under the Actions pane, and then click on Save to save the changes
That’s it and now you are all good and your files are password protected.
WinRAR
WinRAR is another very popular tool that can be used to create password-protected zip folders in Windows 10. It is also a great compressing tool as well. That makes it perfect for creating a password-protected compressed file. With WinRAR, you can create a new password-protected compressed file and you can also add passwords to pre-compressed files as well.
To create a new password-protected file, follow the steps given below:
Step 1: Download and install WinRAR. Upon successful installation, just click on the executable WinRAR file.
Step 2: Choose the file which you want to compress and secure.
Step 3: Right-click on the file and from the list, select ‘Add to archive…’.
Step 4: Under the ‘General’ tab you will see a window, enter the name for the zip file, choose the archive format(click on ZIP), and then click on ‘Set password…’.
Step 5: Complete the setup to set a password and save the changes by clicking on OK.
That’s it and you are all set.
Alternatively, you can also set a password for pre-compressed files using WinRAR. Here’s how you can do it:
Step 1: Open WinRAR and click on ‘Tools’.
Step 2: From the options. Select ‘Convert archives’.
Step 3: Keep the zip option checked under the Archive types in the Convert archives menu.
Step 4: Now select the location where you want to keep the file and click the ‘Compression…’ button.
Step 5: Under the General tab, select the Set password option and enter your password.
Complete the process and that’s it.
7-Zip
7-Zip is another great option to create zip files that have password protection, the interface on this one is very nice, it is free, and the process is quite simple.
The only downside of using 7-Zip is that unlike WinRAR, it doesn’t let you set a password to an already compressed file. So you will have to unzip them and then re-zip them using 7-Zip. Here is how you can do it:
Step 1: Download and install 7-Zip on your computer. Upon successful installation, choose the file that you want to protect.
Step 2: Now right-click on the file and from the list of options, select ‘Add to archive’.
Step 3: In the new window, you have to enter the new file’s name, archive format, and an encryption solution. Here you can easily set the password and when you are done with the process, just click on OK.
That’s it and you are all set. So these were some of the best tools and methods to create password-protected zip in Windows 10. If you face any difficulty, do let us know in the comments.
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