How to Store Secure Documents on Your Computer

If this were the 20th century, we’d be shoving our physical documents into an iron safe and spinning the combination lock. But, as we’re in the 21st century — the information age, where are we supposed to store our most important documents when many of them are digital?

Let’s take a deep dive into storing files, such as medical records and financial documents, on your computer to help you keep sensitive information away from prying eyes.

Why Store Secure Documents Differently?

Isn’t it safe enough to store your tax and medical files in your computer’s Documents folder? Perhaps, but your information may not be as secure. It is possible that nearly anyone with a bit of knowledge can gain access to your documents and sensitive information , even if your user account is password protected.

We’ll walk you through a few ways to keep your digital documents a bit more secure, and give you tips on how to beef up your computer’s overall security.

Securing Your Computer With Encryption

Let’s start with the basics.

Your computer stores its files on either a traditional hard drive or a modern Solid State Drive. We won’t go into the details of these two technologies, just know that your important documents are placed on these internal drives so you can easily access them later . But, we want to ensure that only those with a password can access those files and no one else — that is where encryption comes into play.

When you encrypt a drive on your computer, you ensure that the contents of that drive can only be accessed by someone with a password. Encryption works even if someone decides to rip your drive out of your computer and hook it up to another machine for inspection . That’s why it is essential for storing important documents.

In some circumstances, your computer will automatically enable drive encryption; however, here is how to ensure that your computer’s drive is encrypted on both macOS and Windows.