HowTo: Password Protect and Encrypt Files using 7-Zip for Windows

This article is to show you how to password protect and encrypt using 7-zip for Windows devices.

Steps:

1. Right click on the file/folder to be encrypted
2. Select '7-Zip' then 'Add to archive…'
   
3. In the 'Add to Archive' window, on the 'Archive' section, this is where you can change the name for the 7-zip file you will be creating
   
   
   
4. Under the 'Archive format', change the format to 'Zip'
   
   
5. For the 'Encryption method', change it to 'AES-256', this is strongly recommended to protect sensitive and confidential data.
   
   
6. Under the 'Encryption' section, you should see a section 'Enter password', this is where you type in the password you want to set the encryption the file or folder.
   • NOTE: We recommend you use a strong password with at least 8 characters with upper and lowercase letters, a number, and a special character
     
     
7. Underneath it, 'Reenter password', this is where you would retype your password again.
   
   
   
8. Click 'Ok' to create the encrypted file and the encrypted file is located at the same location as the file you encrypted 
   
   • NOTE: It is best security practice to call the person and tell them the password because if you email the password with the ZIP file, it can get intercepted in transit.