How To Encrypt A Flash Drive Using Windows - IONOS

Skip to Main ContentDigital GuideSearch IONOS Products IONOS ProductsClose

• Domains & SSL
  • Domain Names
  • Free Domain Transfer
  • .com Domain
  • Free Domain
  • New Top-Level Domains
  • SSL Certificate
  • Domain Security
• Websites & eCommerce
  • Website Builder
  • Web Design Services
  • Website Migration Service
  • Search Engine Optimization Tool
  • Google Ads Management Service
  • AI Reputation Management
  • eCommerce Website Builder
  • eCommerce Website Design
  • eCommerce Plugin
  • Social Buy Button
• Hosting & WordPress
  • Web Hosting
  • Hosting for WordPress
  • Managed Hosting for WordPress
  • Hosting for WooCommerce
  • Jamstack Hosting
  • Joomla! Hosting
  • Deploy Now
  • VPS Hosting
  • ASP.NET Hosting
• Office
  • Business Email
  • Email Marketing Software
  • Email Archiving Solutions
  • Hosted Microsoft Exchange
  • Microsoft 365 Business
  • Google Workspace
  • HiDrive Cloud Storage
  • MyDefender
• Servers
  • Bare Metal Server
  • Cloud Server
  • Cloud Backup
  • Dedicated Servers
  • Free VPS
  • IONOS Cloud
  • Managed Kubernetes
  • Object Storage
  • Rent a Server
  • Windows VPS
  • VPS Hosting
• Tools
  • Business Name Generator
  • AI Domain Name Generator
  • Logo Creator
  • Favicon Generator
  • Whois Lookup
  • Website Checker
  • SEO Check
  • SSL Checker
  • IP Address Check

Main menuCloseSearchIONOS Products

• Websites
  • Website creation
  • Web design
  • Web development
  • Digital law
• Hosting
  • CMS
  • Blogs
  • Technical matters
• Server
  • Know-how
  • Configuration
  • Security
  • Tools
• Domains
  • Domain extensions
  • Domain administration
  • Domain news
  • Domain tips
• Online marketing
  • Online sales
  • Search engine marketing
  • Social media
  • Web analytics
• E-mail
  • E-mail marketing
  • E-mail security
  • Technical matters
• Tips
  • WordPress

Get startedClose

1. IONOS
2. Digital Guide
3. Server
4. Configuration
5. Encrypting a flash drive

How to encrypt a flash drive on Windows

• IONOS editorial team01/03/20236 mins
• • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn

• Security
• Tutorials

Contents

• Encrypting a flash drive using standard Windows software
• How to encrypt a flash drive using BitLocker To Go
• Using VeraCrypt to protect a flash drive with a password

If you’ve got important data saved on a flash drive, you’ll want to protect it from unauthorized access. This means encrypting it or protecting it with a password. We’ve put together this guide to explain a few ways of doing this, either using a built-in Windows tool or a freeware solution.

MyDefender Easy cyber security

• Regular virus and malware scans
• Automatic backups and simple file recovery

See plans

Encrypting a flash drive using standard Windows software

You don’t have to download special software to encrypt a flash drive – Windows comes with all you need. In fact, its built-in tools can protect data both on USB drives and in folders on your hard drive. Wherever your data is stored, the first thing you need to check is whether the drive or disk is formatted with NTFS. Encryption won’t work with FAT/FAT32. Once you’ve checked this, simply follow these steps to password protect your USB drive or folder:

1. With the mouse, right click on the folder that you want to protect.
2. Click on “Properties” at the bottom of the menu.
3. In the window that opens, go to the “General” tab and click on “Advanced…”.
4. In the new window, check the box next to “Encrypt contents to secure data”.
5. Click on “OK” to confirm, and then choose whether you want to encrypt just the folder or all the subfolders and files in it as well.
6. Click on “OK” again.

Windows will now encrypt your folder. This can take anywhere between a few minutes and an hour, depending on how big the folder is.

Tip

As an additional or alternative method of protecting your data, why not use IONOS MyDefender to regularly back up your data to the cloud automatically?

Save the encryption certificate and key

After encrypting the flash drive, Windows will prompt you to save the file encryption certificate and key. This is important because you’ll need both of these to access the encrypted data at a later date.

1. Click on “Back up now (recommended)”.
2. A wizard will guide you through the next steps. First, choose a secure password.
3. Give the encryption certificate a meaningful name so you can easily find it again.
4. Tell Windows where to save the file. The default save location is usually a subfolder of the user data folder on your C drive.

Tip

To reduce the risk of losing data, it’s good practice to make at least one backup copy (preferably two) of important files like encryption certificates. The 3-2-1 backup rule is a good strategy to follow.

