here's a question a lot of people have
been asking me recently how can I
encrypt a file or folder so I can send
it to someone by email without anyone
else being able to read it then they
often go on to say they need it to work
on any computer whether it's Windows or
Mac the encryption needs to be strong so
no one can break into the file and
ideally they don't want to pay for this
and it needs to be free for the person
receiving the file - it's always
possible well the answer's yes and I'm
going to show you how to do it this is
Dave tech rescue where I solve your
problems with computers internet and
technology if you have a question leave
it in the comments and I'll do my best
to answer it and remember to subscribe
so you don't miss my next video where I
might be answering your question today's
question how can I encrypt a file or
folder so I can send it by email using
free software for Windows or Mac
encryption is a hot topic at the moment
this is partly because the new GDP our
regulations are making people take a
closer look at the way they secure their
data in the workplace but it's also down
to a growing awareness that we need to
think more about how we keep our
computers secure and also that we're
just storing and sharing more
confidential data than we used to
anyway there's no shortage of companies
that want to sell you a monthly plan so
you can send files securely and while
these plans have their benefits like
being able to track when your files have
been opened or limit how long they're
available for you might not need all of
these features in this video I'm going
to show you how to take a file or a
single folder containing multiple files
and protect it with a password this will
result in a single file that you can
attach to an email put in your Dropbox
or coffee onto a memory stick or a disk
you can then pass this file on to the
recipient who will type in the password
and unlock the files original contents
if anyone else gets hold of the file
while it's being sent they won't be able
to break into it because they won't know
the password we're going to do this by
installing some free software on your
computer and you'll need to ask the
recipient to install some free software
on theirs the most important thing to
get right here is the type of encryption
over the years the big brains that work
on this kind of thing have come up with
lots of ingenious ways to encrypt data
but as soon as someone declares a code
to be uncrackable
some equally big brains start looking
for ways to crack it currently one of
the best methods of encryption that's
available everywhere but that no one's
managed to break yet that we know of is
aes-256
if anyone ever needs to review the way
you secure your data if you tell them
that you encrypt your files with aes-256
before sending them they'll be satisfied
that you are using strong encryption so
how do we encrypt our files with aes-256
well i've got two ways to show you the
main method i'll show you is to make
something called a zip file first though
if you happen to have Microsoft Office
365 or office 2016
you can already encrypt individual files
provided you created them in office
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let's open a file in Microsoft Word on
my Windows computer I can encrypt this
file by going to file then info then
click on protect document and encrypt
with password then all you have to do is
think of a password and type it in here
pay attention to this notice if you
forget the password
there's no way to reset it so keep a
list of your passwords somewhere safe
click OK and type the password again and
click OK now if we close this document
and try to open it again we can only get
in if we know the password you can do
the same thing if you have a Mac with
Microsoft Office open a document in Word
then go to tools and click on protect
document there are a few possible places
where you can set a password here so
make sure you're looking in the first
box which is labeled set a password to
open this document think of a password
and type it in here then click OK now
repeat the password and click OK we can
now close this document and if we open
it again we can only get in if we know
the password it doesn't matter whether
you set up this protection on a Windows
computer or a Mac you can turn it to
anyone with Windows or Mac and they'll
be able to open it on their computer
provided you tell one of the password
and you can protect the files you make
in the different Office apps whether
it's Word Excel or PowerPoint Microsoft
have published a webpage which confirms
that this password protection actually
uses aes-256 encryption and it details
which previous versions of office can
open your protected files the link to
this page is available in the
description of this video
[Music]
before we move on to using zip files I
want to emphasize how important the
password is because you can have the
world's strongest padlock but if you're
going to take the key to it then anyone
could just walk along take the key and
unlock it for the same reason if you're
emailing someone an encrypted file you
should never send them an email
containing the password you should
always get the password to them by some
other means either telling them over the
phone or telling them in person this
password needs to be strong you should
use a password with at least eight
characters but ideally it should be
longer and it's stronger if it contains
a mix of upper and lowercase letters
numbers and special characters and one
more really important thing
make sure your passwords are unique
because if you're going to give someone
a password that gets into the protected
file that's just for them you need to
know that password won't get them into a
protected file as you've made for other
people
[Music]
now let's look at the most versatile way
to send encrypted files and that's using
a zip file zip files have been built
into Windows and Mac OS for a long time
and they're the perfect way to prepare a
file or folder for sending as an
attachment in fact the original reason
for using zip files had nothing to do
with encryption the zip was invented as
a way to compress a file so if you
needed to send someone a large document
you could compress it into a much
smaller size without losing any of its
content on the windows computer you
could take a folder containing several
documents then right-click it and send
to compressed zip folder
this would make a single file that's
easy to attach to an email and the
person who receives it can right click
the file click extract all and the
original files are revealed completely
untouched it doesn't have to be a folder
though you can compress a single file
into the zip file and you can do the
same on a Mac right-click a file or
folder and click compress to make a zip
file then to unzip the file you just
double-click the zip file and the
original contents are revealed
[Music]
now we want to take this facility of
making zip files and add in our a es 256
encryption unfortunately this is
something that's not built into Windows
or Mac so we're going to need to install
