Winzip files are great ways of sharing documents and images of large sizes over the web or through email, since their reduced size makes it possible for them to be sent and received. Also, it is easier to manage one attachment than multiple. But what if the file contains sensitive information you don’t want snoopers to see? Simply add a password protection in Winzip. Adding a password will ensure more security and reliability of the transported files.
How to add a Password to your Zip Files
Below are some methods of creating a password to protect the confidentiality of a zip file:
- Make use of Windows XP to create a password protected zip file
- Use a password protected zip file with 7-zip Utility
- Make use of Winrar to password protect a zipfile
1. Making use of Windows XP to create a password
Windows XP has a password protection feature, unlike other windows such as Windows 7 or Vista. At a point, Windows XP is more reliable when it comes to adding a password to zip files.
You can add the password in these steps:
- Turn on your Windows XP computer, then click on the file button on the menu bar
- Double click on the file to open it
- Click on “add a password” option from the menu that appears on the file
- A pop-up window will appear, type the password you want to use twice and click “Ok” for confirmation
- To disable the password protection, open the file again, and select “remove password” from the menu
This method can only be used on Windows XP computers. Therefore for other Windows, you’ll need to use different methods.
2. Use a password protected zip file with 7-zip Utility
Unlike Windows XP computers, the recent versions of Windows don’t come with an in-built feature for adding passwords to zip files. It is therefore necessary to use third-party file compression software. The 7-Zip program is one of those compression programs that are free to use and can easily add encryption to files in the following steps:
- Before beginning the procedure, ensure you have installed the software on your PC and select the program depending on which OS you’re using – 64-bit or 32-bit
- After that, right click on the folder you intend to compress to a zip file that is password protected
- From the menu, choose “7-zip” and click on “add to archive” option
- In that panel, type in a name or use the default name
- Select “zip” as the format of archive
- In the encryption box on the panel, type your password in the “enter password” box, and re-enter it again
- After that, click “Ok” to end the procedure
In an instance where you forget your password, you still can be able to unlock the zip password without losing any data by using the password recovery tool.
3. Make use of Winrar to password protect a zip file
Just like 7-zip, this is another free tool for creating passwords to protect winzip files. You can do this by following these procedures:
- Begin by properly installing the winrar program in your computer
- Choose the folder you want to add password protection to, then right click on it
- A sub-menu will appear, from there, select “Add to archive”
- An operating window for “Archive name and parameters”’ will appear, select the “general” tab
- Type in a name in the “archive name” section or you can make use of the default name there
- Click on “zip” in the “Archive format” section, then click on “set password” option
- A box will appear for you to input your password twice, do so and then click on “Ok” twice to end the process
After setting your password, it is possible for you to access the document, unless you’ve entered a wrong password.
It is impossible to share big software or files without first compressing them. This is why most of the sensitive and confidential documents are shared in the form of a zip extension. Such files need to be password protected, to prevent them from being exploited and to ensure their security. The main problem with such files is that any user can open and access the information contained in the file, thus the importance of protecting them with a password.
