Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to encrypt your Google Sheets documents? Well, the answer is both yes and no. Wait, how is that possible? You see, my friends, Google hasn’t yet provided a built-in password protection feature for its Google Docs or Sheets users. However, there are scripts and third-party solutions available to encrypt your Google Sheets or Docs before downloading them. So, it is possible to protect your Google folders, just not directly.
This article is written to help Google Drive users stay more secure online. While Google has a robust AES security system, cloud storage spaces remain vulnerable to threats and risks. Since it’s better to be safe than sorry, scroll down and discover how to encrypt your Google Docs or Sheets.
How to Password Protect Google Docs/Sheets
Google may not allow you to simply password protect your files like Word or Adobe, but there are many third-party scripts and built-in features you can use to password protect your Google Docs/Sheets. Here are some methods:
Setting up Password Protection for Google Sheets/Documents
To password protect your Google Sheets or Docs, you need to use third-party tools. There are various different third-party tools available to password protect Google Docs or Sheets, but for this tutorial, we will use Skipser.
Here’s how to password protect your Google Docs or Sheets:
Step 1. Go to Skipser from your web browser.
Step 2. Download a ProtectedSheet template and enter your data starting from the third row.
Step 3. Go to Tools > Select Script Editor, which will open in a new window.
Step 4. Then, open the dropdown menu next to Deploy and click on the Manage deployments option.
Step 5. Click on Create deployment in the Configuration section, and then click on the Deploy button.
Step 6. Grant access, and you’re done.
How to Protect Files on Google Sheet
Congratulations, you have password protected your Google Sheets/Docs. Now, all you need to do is encrypt your Google Sheets/Docs to secure your files. To do this, follow these steps:
Step 1. Open the spreadsheet template again.
Step 2. In the top menu, click on the “Protect file” option.
Step 3. A dropdown menu will appear, select the “Encrypt file” option.
Step 4. Another popup window will appear, enter a password to protect your file and click OK. From now on, you will need to enter this same password every time you open your Google spreadsheet.
How to Decrypt Files
Once you have password protected your Google Docs/Sheets file, you can no longer access it on your phone as before. This is a small price to pay for strong encryption. However, to decrypt your files, simply follow these steps:
Step 1. Open your password-protected file.
Step 2. In the top navigation menu, click on the “Protect file” option.
Step 3. Choose “Decrypt file”.
Step 4. Enter your password in the popup window.
Step 5. You can now view and edit your file.
Step 6. Once you’re done, remember to go to the “Protect file” option and click on “Encrypt file” to protect your file.
How to Encrypt Google Sheets/Documents Before Downloading
Now that you know how to encrypt your Google Docs or Sheets once they are downloaded to Google Drive, what if you want to encrypt them before downloading? In that case, you need to use powerful data encryption software stored on your computer, which is always a safer option. Let’s see how to encrypt Google Sheets/Docs before downloading them:
Method 1: Encrypt Google Drive Folder with EaseUS LockMyFile
EaseUS LockMyFile is a fantastic tool that can encrypt, hide, and lock files/folders on your internal and external drives. This program offers military-grade encryption to encrypt your Google Sheets/Docs.
Simply download the software to your computer, and you can securely encrypt your files before uploading them to Google Drive. In addition to the ability to encrypt your files, the software offers many other features, such as:
- Compatible with all major versions of Windows, including Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/7/8/10/11.
- Password protect files/folders on a local disk, LAN network, or USB drive.
- It can hide your files even in Windows safe mode.
- Protect your files and folders from unauthorized access without a password.
- Monitor a disk, folder, or file to check for changes made by a user.
- Restrict access to files on a shared network.
- Encrypt Google files or folders in GFL and EXE format using AES encryption algorithm.
- Easily recover your lost password with your registered email address.
- Use the program’s log viewer to check your complete operation history.
- The program can hide in invisible mode that no one can uninstall without a password.
Here’s how you can use EaseUS LockMyFile to password protect and encrypt your Google Sheets/Docs before uploading them:
Step 1. Enter “easeus” to launch EaseUS LockMyFile, register with a valid email address and license code.
Step 2. Click on “File Encryption” under “Other Tools” > Click on “Add Files” or “Add Folders”.
Step 3. Select the important files or folders you want to encrypt, and then click “Open”.
Step 4. Choose the encryption mode: “Encrypt to GFL” or “Encrypt to EXE”.
Step 5. Browse to a safe location on your PC, rename the encrypted file or folder, and click “Save” to save the encrypted files/folders.
Method 2: Encrypt Google Drive Folder with Word or Acrobat
If you are using Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat, you have built-in encryption features within the software. You can quickly password protect your files and then easily upload them to your Google Drive.
With Microsoft Word, you can encrypt your Google Sheets/Docs as follows:
Step 1. Open the document you want to password protect > Go to the File menu > Info tab > Select “Protect Document” > “Encrypt with Password”.
Step 2. Enter a password to protect your files and confirm it.
Step 3. Your document will now look like this:
For Adobe Acrobat, password protecting PDF files is also straightforward before uploading them to Google Drive. The steps to encrypt files with Acrobat are as follows:
Step 1. Open the PDF file > Select Tools > Protect > Encrypt > Encrypt with Password.
Step 2. Click Yes, then enter the password to protect your files.
Step 3. From the dropdown menu, select the compatible Acrobat version.
Step 4. Enter your chosen password again, and you’re done.
In Conclusion
So, what if Google doesn’t allow you to directly encrypt your Google Docs/Sheets? There are so many other simple and powerful options available to password protect your files, such as EaseUS LockMyFile.
Among all the methods discussed, EaseUS LockMyFile is the best tool to encrypt your Google Sheets/Docs. The software can hide, lock, and encrypt data on your computer, LAN network, or USB drive. You’ll get a comprehensive security solution with this program. To test EaseUS LockMyFile, you can book the free trial today and fully protect your internal and external files or folders.
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