Encryption is the matter of safety, I've always said. If you want to keep movies, pictures and other files under a safe lock, choose a password protective software from our guide.

Microsoft Word offers the ability to password protect PDF files. Read to know how to lock PDF from editing using Microsoft Word.

While there exists some freeware like SecretFolder to hide and password-protect a folder on Windows PC, Windows 11/10 comes with a built-in or native feature to hide a file or folder.

Hide or Password-Protect Files and Folders with Free Utilities Several Windows utilities offer ways to assign a password to a folder full of files, or just plain text files.

Unfortunately, by default they can be accessed by any computer they are plugged into, so if your external hard drive stores important data you should be encrypted and password protect the drive.

Sending important documents? Learn how to password protect PDFs for extra security using easy steps with Adobe Acrobat and free online tools.

You can password protect a PDF on a Mac computer using the Preview app to secure files that contain sensitive information.

If you have sensitive data you'd like to keep from prying eyes in a Microsoft Excel file, the easiest way to protect it is with Excel's built-in password tools.