Zip encryption and Windows Explorer

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richardhcoctopus
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Zip encryption and Windows Explorer

Post by *richardhcoctopus »

I encrypted a zip file with Zip2 and was amazed to find if I used Windows 11 Explorer to open the file it showed all the files in the encrypted folder. True, Windows Explorer asked for a password to extract the files, but I don't want anyone to SEE what files are in the protected zip folder. Using the other options for encryption all had exactly the same result except only Zip2 allowed the extraction.
How do I keep Windows Explorer from revealing what's in the protected folder?
batchman61
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Re: Zip encryption and Windows Explorer

Post by *batchman61 »

AFAIK this is by design of encrypted zip files.
To hide file and folder details you need to zip the zip archive again, then only details of the first (inner) zip are visible.
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Dalai
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Re: Zip encryption and Windows Explorer

Post by *Dalai »

AFAIK the ZIP format doesn't allow to encrypt filenames. You can see this if you try to create a ZIP archive in 7-zip - the option to encrypt filenames will be hidden. When you try to create a 7Z archive, the option will be available. The same applies to WinRAR; the option to encrypt filenames will only be available for RAR (RAR4/RAR5) archives.

In short: Instead of a ZIP archive create a 7Z archive with 7-zip or a RAR archive with WinRAR, both of which allow to encrypt filenames.

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Dalai
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