How to encrypt a flash drive using BitLocker To Go

If you’re running the Pro version of Windows, you’ve got another option for protecting flash drives: BitLocker To Go. Plug the USB drive into your PC, then do the following steps:

1. Click on “Start”. Then go to “Settings” > “System”.
2. In the window that opens, in the left pane, click on “About”. Then in the main pane, under “Related settings”, click on “BitLocker settings”.
3. In the new window that opens, select the USB drive that you want to password protect in the “Removable data drives – BitLocker To Go” section. Click on “Turn on BitLocker” (next to the relevant drive).
4. You should now see the “Choose how you want to unlock this drive” dialog box. Select “Use a password to unlock the drive” and enter a secure password. Click on “Next” to confirm.
5. Windows will now ask how you want to save your recovery key. There are three options: “Save to your Microsoft account”, “Save to a file” and “Print the recovery key”.
6. For this example, we’ll select the second option. It’s always a good idea to print the key (option 3) as well so that you can store it in a safe place.
7. Select “Save to a file”, then click on “Next”. In the next window, you’ll need to decide whether you want to encrypt only the used disk space or the entire drive. For flash drives, it’s usually best to choose the second option.
8. Click on “Next” to confirm your choice, and then on the next screen select “Compatible mode”. This will prevent compatibility issues with other versions of Windows.
9. Finally, click on “Next”, then on “Start encrypting”.

Note

Do not remove the USB drive or turn off your computer during the encryption process as this might cause errors or cause your USB drive to no longer be recognized.

Using VeraCrypt to protect a flash drive with a password

VeraCrypt is a free program and provides a very secure way of encrypting your data. First, you’ll need to download the freeware and install it on your computer. The interface is in English by default, but you can change the language in the settings if necessary. When you use VeraCrypt to encrypt a flash drive, all the data on the drive is deleted, so make sure that you’ve removed any important files or emptied the drive beforehand.

To encrypt your flash drive using VeraCrypt, you have to set up a data container. Here’s how:

1. Open VeraCrypt and click on “Create Volume” to launch the wizard.
2. Select “Create an encrypted file container” and click on “Next” to confirm your choice.
3. Next, select “Standard VeraCrypt volume”. Then, under “Volume Location” (in the next window), select the USB drive that you want to encrypt and enter a file name. Choose a meaningful name so that you’ll remember what the file is.
4. Click on “Save” to finish creating the volume.
5. Back in the wizard, click on “Next” to go to the “Encryption Options” screen. The default setting is AES, and this is perfectly sufficient for private use, so you can simply click on “Next”.
6. The next window is headed “Volume Size”. This is where you define how big you want the encrypted space on the USB drive to be. By default, the entire drive is selected. Click on “Next” to confirm.
7. In the next window, choose a secure password for encryption and decryption. The “Use keyfiles” option generates a key file for added protection. Any kind of file can be used as a keyfile, such as an image or even an MP3 file. Alternatively, you can let VeraCrypt generate a new file with random content. To do this, you will be prompted to move your mouse around a defined area for 30 seconds. VeraCrypt records the random data in a file which you then need to save on your computer and select as a keyfile.
8. Specify whether you want to store files larger than 4 GB in your VeraCrypt volume. Then, click on “Next”, followed by “Format”. VeraCrypt will now set up the volume.
9. A message will appear to tell you when the process is complete. Click on “OK” to acknowledge it. You can now close the wizard by clicking on “Exit”.

Using your password protected USB drive

To use the encrypted flash drive, you must have VeraCrypt installed on your computer, and the driveor volume must be mounted. Here’s how to do this:

1. In the main VeraCrypt window, click on “Select file…” and select your USB drive.
2. Choose one of the available drive letters from the list.
3. Click on “Mount” to confirm. Then, enter the password you set up for the drive and, where applicable, select your keyfile. Then, click “OK”.
4. You will now be able to access the data on your flash drive.
5. When you’re ready to remove the drive, make sure that you dismount it in VeraCrypt first using the button in the main window.

Was this article helpful? vote upvote downWhy not?

• Outdated
• Incorrect
• Difficult to understand

Related tags

• Security
• Tutorials

Go to Main Menu

Related Products

Cloud Servers See packages

Popular Articles

What is a personal email address and how to create one

Create your personal email address with your own email domain to demonstrate…

Read more

How do you buy a domain name? A guide

How to register and secure a domain name with the desired top-level and second-level…

Read more

What are the different types of domains?

What are the different types of domain endings? And what’s the difference between…

Read more

What is prompt engineering and how does it work?

What is prompt engineering and how can it be used to improve the results of ChatGPT and…

Read more

Which website type should you choose? The 7 most popular kinds

Choosing the right website type is crucial for the success of any online project.…

Read more

Related articles

How to format USB drives on Windows

File systems like NTFS or FAT don’t just play a key role in computers. Portable storage media like USB sticks also depend on these technologies for organizing data, in order to store and process files. If a system is missing or damaged, it can be added or repaired at any time by…

• Tutorials

Read more

Make a bootable USB drive and save your computer

Optical installation media are yesterday’s news. A bootable USB drive is not only faster and more practical than a CD-ROM, it can also do a lot more: For example, create a portable operating system with which you can use Windows as well as Linux computers. The most important…

• Windows

Read more

How to boot and install Ubuntu from a USB drive

You cannot install Ubuntu without a removable storage device. Since most new laptops and notebooks don’t have a CD/DVD drive, Linux fans have to install Ubuntu from a USB stick. To do this, you first need to create an Ubuntu USB stick. Continue reading for a step-by-step guide.

• Linux
• Tutorials

Read more We use cookies on our website to provide you with the best possible user experience. By continuing to use our website or services, you agree to their use. More Information. OK