How to Create a Password Protected Folder without any Extra Software

How to Create a Password Protected Folder without any Extra Software

There are a lot of methods that you can use to create a password protected folder, most of which require the use of some third party software. Using this neat method you can hide your folders with a quick batch script.
It’s important to note that this will not actually conceal your data from somebody that knows what they are doing.

Create Your Password Protected Folder

Before you get started you need to create a folder that will house your password protected folder, this is just an ordinary folder and can be located anywhere and named anything.

Navigate into your newly created folder and create a new Text Document. This can easily be done from the context menu.

Open the document, now paste the following code into the contents of the document:

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Private
if EXIST "HTG Locker" goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Private goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure you want to lock the folder(Y/N)
set/p "cho=>"
if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
if %cho%==y goto LOCK
if %cho%==n goto END
if %cho%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Private "HTG Locker"
attrib +h +s "HTG Locker"
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK
echo Enter password to unlock folder
set/p "pass=>"
if NOT %pass%== PASSWORD_GOES_HERE goto FAIL
attrib -h -s "HTG Locker"
ren "HTG Locker" Private
echo Folder Unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Private
echo Private created successfully
goto End
:End

Change the PASSWORD_GOES_HERE text to the password you want to set. Now go ahead and save the file as locker.bat.

Once the file is saved as a batch file you can delete the original text file.

Now run your batch file by double clicking on it–the first time you run it, it will create a folder called Private. This is where you can store all your secret things. When you have finished adding all your stuff to the Private folder, run locker.bat again.

This time you will be asked if you sure that you want to lock the folder, press the “Y” key and hit enter to lock your folder.

You will see that your Private folder quickly disappears.

If you run the script yet again, you will prompted for a password.

If you enter the same password as you set in the script the Private folder will reappear if you enter the incorrect password the script will just Terminate.

Warning

Most people don’t know how to show system files, but anybody who has some experience will probably be able to quickly figure it out in the Folder Options.

Also, any ordinary user who unchecks the box will most probably be scared off by the warning message that appears.

The second way someone could comprise the folder is to open the batch file and read your password. It’s definitely not a really secure way to hide your files, but it is fun.
Attribution note: We found this script on dozens of different web sites going back many years. We have no idea who first created the script, so we’ve omitted any sort of attribution link. If you do have proof that you first created the script, contact us and we’ll adjust the article accordingly.

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By this process you can password protect the folder and no body can get access to the folder without the password. But still there is some risk. If some body is a computer savvy then he can easily retrieve the password from your batch file. He can easily find the password by choosing “Edit” option from the right-click context menu. So, to prevent from that option you can make an executable file of the batch file. The facility of the executable file is that no body can’t see the source code of an exe file. Here I’ve described the process of converting the batch file to executable(.exe) file. At first you need a compiler that compiles the batch file to an executable file. 1. Download Bat to Exe converter 2. Now run the application and put the source path of the batch file, then the target executable file name with location. 3. Click on “Compile” button. That’s all. Delete the batch file “key.bat”. You can now protect or access the folder by using the exe file (key.exe). Your data is now fully protected. The above method works in XP, Vista and Windows 7. Update: After getting some feedback from the reader we modified the code and it should work properly. You can also get the code by clicking on the text version link. While password protecting a folder ensures the security of important data, password protect images to make them private and inaccessible.