Guías

How to password-protect an archive on Windows and Mac

Built-in tools can’t properly protect an archive with a password. Here’s why — and how to do it right with AES-256 encryption.

What your system can do

• Windows. File Explorer creates ZIP and 7z archives, but without a password.
• macOS. Terminal has zip -e -r archive.zip folder. It sets a password, but uses the old ZipCrypto encryption, which can be broken.

How to protect an archive properly

Choose AES-256 encryption — the modern standard that can’t be opened without the password. Peak Zip encrypts archives with it.

1. Select your files and create an archive in Peak Zip.
2. Set a password.
3. Check that the archive opens with that password.

Password tips

• A long phrase of several words is stronger than a short complex password.
• Send the password through a different channel than the archive: the archive by email, the password by messenger.
• Keep the password in a password manager. Without it, nobody can recover the archive — not you, not us.

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