Blog · Guide · October 2, 2026

How to keep files private on a shared family PC (Windows 11)

One computer in the living room, used by everyone. The kids do homework on it, a partner checks email, a relative borrows it for a weekend — and somewhere on it are your tax papers, medical letters or private photos. Here's what actually keeps those files private, what only looks like it does, and a setup that takes ten minutes.

What doesn't work: hiding files

Right-click → Properties → Hidden makes a file disappear from File Explorer — until someone opens View → Show → Hidden items, which takes two clicks. Many “folder lock” tricks and free “password protect folder” tools do the same thing in a fancier way: the files are hidden or moved, not encrypted. Anyone who knows where to look, or who boots the PC from a USB stick, can read them.

Step 1: give everyone their own Windows account

This is the single most useful change, and it's free. Open Settings → Accounts → Other users (or Family) and add an account for each person. Make the other accounts standard users, not administrators.

• Good: each person gets their own desktop, Documents folder and browser. A standard user can't open the files in your user folder.
• Catch: anyone with an administrator account can still get into other users' folders, and so can someone who takes the drive out of the PC. If everyone shares one login, this step does nothing.

Step 2: lock the PC when you walk away

Press Windows key + L every time you leave the computer. It takes a second and stops anyone sitting down at your open account. Windows can also lock automatically after a few minutes: Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options, then set when Windows asks you to sign in again, or turn on Dynamic lock to lock when your paired phone walks away.

Step 3: encrypt the files that really matter

Separate accounts keep honest people out. Encryption keeps everyone out — other users, administrators, a repair shop, and anyone who takes the drive out — because without your password the files are just noise.

On Windows 11 Home there's no BitLocker or EFS, so use a file-encryption app. With Clavis:

1. Install Clavis in your own Windows account. It installs just for you, with no administrator rights, so other family accounts don't see it.
2. Create your vault with a password nobody else in the house knows, and keep the recovery key somewhere safe.
3. Right-click your private files → Show more options → Clavis → Encrypt. They become .enc files with random names, so even the file names give nothing away.

Clavis locks itself when you lock Windows, switch user or put the PC to sleep, and after a few minutes without use — so a file you were working on doesn't stay open for the next person. Clavis Free encrypts files one at a time; Clavis Pro encrypts whole folders and can keep secure notes for things like PINs and passwords.

What each step protects against

The ten-minute setup: separate accounts for everyone, Windows + L as a habit, and your most private files encrypted. If your PC supports it, also turn on Device encryption for the drive itself.

Questions