Best Free USB Encryption tools to Password Protect Your USB

Most of us love to own things that require less space and are easy to carry. Considering that we are on the go most of the times in this fast-paced life, having a portable alternative is always a big solace. So when it comes to our computer data even in that case we would rather prefer to save it in the USB drives which are compact and portable.

USB drives are the perfect solution to save or backup any digital data that can be conveniently carried wherever you go. Moreover, using these pen drives you can also transfer data between computers.

While the USB flash drives are the most popular portable storage mediums based on convenience and reliability, they are also prone to get lost, stolen or damaged. In case you had any private data in the USB  encryption of your USB drive becomes extremely important.

Encryption is a process of protecting information to prevent access by other users unless they have the password to unlock it.  in this post we will tell you about  the top free USB encryption utilities that are available to download for free online that help you to not only encrypt your data but can also be locked with a password. This will help secure your data even if you forget your device somewhere ensuring that no one is able to manipulate your confidential data.

The excellent features offered by this tool are:

• Automatic and on-the-fly encryption.
• Creating a backup with the help of the partition password reset option in case you forget your password or misplace the USB code.
• Easy to use as you can enable your first encrypted drive in just a single click.
• Offers you an unlimited number of extra encryption space.
• Allows you to use a USB drive to access all the protected disks automatically
• Lets you keep a secured partition on a USB drive and then use it on any PC.
• Enables you to open the secured documents directly from the MS Word or Excel
• Does not need you to have administrator privileges to use your virtual drive on a USB
• Allows you to expand a virtually encrypted partition anytime
• Conceals you’re your protected disk in a media container like MP3, WMA, AVI and others.

Price: Free

Compatibility: All Windows versions

 

USB Flash Security

USB Flash Security features are as under:

• It is a lightweight application that is very efficient and useful in saving data
• Gets installed super quick
• Works with any USB stick type
• Requires admin rights for PC use

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows XP, Windows 2003

 

USB Safeguard

SB Safeguard features are as under:

• Data is strongly protected and can be only recovered with the correct key
• Encrypted partitions has a limit of up to 2GB for the free edition
• Functions right from the drive and hence does not require to be installed
• No requirement of admin rights
• User-friendly with a compact size of just 535.5KB

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10

 

DiskCryptor

Feature of open-source application DiskCryptor are as under:

• The file size is as small as 590 KB
• Helps encrypt all drives
• Easy to use application
• CDS, DVDs, and internal drives can also be encrypted containers. 
• Supports different types of algorithms like Twofish and AES
• Functions on both 32 bit and 64 bit Windows system
• Offers a detailed Home page with abundance of information

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows 7, Windows 8 Desktop, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows XP/windows 10

 

StorageCrypt

Here are some features of this utility:

• Provides 128 bit AES encryption.
• Allows you to create passwords up to 50 characters
• Portable and does not need any installation
• Offers encryption of external drive.

Price: Free

Compatibility: All Windows platforms

 

Gili USB Stick Encryption

Gili USB Stick Encryption’s excellent feature are 

• This is easy to use.
• This is complete tool for USB device protection.
• This can create a partition between the external drive post encryption
• Can Convert normal USB drive into a protected drive quickly
• This can encrypt secure area data by on-the-fly 256-bit AES
• Can be installed and uninstalled fast
• Alerts you on the password strength
• Removes everything on the USB stick during the installation process.

Price: Free trial period with a maximum limit of 10 usages

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

 

SafeHouse Explorer

SafeHouse Explorer features are as under:

• It is a portable tool that is easy to carry and compact enough to fit into a USB flash drive
• Can protect file that are saved on any drive like  CDs and DVDs, external USB drives, memory sticks, iPods and even network servers
• Creates hidden secret storage zones on external media device or local hard drive to store your private data
• Files are completely hidden unless password entered which can be then accessed using the drag-and-drop feature.

Price: Free

 

VeraCrypt

Here are some features of VeraCrypt are:

• Creates password locked disk volumes that are encrypted with encrypted algorithms like, Twofish, AES, and Serpent
• Encrypted volumes can be protected with the help of key files and passwords

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP; Mac OS X 10.6 and above, Linux

 

LaCie Private-Public

LaCie Private-Public is simple software, here are some feature

• Easy to use
• Does not need to be installed
• Allows you to protect your private that includes, images, passwords, documents and other confidential information
• Reliable and super quick

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Mac OS X 10.5–10.9, Windows 10

 

Kakasoft USB Security

Kakasoft USB Security features are:

• The tool installs itself on its own on the USB drive and can be set to function automatically each the device is plugged in
• Along with USB drives, it also supports other devices like memory cards and external drives
• At the mere specification of the encryption password, the utility will encrypt the drive completely along with any other data inside it
• You can access the encrypted data by the same procedure of unlocking with password and mounting via the app.

Price: Free download available up to 1.5MB

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

 

BitLocker To Go

BitLocker To Go is a Microsoft Windows utility. Some features of this utility are:

• It is extremely easy to use application
• USB drives are encrypted via the 256-bit AES algorithm
• A forgotten password can be recovered using the automatically generated recovery key that can be saved in a file or can be synchronized with Microsoft account
• Provides a reliable method of USB data encryption

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows 8.1 Pro and Windows 8.1 Enterprise editions

iSafe USB Security

iSafe USB Security features are:

• Prevents your sensitive data to be stolen with solid encryption
• Offers standalone EXE data security
• No installation needed
• Data is automatically encrypted and gets decrypted only when used
• The USB devices play automatically on plugging in
• Easy to use and offers innovative features

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7/8/10

 

File Secure Free

File Secure Free features are:

• Uses AES encryption algorithm of military standard
• The USB drive can be locked with a password
• Backup files and folders with File Backup feature and store them on your preferred location or on external hard drives.

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/ Windows 10

 

SecurStick

Here is list of features of SecurStick:

• Does not require an administrator to run the app on your workstation
• Even though the web page is in German, you can get it translated using the Google translation option located at the top right-hand corner
• Apart from English and German, the web page can also be read in Italian

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows XP/Vista/7/10

 

Cryptainer LE

Some features of this utility are:

• Creates an encrypted disk volume that helps save any type of information
• Offers a simple option to drag and drop the data you want to be protected
• Works perfectly well with both 32 bit and 64-bit versions
• There is a mobile version that can encrypt data on any media including USB drives, Flash Disk, and CD-ROMS
• Help to send secure emails
• Absolutely free of cost that never expires

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, 2003 Server, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10

 

Rohos Mini Drive

Rohos Mini Drive excellent features are:

• Your confidential data can be password protected and encrypted
• Offers on-the-fly and automatic encryption
• Lets you use an encrypted partition on any computer without the need of installing the software
• Secures sensitive information located in the registry, temp folders, recent list of documents and more
• Allows you to protect the hotkeys to an encrypted disk from a keylogger
• There are 8GB limitation in the free version

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows 7/ 8/10