There are several simple ways to secure your USB drive using the encryption feature. Follow our easy guide on how to protect a flash drive with a password.
How to Password Protect a USB Drive
Here are some useful software and app recommendations to protect your USB drive.
BitLocker
BitLocker is a free built-in encryption feature on Windows. It is easy to use and available on earlier versions of Windows as well. After the process ends, your drive becomes secure with a password. Doing this method once is enough as your drive will always remain safe even when you add new data to it. This is a suitable, accessible option if you don’t want to install third-party apps.
Rohos Mini Drive
Rohos Mini Drive is a free software that uses automatic encryption with AES 256-bit key length. It allows you to easily encrypt or hide your data on your USB drive by adding an encrypted drive. So, you can use non-sensitive data without worrying and access encrypted data only when needed. Another cool feature about this software is that you do not need administrator rights to run it. Here’s how you can use the Rohos Mini Drive to protect your USB drive. Later, when you reconnect your USB drive and open your encrypted files, go to the Rohos Mini executable file. Enter your password, and you’ll get access to your files.
VeraCrypt
VeraCrypt is another decent app by Idrix and is available on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Although it requires admin rights, it’s easy to use since it directly operates from your USB drive. This app uses various encryption algorithms, like AES 256-bit, Serpent, TwoFish, and more. With VeraCrypt, you can get an independent encrypted disk. It’s best to note that you can only encrypt data of 2GB size. If you need more, you can get its premium version. Here’s how you can use VeraCrypt:
USB Drive Encryption Feature on MacOS
You may not need extra apps or software if you use a Macbook or iMac due to its built-in encryption feature in the Finder utility. Here’s how you can password protect a USB drive on a Mac. Your encryption process is now complete.
Cryptsetup on Linux
A free and exclusive feature on the Linux repository, Cryptsetup can password protect your USB drive. You can use it to create cryptographic volumes with the help of AES 256-bit encryption. Here’s how you can use Cryptsetup on Linux:
More Tips on How to Password-Protect a USB Drive
There are some more tips on protecting your USB drive data that are worth mentioning.
Using WinRAR
Even if you’re not a tech-savvy person, you must’ve noticed this file archiver, called WinRAR on Windows. It helps you save space by compressing big-size data. But did you know that you can even use it to encrypt your data? You can choose to encrypt selected files and folders. Here’s how you can use WinRAR. Your new files will be ready and you can access them with a password.
Set Passwords on Selected Files
If you want to encrypt a few files, you can easily give them a USB password. You can even save files with encryption directly on programs like Word and Excel. Simply open a file on Word, open File and then Info. Open the Protect Document menu and click on Encrypt with Password. Set a new password and save your document.
PDFTK Builder Portable
If you want to encrypt your important resumes or such pdf files, PDFTK Builder Portable is a useful utility. It allows you to set different passwords for the owner and the user. Besides password protection, PDFTK Builder also lets you collate, split, rotate, and more to modify your pdf files.
