We have seen how you can hide your photos and videos on Android. We also discussed how one can lock apps and secure messages with a password. But what about the individual files saved on our SD Card? What if someone wants to lock a PDF file, document or any other file that he wants to hide with a password?
Today we are going to talk about a simple tool for Android called File Locker, using this tool you can easily lock any file with a password and secure access to that file. So let’s see how the app works.
File Lock
Step 1: Download and install File Locker on your device from the Play Store to get started. The app works on all devices running on Android 2.1 and above.
Step 2: After you install the app, launch it. The application will look like a simple file manager and will display all the files and folders on your Android. To lock a file, browse for it and long-press it to open a pop-up menu.
Step 3: In the pop-up menu, select Lock option. You can even batch select files and lock them all at once. After you select the key file option, the app will ask you for the password you use to encrypt your files, once provided it will hash the contents of your files.
Note: The app does not provide a master password option and requires a new password every time you try to lock a file. As a piece of advice, I recommend using the same password at all times to keep things a bit simple.
Once the file is locked, it cannot be read by any application installed on your device or even the computer. Now let’s see how to unlock the files.
File Unlock
Open the Locked tab to see all the files you’ve locked with the app. To unlock a file, simply tap the lock icon next to the file and provide the password. Tick the option if you want to lock automatically when exiting the app.
Once a file has been unlocked, you can view them in the unlocked tab. You can open files in the respective viewer right from the File Locker app itself.
Watch out for the following
- There is no password recovery option in the app as it doesn’t store your password anywhere on the device. The app just does a simple file checksum while unlocking the file. So if you accidentally forget the password you used when locking the file, you will lose it forever.
- While locking a file, the application will give the file a hashed filename. Under no circumstances should you rename the file using any other file manager. If you do, the application will not be able to read the hashed file and will not be able to unlock the file.
Conclusion
So keep the points in mind while using the app to lock your files. If you know any similar apps for Android that can help you lock files better, don’t forget to share them with us.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
