How to Encrypt a USB Flash Drive?

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There can be a lot of reasons for encrypting a USB flash or pen drive, and it will help you to keep your data safe when it loses. Once you lose your encrypted USB flash drive, you will surely lose your files too, but if someone founds it, they might not be able to unlock it. There are several tools and programs for encrypting your flash drive to secure your private and sensitive data. VeraCrypt is one such tool that can encrypt your USB pen drive on most of the Mac, Windows, and Linux. To download, install, and use VeraCrypt, please go through this whole article.

How to Download and Install VeraCrypt on Windows?

To download and install VeraCrypt on your Windows PC, just follow the instructions mentioned down here:

Navigate to the official website of VeraCrypt.
Find the latest VeraCrypt Installer from the official website.
Navigate to its download link and then locate the downloaded installer file. It might be located in the Downloads folder of your PC.
Once you find it, make sure to launch it by double-clicking on it.
When you launch the VeraCrypt installer, you might see a prompt for confirmation, and you need to choose the Yes option to initiate the installation.
When asked, accept the program’s license agreement
Now you easily follow the onscreen instructions and prompts to finish the installation process. The default options are just okay for the straightforward installation.
Once the installation completes, the software will be ready for use.

Encrypting a USB Flash Drive Using VeraCrypta

Follow the below instructions for encrypting a USB flash drive or pen drive using the third-party VeraCrypta USB encryption tool:

Plugin the USB flash drive into the USB port of your device and then ensure that there is no data in the USB drive.
If there are any important files, then make sure to move them safely to your computer. In the USB encryption process, all data will be wiped from your removable storage device.
Now head to the VeraCrypta program that we installed in our device.
The VeraCrypta application will appear on the screen, and you will see a blank table on the top of the program’s window. The lower portion of the window will be stuffed with various radio buttons.
Choose the Create Volume button located beneath the empty table.
You will be redirected to a new window, and there you will be able to access the USB drive encryption feature. You need to click on Create a volume within a partition/drive starts the encryption process for a USB flash drive.
Now from this screen, you can either choose the Standard VeraCrypta volume and hidden volume. You should choose the Standard one unless you want to hide the data inside of your drive.
Once you choose one of the options from the current screen, you will be asked for the confirmation, and you have to press the Yes option.
You might need to enter the admin or user password to authenticate this step, and then you will be able to use and modify the storage drive.
Now choose the Yes option.
After that, you will have to choose from the encryption methods. We would recommend you to choose either from the AES and SHA-512 options.
Now set a passphrase or password that will be easy for you to remember and hard to judge for others. Keep in mind if you lost your password after enabling, then there will be the only way of unlocking the USB drive without entering the correct password.
So even if you are settings a password for your USB drive, make sure to note it down somewhere.
The software will format the encrypted partition of the drive that it makes. You should choose the FAT format for the formatting of your device.
Now you will be asked to make random patterns on your screen to encrypt the drive, and then VeraCrypt will use this pattern to make strong security. You will need to repeatedly create the same pattern until the progress bar on the screen fills entirely.
Click on Format to start the USB flash drive encryption process. You may see a final warning for your data, so allow it to format everything on your drive.
Now tap the Select Device option to choose your flash drive to mount.
You may see a list of connected USB drives now choose the USB flash drive that you want to secure and then hit OK.
Now you will see the Volume subheading, and you need to choose an empty drive slot.
Press the Mount button.
Now enter the password to unlock the flash drive.
The USB drive will be mount and display in the slot that you chose in the previous step.
The USB drive will normally work as the standard devices works.
Once you are done working on your USB drive, make sure to press the Dismount option to lock the drive back to encrypted.

Rdx Tango is a creative person who has been writing blogs and articles about cyber security. He writes about the latest updates regarding trendmicro.com/activation and how it can improve the work experience of users. His articles have been published in many popular e-magazines, blogs and websites.

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