You can use text editors to keep private notes, codes, and other sensitive data. They are simple, easy to use and do not consume a lot of system resources. However, if you save this type of data in text files, you must protect it by adding passwords and encryption.
Unfortunately, the Windows Notepadd app doesn’t allow you to password protect your text files. Fortunately, third-party Windows apps allow you to add passwords and encryption to text files. LockNote, Secure Edit and PeaZip are three free applications to protect text files with passwords.
This is how you can use these three apps to protect the information you save in text files in Windows 11/10.
How to add passwords to text files with LockNote
Steganos LockNote is a portable application that allows you to create password-protected basic text files. You can also use it to apply passwords to existing text files, making it easy to protect your information.
So this is how to use LockNote to protect your text information with a password.
- Open the Steganos LockNote download page on Softpedia.
- Click Discharge and select the Softpedia Mirror (US).
- Next, open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the folder where you downloaded the file.
- Unzip the file locknote-1.0.5-src+binary-win32.zip. You can refer to how to unzip files in Windows if you are not sure how to do it.
- Open the extracted LockNote folder.
- Double-click the LockNote application (executable) file to launch the application.
- You will now see the welcome message shown below inside LockNote. Delete that message and enter the text or notes you want to save.
- Gonna File > Save As.
- In the Save As window, navigate to the folder where you want to save your file.
- Enter a title in the file name box, then click Save.
- A password box will appear. Enter matching passwords for the file in the two text boxes.
- Click OK to save the file with the password set.
To open your password-protected text file, browse to the folder where you saved it and double-click the file. When you start your file, a password box will appear; enter the password you set and click OK to open it.
If you want to set passwords for an existing Notepad text file, open the folder that contains it, then drag and drop the Notepad file into the LockNote window. Select Yeah in the dialog box that asks about file conversion. Enter a password for the file and click OK. That will save a duplicate LockNote file in the same folder as the original text file.
You’ll probably notice that password-protected LockNote files are in the .EXE file format. This means that you don’t need to install the LockNote app to run your password-protected text file.
LockNote includes only limited text editing options. However, you can at least select a few different fonts and sizes. To do so, click the button see menu. then you can click Fountain either Font size to choose alternative text options.
How to add passwords to text files with secure editing
Like LockNote, Secure Edit embeds password and encryption features into your text file. However, it also allows you to add images in PNG and BMP format. So, this is how you can add passwords to Windows text files with Secure Edit.
- Open the Softpedia Safe Editing page.
- Select download now and choose X86 either x64 to download the portable application, depending on your system. If you are not sure, choose X86.
- Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder where you downloaded Secure Edit.
- Double click on the SecureEdit64.exe file to open the text editor (no installation required).
- First, enter a password that you want to add to the text file.
- Enter some content inside the text editor.
- Click Secure Edit Archive menu.
- Select the Save as option.
- Choose the encrypted files format in the Save as type menu.
- Fill in the file name box.
- Select a place to save your file.
- Click Save.
Close Secure Edit and open the saved file. Go to the directory that contains the file you just saved with Secure Edit and open it.
You probably need to choose an application to open the file first because Windows doesn’t recognize the format. Click on the more applications > Look for another app on this PC option. Select the SecureEdit64.exe file and click Open. You can then enter the password for the file to open it within Secure Edit.
He visual options The menu within Secure Edit includes customization options for the software. Click Options and visual options to access that menu. You can then select four alternative themes from there.
To change the text style in Safe Editing, click the Select publisher font option. You can then choose a different font, style, and size in the opened window. The Source window also includes Cross out, Underlineand Color options
How to apply passwords to Notepad text files with PeaZip
PeaZip is a free archiving utility with which you can set up password protected archives. You can apply a password to multiple Notepad text files by adding them to a password-protected file with PeaZip.
You then need to use PeaZip to open your password protected file. This is how you can create a password protected ZIP file with PeaZip:
- Open the Windows PeaZip page to download the application.
- Click on Download PeaZip to save the installer.
- Navigate to the folder containing the downloaded PeaZip setup file in Windows File Explorer.
- Open the PeaZip installer.
- Select the PeaZip setup wizard I agree radio button.
- Then keep clicking Next to install PeaZip with the default settings.
- Press the PeaZip settings window Install button.
- Click Finish to exit the PeaZip configuration window.
- Double-click the PeaZip desktop shortcut.
- Select a folder that includes some text documents within PeaZip’s navigation sidebar.
- hold the Control and select some Notepad text files to include in the file.
- press the Add button.
- Choose ZIPPER in it Guy Dropdown menu.
- Click on the Set password/key file option.
- Enter your desired password in the Password box.
- Re-enter the same password in the Confirm box.
- Select OK in it Password window.
- Click on the three dots button for the Production box. Choose a directory to include the file and select Save.
- Select OK to create the password protected file.
The file you created with the Windows ZIP extraction utility will not be accessible. To open the files it contains, open the directory that contains the file; then right click on the ZIP file and select To open with > Choose another app > Find another app. Select PeaZip in the window and click Open > OK.
Double-click a text file within the file. Then you will be asked to enter a password for it. Enter the password you set for the ZIP to open the text file in Notepad.
Secure your text files in Windows 11/10
If you share a Windows PC with other users, you need to set passwords for text files that contain private notes and sensitive details. Even if you don’t, it’s a good idea to protect your personal notes by applying a password. So check out LockNote, Secure Edit, or PeaZip to protect your most sensitive text files on Windows.
If you are a Windows 11/10 Pro and Enterprise user, you can also encrypt your text files with the additional security features included in those platform editions. BitLocker allows you to encrypt entire drives. Or you can apply AES-256 encryption to specific files in Windows 11/10 Pro and Enterprise.
