You will now come to the following screen: There is an option to “manage ransomware protection. Scroll all the way down to the last option called “Ransomware protection”. It will look something like this: Once in Windows Security: Click on Windows Security from the results. Now type “windows security” into the search box. In Windows 11, on the taskbar click the search icon (this has a magnifying glass and is labelled “search”). In Windows 10, you will find the search box in the taskbar (next to the Start button). Then select either Update & Security > Windows Security in Windows 10 or Privacy & Security > Windows Security in Windows 11

Click Start > Settings on your computer.

Then, simply locate and select the shield icon labeled “Windows Security.”

Navigate to the left side of your taskbar and click on the upward-pointing arrow.

Open Windows SecurityĪccessing Windows Security is the only way to turn it on, but this is easy to do in Windows 10 and 11 using one of these three methods below: Once activated, you can select which applications you want to add to the controlled folder whitelist, in addition to the ones that will be protected by default when you initially turn Controlled Folder Access on. That means, if you want to protect against ransomware using this feature, you’ll have to activate it. How to Set Up Controlled FoldersĬontrolled folder access is not turned on by default. This will allow reports to be produced about controlled folder access and any alerts that are triggered. It’s advisable to use Microsoft Defender with controlled folder access to get the most out of it.

This means non-approved applications and malware are not allowed to access your files. This is achieved by assessing each application against a list of trusted applications that have been pre-approved. The Final Score: Ransomware protection on Windows using Controlled Folder AccessĬontrolled folder access provides an added layer of protection for your treasured documents, safeguarding them from malicious programs and ransomware attacks.

Unintended consequences of controlled folder access.

Warnings in using Microsoft’s Controlled Folder Access.

Removing an application from the whitelist.

Whitelist applications to use protected folders.

Removing a folder from Controlled Folder Access.

Don’t stop here- you need to add other folders.

Windows folder protection