Folder Guardian

Even if you manage to hide important files and folders in sophisticated directory structures, or through default Windows features, it doesn’t mean they can’t fall prey to others. Unfortunately, there’s no way to add a password to folders without third-party components, but you can rely on specialized applications like Folder Guardian to get the job done.

What makes it an even better security solution than the name wants you to believe is the possibility to use it from a USB flash drive, thus making it even more difficult for others to know the reason why a specific folder can’t be accessed, or find out how to unlock it. However, you do need to make sure that .NET Framework is installed on the computer you use it on, because it was built on this platform.

As the name suggests, the application’s main targets are folders, but you can only lock a single directory at a time. Loading one is pretty easy, and only requires you to use the built-in browse dialog for selection, or writing down the path. Sadly, dragging it over the main window has no effect, and there’s no context menu integration.

Folder Guardian requires you to specify a password to use in the encryption algorithm, so make sure to remember it if you ever want to use the files again. Moreover, the application can also make a backup of files, just in case you do happen to forget the password.

The reverse process is pretty similar in steps you need to follow. A different field needs to be filled in with the directory path, while a different password field asks for the security key before it can unlock the folder. What’s more, there’s no other way to unlock a directory without using the application.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that Folder Guardian manages to live up to expectations, providing a quick and efficient method of locking folders that contain valuable data. Although it can’t be triggered from the context menu, you can keep it safe on a USB flash drive, with the process taking only a little while to finish.