this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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How to password protect folders and open them in Windows Mac or Linux? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.world
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I know I could and should encrypt whole drives but I want another layer of protect specific folders when my devices are unlocked, a password. I want the folders to behave like regular folders where I can add or remove files as usual, without a clunky UX like password protected zips. I looked it up and didn't find any straightforward solutions.

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[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

Maybe create a separate partition and encrypt it so it asks for a password on mount, then unmount it when not in use?

[–] qwerty@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 3 months ago

You can store files in a keepassXC database.

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 months ago

this is your solution ☞ https://veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html or https://veracrypt.fr/

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Cross platform you're sol, I'm afraid. If there's an option I'd like to know, too.

Usually I cover my requirements with acl in this case.

[–] MrSoup@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] Strider@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I understood op is talking about devices like an external hard drive, in which case any Linux only solution (based on fuse) won't work for windows and similarly the easy nfs encryption option on folders wont work with Linux.

🤷

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 months ago

It can work on an application layer

[–] synapse1278@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

You can use 7zip to archive files into a .7z and protect it with a password. 7zip is cross-platform, it's available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Edit: sorry, I see you have already evaluated this option. I don't know another method that would me more transparent.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 months ago

That is massively insecure

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 months ago

Password protected zips are very easy to brute force so I wouldn't use them for anything

[–] MrSoup@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

See gocryptfs which is crossplatform and got various clients using it to encrypt/decrypt folders, like DroidFS and Vaults.