| cipher |
Displays or modifies the encryption state of files and directories on NTFS volumes.
cipher [/e | /d] [/s:directory] [/a] [/i] [/f] [/q] [/h] [/k] [/u[/n]] [pathname [...]] cipher /r:pathnamewithoutextension cipher /w:pathname cipher /x[:pathname] pathnamewithoutextension
None
Lists encryption state of current directory and its files.
pathname [...]
Specifies files or directories to be processed.
/e
Encrypts specified directories.
/d
Decrypts specified directories.
/s:directory
Recursively processes all subdirectories in specified directory (can't be used more than once in a single command).
/a
Processes specified files. (If there is no matching file, the switch is ignored.)
/i
Ignores errors during processing.
/f
Forces encryption/decryption of specified files even if they have already been encrypted/decrypted.
/q
Switches to quick (nonverbose) output.
/h
Shows files with Hidden or System attributes. (These files aren't encrypted or decrypted.)
/k
Creates a new EFS key for the current user (use this switch alone).
/u
Updates all encrypted files with new file encryption key or recovery agent key (use this switch by itself or with /n)
/n
When used with /u, this option finds all encrypted files on local drives.
/r:pathnamewithoutextension
Generates a new recovery agent certificate and private key, which are then written to the specified file (this option must be used by itself).
/w:pathname
Removes data stored on unused portions of a volume (this option must be used by itself).
/x[:pathname] pathnamewithoutextension
Identifies and backs up certificates and private keys used by EFS for currently logged-on user, with the resulting file having a .pfx extension.
View the encryption state of files and directories in the root of H: drive:
cipher h:\* Listing h:New files added to this directory will not be encrypted. U doc1.txt E doc2.txt U pub
Encrypt the
pub folder shown earlier:
cipher /e h:\pub Encrypting directories in h:pub [OK] 1 directorie(s) within 1 directorie(s) were encrypted.
New files added to
pub now will be encrypted. To encrypt only the file
doc3.txt in
pub :
cipher /e /a h:\pub\doc3.txt Encrypting files in h:\pubdoc3.txt [OK] 1 file(s) [or directorie(s)] within 1 directorie(s) were encrypted.
Wildcards work with files but not directories.
You can't encrypt system or compressed files.
Files and Folders