In today's post, we will explore a relatively simple way to search, find and list all your EFS encrypted and as well as compressed Files / Folders in Windows 10. You will find this handy guide essentially useful if you are encrypting and / or compressing most of your EFS files and folders, which, over time, accumulate considerably and are scattered to various locations on your PC. Hard disk / SSD. In this case, you may need to run a command, which will scan the drive or specified locations throughout your computer, to list and present these files and folders, which you can now easily view in one go. look.
When you encrypt a file or folder with EFS in Windows 10, its icon is covered with a lock in the upper right corner to indicate that it is an EFS encrypted file or folder. NTFS readers and is protected against unwanted access. When you compress files and folders on an NTFS drive, a double blue arrow icon is superimposed in the upper right corner to indicate that they are compressed. The compression of the NTFS file system can save disk space. Data compression can have a negative impact on performance.
When you run a command to search, search, and list all compressed and encrypted EFS files on Windows 10, you can specify whether the result will be displayed in the command-line interface or whether it should be exported to a .txt file, which you can read with any text editor. , like Notepad.
Find and list EFS encrypted files and folders on Windows 10
1) To search and display a list in the command line interface
Press the Windows + R keys and type CMD in the dialog box, press Enter to launch a command prompt.
In the prompt, type the following command and press Enter:
cipher /u /n /h
Depending on the volume of encrypted files, Windows will now take some time to scan all local NTFS drives of all encrypted files belonging to the currently logged in user and display a list in the command prompt.
If you do not have any encrypted files, the result will be the same as the one shown above.
2) To search and export a list in a .txt file
Open the command prompt
In the prompt, type the following command and press Enter:
cipher /u /n /h > %UserProfile%DesktopEncryptedFilesList.txt
When the scan command is complete, the list is exported to your desktop in a file named EncryptedFilesList.txt. You can double-click on the file to display the list.
Find and list compressed files and folders in Windows 10
1) To find and display the list in the command line interface
Press the Windows + R keys and type CMD in the dialog box, press Enter to launch a command prompt.
In the prompt, type the following command and press Enter:
compact /s:""
Replace <Directory path> place-holder in the command with the full path of the folder and drive on which you want to search for compressed files and folders, as well as its subfolders. For example:
compact /s:"C:UsersChidum.OsobaluVideos"
Depending on the volume of compressed files, the execution of the command takes a long time, and then a list appears in the command prompt.
2) To search and export a list in a .txt file
Use this option if you have a long list of compressed files and folders to examine in a text file.
Open the command prompt
In the prompt, type the following command and press Enter:
compact /s:"" > "%UserProfile%DesktopCompressed_Files_Folders_List.txt"
Replace <Directory path> place-holder in the command with the full path of the folder and drive on which you want to search for compressed files and folders, as well as its subfolders. For example:
compact /s:"C:UsersChidum.OsobaluDocuments" > "%UserProfile%DesktopCompressed_Files_Folders_List.txt"
When the scan command is complete, the list is exported to your desktop in a file named Compressed_Files_Folders_List.txt.
Trust this help to list and view at a glance all your encrypted and compressed EFS files / folders.