Microsoft wants to bring encrypting to a file level with Windows 10

Joseph Finney

Microsoft wants to bring encrypting to a file level with Windows 10

At Ignite 2015 Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore demoed a new feature of Windows 10 where users can encrypt individual files. Bitlocker was used to encrypt drives and make them safe, but when sending files via a USB key or email they may need to be encrypted on a file by file level.

Users can choose to encrypt files directly from the save-as dialog box, or from Windows File Explorer. Simply right clicking a file enables users to choose how to encrypt the file. As you can see in the image above and below, files that are encrypted are in green. 

Downloading sensitive documents from a company website is a common usage case. So when downloading files from the web files will encrypt by default so there are no question if the information is secure. This is another piece in the whole puzzle where Microsoft is trying to give their users the tools they want across their OS. We’ll have more on this as it develops.

Microsoft wants to bring encrypting to a file level with Windows 10