Hide Files, Folders or Drives from All Users on Your Computer

Need to keep sensitive data private on a shared computer? In this video, we demonstrate how to use "Hide Files," a powerful utility that goes beyond standard Windows "hidden" attributes. This tool allows you to completely vanish files, folders, or even entire secondary drives from all user accounts on your PC.

Here is a link to a writeup of the hiding files, folders and drives process on our website.
https://onlinecomputertips.com/support-categories/software/hide-files-folders-drives-from-all-users/

Need to keep sensitive data private on a shared computer? In this video, we demonstrate how to use "Hide Files," a powerful utility that goes beyond standard Windows "hidden" attributes. This tool allows you to completely vanish files, folders, or even entire secondary drives from all user accounts on your PC.

We walk you through setting up a master password, using the "Stealth Mode" to hide the application itself, and verifying that the data remains invisible even when switching to a different Windows user account. Learn how to toggle privacy with a single click and keep your confidential information secure from prying eyes.

0:00 Introduction: Privacy on Shared Computers
0:30 Setting Up Your Master Password (Crucial Step)
0:50 Interface Overview: Adding Files, Folders, and Drives
1:10 Hiding and Unhiding Individual Files
1:35 Managing "Locked" vs. "Unlocked" Status
2:00 Hiding an Entire Folder: A Practical Example
2:30 Hiding a Full Secondary Drive (E: Drive Demo)
2:55 Multi-User Test: Checking Privacy on Other Accounts
3:45 Stealth Mode: Hiding the App with Hotkeys (Shift + Ctrl + Alt + Z)
4:15 Password Recovery and Technical Support Tips
4:40 Summary and Safety Precautions

Here is a link where you can download the Hide Files program.
https://vovsoft.com/software/hide-files/

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1 - Initial Setup: Download and install the "Hide Files" utility. Upon first launch, you will be prompted to create a Master Password. Choose a strong password and do not forget it, as it is required to access your hidden data.
2 - Add Your Items: You can drag and drop files directly into the interface or use the Add File, Add Folders, or Add Drive buttons to browse your system.
3 - Lock for Privacy: Highlight the item in the list and click Lock. The file or folder will immediately disappear from File Explorer. If you hide a drive, the drive letter will still appear in "This PC," but it will appear completely empty.
4 - Accessing Your Data: To see your files again, open the app, enter your master password, select the item, and click Unlock. Refresh your folder view to see the files reappear.
5 - Test for Multiple Users: This tool works at the system level. If you lock a folder on your account and then sign in as a different user on the same PC, those files will remain hidden from them as well.
6 - Enable Stealth Mode: To hide the fact that you are even using a privacy tool, use the hotkey Shift + Ctrl + Alt + Z. This closes the app interface while keeping your files locked. Use the same hotkey or open the app from the Start menu to bring it back.
7 - Manage the List: Use the Delete button within the app to remove items from the tracking list. Note that this does not delete the actual files; it just stops the app from managing their visibility.
8 - Backup and Safety: Consider backing up your registry settings via the app's options. Always keep a secondary backup of your most critical data on an encrypted external drive in case of software or password issues.

🎓 Step up your skills with our online training courses:
http://madeeasytraining.com

📚 Explore our full library of tech and computer books:
https://www.madeeasybookseries.com/home

📘 Get our book "Windows 11 Made Easy" on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HFXWXRY

🚀 Master your software and hardware with our latest tech tips:
https://onlinecomputertips.com

#HideFiles #Windows11 #Privacy #DataSecurity #TechTutorial #FileProtection #WindowsTips #SharedPC #OnlineComputerTips

---

Closed Caption:

[Music]
hi in this video we're going to show you
an app you could use to hide files and
folders on your computer so that way you
could keep them hidden if you don't want
other people seeing them if you're on a
shared computer and then you could
simply unhide them when you need to
access them all right so the program is
called hide
files so it is $20 if you want to buy it
or you could just uh click on continue
to try it out
you need to make a master password the
first time you configure it to access
the program and you make sure you don't
forget this password otherwise you're
going to be in trouble so let me put on
my password
here all right so now you can see the
interface
here so I can add a file add folders add
a whole Drive lock and unlock and you
have some options here it's kind of the
same thing you want to back up your
registry and right here the options to
delete that's just to delete the items
from the list here not to delete the
actual files and
folders then you have some options for
the theme and then if you do stealth
mode that'll just kind of close it and
keep it running and you'll need to open
it from your programs again to actually
get back into it then you could change
your private key and your login
password and then you have some options
here to ignore failed files while
unlocking and ignore Drive mismatch
while
unlocking then you have some some
options here for file
recovery all right so let's try it out
here with a file first so let's say this
PDF here we just drag it in here or you
can click on ADD file and browse to it
all right so now we're going to lock it
so Watch What Happens over
here so now it's
gone and you can see it shows locked
here then if we want it back just click
on
unlock let's
refresh and now it's back
and let's say we want to do with this
confidential files folder going lock the
whole folder
here and can uncheck that if we want to
keep that
unlocked so we'll lock the folder
here I can see the folder's
gone then we can unlock
it fresh now it's back all right so now
let's try an entire drive here so we
have all these files and folders on the
E drive so obviously you don't want to
do this to your C drive because I don't
know if it'll work first of all and if
it did work you'd be in trouble all
right so let's add a
drive okay let's lock
it now you can see everything's gone so
if we go to this PC the drive still
shows up it just shows that there's
nothing in it okay so now that this
drive is locked let's log in as another
user and see if they could see the files
on this Lock Drive
let's check it out
here okay so now you can see the files
are hidden from this other user as well
so it works for multiple
users okay let's go back into the other
account here
all right so now let's unlock this drive
here and now everything's back all right
so let's lock this
again now we'll do the stealth mode you
can see shift Control Alt Z so now
everything's locked and the program is
closed shift Control Alt Z it brings it
back
and if you didn't remember the shortcut
you could just open it from your apps
again okay let's unlock
this all right so that's the basics on
how hide files works so obviously like I
said you want to make sure you don't
forget that
password I'm assuming if you did you
could probably contact support and have
them help you unlock it but I can't
promise you that so always be careful
when using these types of things and if
you are going to use this I would
suggest probably buying it because that
way you might get some technical support
if you do run into a problem all right
so I'll put a link in the description
where you can download hide files and
you could try it out for yourself all
right thanks for watching and be sure to
subscribe
[Music]