A Quicker Way To Encrypt a File or Folder with Bitlocker

[infopane color=”4″ icon=”0049.png”]NOTE: Bitlocker encryption is available only in following desktop Windows versions: Vista Ultimate, Vista Enterprise, 7 Ultimate, 7 Enterprise, 8 Professional, and 8 Enterprise.[/infopane]

If you encrypt files or folders then this tip is for you!
Windows Vista, 7, and 8 allow you to encrypt files or folders but the process is a little long-winded. For those who don’t know, what you have to do is:

1) Right click on the file or folder.
2) Select Properties.
3) Click on the Advanced tab.
4) Check Encrypt Contents To Secure Data.
5) Click OK
6) Click OK again

That is SIX clicks of the mouse!

Now for a simpler solution.
This tip involves editing the registry, before proceeding it is advisable to create a registry backup and/or a system restore point.

• Open your registry editor by clicking on the Start orb and typing regedit into the search box and pressing Enter.
• Navigate your way to:  HKey_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
• In the right hand pane, right click on an empty area and select ‘New’ then DWORD (32bit).

• Name the new Dword key EncryptionContextMenu and press Enter.
• Double click on the new Dword and in the box that opens, change the value from 0 to 1 then press OK.

Close the registry editor and now to test the difference.

1) Right click on the file or folder.
2) Select Encrypt.

3) Check the default setting is right for you and click OK.

That’s just half of the number of clicks!
I think you will agree it’s not only faster but easier as well.