The Windows operating system allows you to specify the encryption option in the file attributes. After that, the file will become available for reading only to this user, to the one whom he specifies as the "recovery agent" or to the user who has a "public key". If in the future it becomes necessary to cancel encryption, you can also do this in the file or folder settings.
Instructions
Step 1
Log in to the operating system on behalf of a user who belongs to one of the categories with access to an encrypted file or folder.
Step 2
Launch "Explorer" - press the key combination Win + E or select "Computer" in the main menu of the OS. Navigate the directory tree in the left pane to the desired folder.
Step 3
You can get to the encrypted file in another way, using the OS search engine. In Windows 7 and Vista, this is very easy: press the Win key and start typing the file name. When a link to the desired object appears in the list of results, right-click on it and select File Location.
Step 4
Select this file and click on the file with the right mouse button or press the shortcut menu key - it is placed on the keyboard between the right Win and Ctrl buttons. In both cases, a context menu will appear on the screen, in which you need the very last line - "Properties". Select it from the menu and a separate window with file properties settings will open.
Step 5
The General tab (it opens by default) is divided into sections. At the very bottom there are several checkboxes related to file attributes, and the "Others" button - click it.
Step 6
In the Advanced File Attributes window, uncheck the Encrypt content to protect data box. Then click the OK buttons in both open windows and the operation will be completed.
Step 7
If you need to cancel encryption not for a single file, but for all files in a folder, proceed in much the same way. After the first three steps, select not the file, but the desired folder in the left pane of "Explorer". The context menu with the item "Properties" for a folder, as well as for a file, is invoked by right-clicking, and in the object properties window you need to repeat the previous two steps.