some free software first I'll show you
how to install the software on Windows
and we'll encrypt a file ready to send
then I'll show you what your recipients
need to do at the other end so that they
can open your files on their Windows
computer after that I'll show you what
you need to install on a Mac and will
encrypt a zip file on the Mac and
finally we'll look at how your
recipients will open your files if they
have a Mac don't forget whatever type of
computer you have you'll need to prepare
instructions for your recipients for
both Windows and Mac so they can open
your files whatever type of computer
they have
[Music]
okay so to make an encrypted zip file on
a Windows computer we're going to
download a tool called 7-zip so open
your web browser and go to seven - zip
org the Downloads we need are right at
the top we've got a choice of either
32-bit or 64-bit and I'll show you how
to tell which one you need right click
on the start button and select system
this screen appears and if you look for
system type you'll see 32 or 64-bit my
computer is 64-bit let's close this and
click on the download for 64-bit once
that's downloaded click on run and click
install once it's installed click close
now let's look for something to encrypt
let's use this file right click on the
file and you'll see a 7-zip option that
wasn't there before go into 7-zip and
select add to archive this gives us lots
of scary options but don't worry we only
need to change a couple of things
check that the file name that's been
suggested here looks right you can
change it if you like then change the
archive format to zip then go down to
encryption method and choose aes-256 now
type the password in here and re-enter
it below finally click OK and 7-zip will
make a new file next to the original it
looks almost the same but if we
right-click it and go to properties
you'll see it has this yellow icon with
a zip and the file type is a compressed
zipped folder this file is encrypted so
we can send it to someone else if we
want let's have a look now at encrypting
a folder I've got a folder here
containing several files all we need to
do is right-click on the folder itself
then go to 7-zip and select add to
archive exactly like we did before then
make sure we're using zip and aes-256
and enter a password
then click okay this is copied the
entire folder into a single encrypted
zip file which we can send to someone if
we want next let's look at opening these
files at the other end
[Music]
if you're sending encrypted files to
someone you'll need to give them
instructions for how to open the files
on their computer because we encrypted
the files they'll need to be decrypted
before they can be used first the
recipient is going to need to install
7-zip if they don't have it already you
might need to show them how to download
it from the 7-zip website and install it
once they have 7-zip installed and
they've downloaded your zip file to
their computer all they need to do is
right-click the file and go to 7-zip
then they need to choose one of these
extract options I recommend choosing
extract two and then the file name this
means everything will be kept within a
single folder next they will be prompted
to type in the password which you've
told them once they click OK the file
will be decrypted they will be left with
a folder that contains all your original
files which they can open
[Music]
it would be nice if I could say download
7-zip for Mac but unfortunately they
don't make a version that works on the
Mac instead you're going to need a tool
called caker
so open your web browser and go to
kake-dot-com the download button and
wait for it to download then open your
downloads folder and open caker
now you just need to drag caker into
your Applications folder now close
everything that's open and open your
finder go into the Applications folder
and look for coca drag caker onto your
dock next click on KK the first time you
open caker you'll be asked if you're
sure you want to open it click open then
caker will tell you it needs access to
the storage on your Mac click on give
home access then click give access to KK
and now this is the screen you'll
normally see when you open KK I'm going
to close this for a moment so when you
want to make an encrypted zip file you
just need to open caker first click on
the cake icon on the dock we can leave
most of these options as they are just
make sure you choose zip from the
drop-down list at the top and type in a
good password here then repeat the
password
make sure this box is ticked for use AES
256 encryption now you'll need to find
the file or folder that you want to
encrypt drag this onto the cake icon and
keiko will encrypt it with the settings
you chose you will then see a zip file
appear next to the original this is it
file is encrypted and you can safely
send this to someone now next let's look
at opening the zip file on someone
else's Mac
[Music]
if you like you can show the recipient
how to install caker
on their mark but if they're only going
to be opening the zip files you send
them and not making any themselves
there's an easier app to use it's called
the unarchive err and you can download
it for free from the Mac App Store so
we're going to open the app store and
search for bond archiver now I'm going
to click on get and I just need to enter
my Apple ID and password
[Music]
once the unarchive ER has installed
we're ready to go I'm going to right
click on the zip file then go to open
width and click on the unarchive er then
if I'm happy for its contents to be
extracted into this location I just
click extract now I'm prompted to type
in the password and click continue and
there's a new folder containing the
files we want to see
[Music]
I chose to use it files because they're
universally recognized but there is one
small drawback to using zip let's have a
look at the folder I turned into an
encrypted zip file on windows look what
happens if I try to double-click the zip
file windows tries to open the zip file
rather than letting 7-zip decrypt it
windows lets us see the files inside
without us having to type in the
password now the files themselves are
still encrypted so we can't see their
contents but it's worth pointing out
that anyone who gets hold of the zip
file will be able to see these file
names so try not to put anything
confidential in the file names
themselves one way to get around this is
to use a different file format instead
of zip you can encrypt your files using
the 7-zip format and you can do this
using 7-zip on Windows and caker on the
Mac in the end it doesn't matter whether
you use zip format or the 7-zip format
as long as the person at the other end
understands how to open the file you
sent so that's how you can send
encrypted files to other people for free
using Windows or a Mac please let me
know in the comments below how you got
on and if this video helped you please
give it the thumbs up and if you'd like
to see more tutorials like this from me
in future please hit the red subscribe
button thanks for watching and I'll see
you next time
[Music]