How to add encrypt/decrypt shortcuts to the right click menu

Posted on April 11, 2009 at 5:19 am

Encrypting files in Windows Vista only takes a few clicks to comepltely encrypt your files.  However, if you are a secret agent or just want to encrypt confidential files on your computer more often than an average Encrypted File System (EFS) user, it would be useful to put the encrypt and decrypt shortcuts on the right click menu in Explorer. 

Follow these steps to add the Encrypt/Decrypt options to the right click menu:

· Click on Start and type REGEDIT in the search bar and click enter.

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· In the Registry Editor window navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

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· Right click on Advanced key then go to New and select DWORD (32-bit) Value.

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· Rename the new value to EncryptionContextMenu.

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· Double click on the EncryptionContextMenu and supply a value of 1 and click OK.

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· Right click on a file then select Encrypt option to encrypt the file.

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· Select the option you want to execute (Encrypt the file and its parent folder or Encrypt the file only) and click Ok.

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· After the Encryption process you will see that the file name will turn into green

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· To Decrypt the Encrypted file just right click on the file and select Decrypt

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This tip should come in handy if you are a heavy EFS user. Make sure to visit us again for more encryption and Windows Vista tips.

Ben Carigtan shows you how it’s done.

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Comments

4 Responses to “How to add encrypt/decrypt shortcuts to the right click menu”

  1. Dave said on : April 11th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    Great trick! I never knew encrypt shorcuts can be set on right click.


  2. Abraham said on : April 13th, 2009 at 1:32 pm

    I get an error saying “Error Applying Attributes”


  3. Joel said on : March 7th, 2010 at 7:33 pm

    What is the difference between using EFS and BitLocker to encrypt files on my Windows PC? Right now I am using EFS, but it seems like it’s older technology? Thanks.


  4. keloua said on : May 13th, 2010 at 4:58 am

    merci pour votre orientation mais j’ai tjrs un problème pour ouvrir mon fichier , j’ai suivi tte les étapes mais en cliquant sur décrypter un message d’erreur qui s’affiche
    une erreur s’est produite en appliquant des attributs au fichiers ,acc’s refusé


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