Do you have a certain file or folder that you don't want other users on your system to be able to see or access? Confidential documents will be safe from prying eyes. Your financial documents will be safe from your mother or dare I say significant other! We've covered several encryption softwares in the past, like TrueCrypt but this is really, really easy to use. Hence its name.

Easy File Locker is a pretty small file at 224KB and will do exactly what it says. It will let you protect a file or folder from being seen or accessed by anyone on your system. This is a light-weight program that does not slow down your system and even continues working if the machine is booted in safe mode. It does not require the application to be running for the security to work and it can be password-protected as well.

Let's take a look at how it works.

On first start, you will see a user interface like the one below:

efl1

Now to protect a file or folder, the method is almost the same. All you have to do is hit Edit - Add File or Add Folder to either protect a file or folder. Talk about straightforward!

efl2

Next up, you will have to pick your file or folder as well as choose from the following options. You can:

  • Make the file or folder accessible
  • Make the file or folder writable
  • Make the file or folder erasable
  • Make the file or folder invisible
efl3

Click the Browse button represented by the box with three dots next to the path to select your target file/folder like so:

efl4

You will see a window like this when you are done.

efl5

Next, you can set a password for the application by hitting System - Set password

efl6

My favorite ability is making a folder visible and not accessible.

efl6a

When the user tries to open the folder whamo - Access is denied!

efl7

Also see:

- 2 Ways to Hide "Important" Files and Folders in Windows

Do you have another easy solution to keep unwanted grubby little fingers off of your stuff? Let's hear about it in the comments!