How to Password Protect USB Flash Drive without BitLocker
Tags: Usb Flash Drives, Bitlocker, Encryption

As a portable storage device, USB flash drive is usually used for data backup and transfer. However, it is also because of its portability that makes USB flash drive easy to lose leading to data leakage. For more security and privacy, people are used to password protect USB flash drive with BitLocker Drive Encryption. In this article, we will walk you through three kinds of methods to password protect USB flash drive without BitLocker.

● Method 1: Encrypt the whole USB flash drive

It is the most effective way to password protect USB flash drive by encrypting the entire drive. BitLocker Drive Encryption is capable of encrypting entire hard drives. In addition, there are also many other encryption tools that can encrypt entire drives like VeraCrypt and TrueCrypt. The following guide takes VeraCrypt as an example to show you how to password protect USB flash drive by encrypting the entire drive.

Step 1: Download this tool and install it on your Windows computer. Then insert your USB drive into your pc and launch this tool.

Step 2: On the VeraCrypt window, click on Create Volume button.

Step 3: Select Encrypt a non-system partition/drive option and then click on Next button.

Step 4: Select Standard VeraCrypt volume option and then click on Next button.

Step 5: Click Select Device button. On a new window, select the USB flash drive and click on OK button. Then click on Next button.

Step 6: Choose a volume creation mode and click on Next button. If you have data stored on USB drive, choose Encrypt partition in place option. Otherwise, choose the other one.

Step 7: Choose an encryption and hash algorithm for the encryption and click on Next button. If you have no idea, it would better to leave the default settings.

Step 8: Click on Next button.

Step 9: Type and confirm a password and click on Next button.

Step 10: Finally, wait for a while until the VeraCrypt prompts you that the USB drive has been encrypted successfully.

● Method 2: Encrypt all the files on USB flash drive

If you are worried that encrypting USB drive may slow down the speed of read and write, you can choose to only encrypt the files or folders on USB flash drive to password protect USB drive. WinRAR is a file archiver utility for Windows, which can also allow users to set passwords for the files and archives. The followings cover a full guide to use WinRAR to put a password on USB flash drive.

Step 1: Download this tool and install it on your Windows computer. Then insert your USB drive into your pc and launch this tool.

Step 2: On the interface of WinRAR, navigate to the files or folders on USB flash drive.

Step 3: Select the files or folders that you want to encrypt and then click on Add option in the top left corner of interface. (You can select all the files and folder at the same time.)

Step 4: On a new window, click Set password button. Before setting a password, you can choose the archive format and location of archive file.

Step 5: Type a password and check the box next to Encrypt file names. Then click on OK button.

Step 6: Click on OK button. An archive file is created with password. Then you can remove the original files or folders and save the archive file with password protection on USB flash drive. Finally, even without BitLocker, you can also password protect USB flash drive successfully.

● Method 3: Use a USB flash drive with protection itself

For more security and privacy, you can use a USB flash drive with hardware protection itself. This kind of pen drive employs an independent hardware encryption so that it can’t be read by computer without password even if you plug it into your computer, and it’s almost impossible to crack. So, if you need to store or transfer some extremely important data, it is highly recommended.

External tips: How to encrypt USB flash drive with BitLocker

As a Windows built-in encryption tool, BitLocker Drive Encryption is the first choice for us to password protect USB flash drive. For more convenience and efficiency, we can use a third-party tool iSunshare BitLocker Genius for Windows to encrypt USB flash drive with BitLocker. It provides a more intuitive and user-friendly interface built with detailed introductions for every step and make it easier to encrypt USB flash drive with BitLocker. Here are detailed steps.

Step 1: Download this tool and install it on your PC. Then insert USB drive into the PC and launch this tool.

Step 2: On the interface, right-click the pen drive and select Turn on BitLocker option.

Step 3: Enter and confirm a password and then click save to file button to back up the recovery key as a .txt file.

Step 4: Then choose where to save the new recovery key file and click Save button.

Step 5: Click Encrypt button to start encrypting. Wait for a while until a window pops up prompting that the encryption is successful.

Step 6: Right-click the hard drive and select Lock Drive option. Finally, the pen drive is password protected with BitLocker.