File Encryption Software

Review: NordLocker (File Encryption Software)

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NordLocker is a simple and easy to use program to encrypt your files.

I use Nord Locker myself to encrypt a lot of the data on my computer. For example I encrypt most of my documents folder and everything related to this website with the program.

Despite me being quite a technical person, I always prefer simple user interfaces and luckily NordLocker is very easy! It has the best looking user interface in my opinion and is very intuitive. Your data is very secure inside a ‘locker’ because you can only access the files through Nord Locker, meaning you don’t need to decrypt and re-encrypt files constantly like you have to with other programs.

NordLocker cleverly deals with saving files back to the lockers. For example if you have a photoshop file in there, you can still open it in photoshop, edit the file and then click save. For me NordLocker even worked with InDesign, which requires external file links. I don’t know what the extent of it’s automation is in terms of external files within the NordLocker but you should test it for what you need. I’ve also edited document and simple text files, both of which save back into NordLocker without a problem. The only case I discovered where I wasn’t able to save back into NordLocker was with Windows’ image viewer (after I annotated an image). You shouldn’t have too many problems with using NordLocker in this way because I think the way it works is by mounting volumes or ‘lockers’ inside the application’s directory. If that sounds a bit technical don’t worry. Just be aware that while data may be exposed temporarily to your own system while you have the locker unlocked, it is removed as soon as you close or lock the program.

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One thing that bothers me about Nord Locker however is that it doesn’t work as well with Windows 10’s built in image viewer. When you store a folder of images inside NordLocker, you can view images in the image viewer but no longer use the previous and next buttons. One way around this limitation is to use XnView or another image viewing software as your default image application on Windows, then you can navigate through your image gallery as you please. However I’d prefer to see a built in image viewer for NordLocker so that I don’t have to worry about that.

You can use Nord Locker for free to encrypt up to 2 GB worth of stuff and the paid unlimited usage version isn’t very expensive at all. I highly recommend it. They also have a one of the best VPN services, it’s called NordVPN.

Pros

  • Free version available
  • Great user interface
  • Very easy to use
  • Works with all of the file types I tried, even multimedia
  • It’s cheap to buy premium
  • Windows and Mac OS are supported
  • Quite easy to use with cloud services
  • Share options are easy to use
  • Very strong encryption

Cons

  • Only 2 GB of storage in free version
  • No linux support or mobile apps
  • Share file size is lower in free version
  • Can’t use all image viewers to look through galleries
  • Anonymous usage monitoring is on by default (though this apparently can’t be linked to you).

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Score: 7 / 10

Reviewer: Adam Rouge

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