EFS is a Windows built-in data encryption system that implements file-level encryption. EFS makes it easy to encrypt the contents of selected folders or files so that they are accessible only to the user and only on the computer where the encryption was performed.
To encrypt a file:
- Open the “Properties” of the desired file, then in the “Attributes” section, click the “Others” button.
- Under “Compression and encryption attributes” check the “Encrypt content to protect data” checkbox, and then click “OK”.
- Click OK on the folder properties and apply the changes.
- Immediately after that, a system notification will appear, prompting you to archive the encryption key. Click on the notification and select “Archive Now”.
- The Certificate Export Wizard launches. Click Next and leave the default settings. Tap “Next” again and set the password for your certificate.
- Specify where to store the file and tap “Finish”.
This file will be useful for recovering access to files after a failure, or if you need to be able to open EFS-encrypted files on another computer or under another user.