How to secure your files with OneDrive Personal Vault
Microsoft OneDrive now has what’s called a Personal safe, and from what we can tell, this is a great place to save your personal files. Personal safe encrypts all downloaded files, but that’s not all, because it takes advantage of two-factor authentication. Now, the functionality has become accessible to everyone last year and is accessible on PC, mobile devices and on the Web.
Secure your files with OneDrive Personal Vault
The software giant has created this section primarily on the basis of security. It’s more secure than other sections of OneDrive, so, for those who have sensitive files, the best place to store them is in the personal safe.
When it’s time to access the personal safe, users must log in using two-factor authentication, fingerprint authentication, Windows Hello, PIN code, or even face authentication. After 20 minutes of inactivity, the safe will lock, forcing the user to re-authenticate once more.
Also, if you prefer to access the personal safe via the website, the web browser will never cache the page.
We must point out that on Windows 10, the personal vault stores and encrypts files via Bitlocker-encrypt. It will work the same way even if Windows Home is used, and as we already know, the Home version of Windows 10 is not supported by Bitlocker.
In addition, files stored in the personal safe cannot be shared with anyone, so it’s another level of security right away.
- Microsoft 365 is required for the best experience
- Let’s see how to use the personal safe
1]Microsoft 365 is required for the best experience
That’s it, the free version of OneDrive supports the personal vault, but users can only store three files in it. A smart person could download multiple files into three ZIP files and store them in the vault, but if that is not enough, the best option is to subscribe to Microsoft 365.
By subscribing, you get the luxury of storing an unlimited number of files in the personal safe without having to do the ZIP trick.
2]Let’s see how to use the personal safe
In terms of the end use of the safe, well, it’s super easy. From the Windows 10 operating system, click on the OneDrive folder located in the file explorer, then scroll down until you come across Personal Vault.
Launch the safe, then go through the installation process which should not take much time. The process includes a little description as shown in the image below, but the rest is fairly straightforward.
After clicking the blue button that says Next, you should then be taken to a small window that asks the user to verify their identity. Click this button, and from there, a new window should appear with several ways to identify yourself.
From the images below, you can see that we have options such as verification by email or phone number. These are regular two-factor authentication options, but you might not be like us, so keep an eye out for Windows Hello if it’s something you’re using.
When the verification is finished, the OneDrive Personal Vault folder will open automatically, so you just need to add any file you want, and immediately the system will add the encryption To lock the folder, you can remain inactive for 20 minutes , or on the right -click from the safe and select “Lock personal safe”.
Keep in mind that after the installation process, two-factor authentication is required to log in
Then read: How to use OneDrive to access your files on your Windows 10 PC
