Hide Photos

Certain photos are not meant to be shared with everyone. Although Windows doesn't come with any file protection features, you can find many third party applications which can make up for the operating system's functionality gaps. Hide Photos allows you to store your pictures in a password-protected container, where you can view and organize them in a secure manner. The software uses a 256 AES encryption algorithm to protect your files. You can protect and access your images like in a ZIP archive, but the files won't be extracted, unless you perform this action yourself.

Hide Photos is free to try for a limited period of time. It works on Windows XP, Vista, Win 7 and Win 8 and it provides full support for both 32 and 64-bit editions. Downloading the 2 and a half MB setup package should not take too long, even with a less than spectacular Internet connection. The installation process is straightforward and it doesn't involve any complicated settings.

When launched, Hide Photos will ask you to create a new container. The software allows you to work with multiple containers, which can be created without any effort. Once you create a container, you can add your photos and manage them just like on a standard explorer window. Folders and sub-folders can be created on the left side of the user interface and you can view your photos in the central region. Right clicking an image or a selection will reveal a series of options for renaming, copying or moving them and for encrypting the files.

To encrypt a file, you only need to type and retype a password on a small window, on which you can specify a hint if you need to. Images are displayed as thumbnails, but if you encrypt them, the thumbnails will be replaced with shield icons. When you access an encrypted image, the software will ask you for its corresponding password. Once you insert the password, all images with the same password will be made accessible. Alternatively, you can type in the password in an input field, above the file list, for the same effect.

When you store your photos in a container, you can delete the originals, in Windows Explorer. Besides encrypting images in a container, you can also play slideshows, rotate images, use a search function and copy or move images to a folder outside the container.