Windows 10: All new documents on my desktop are getting encrypted automatically

I was playing/experimenting with file encryption Win 10 - something that is totally new to me I have never used it before. I encrypted a folder full of important docs right-mouseclick>properties>general>advanced, placed the folder in a non-system drive and created a shortcut to it from the desktop, then encrypted the shortcut too. I also created another shortcut to one individual file inside that encrypted folder from Desktop and encrypted this shortcut too I think. I also made the encrypted folder a "protected folder". That's all I can remember doing. But now all of a sudden I am discovering that all new not the old ones before the encryption experiment files/folders that I create on my Desktop are getting encrypted automatically with a "lock" symbol on them. I can decrypt them individually by going to: right-mouseclick>properties>general>advanced, but whenever I create a new file or folder - it still appears as encrypted!!!


I think I remember accidentally encrypting a "Parent" something without realizing what I was doing - while I was encrypting those first "Shortcuts" on desktop. So I went back to the folder outside the "Desktop" folder, but in the same drive they were pointing to and tried to decrypt it and also tried to decrypt my "Desktop" folder this also got encrypted somehow - by unchecking the Encryption check-box and hitting "Apply" in right-mouseclick>properties>general>advanced. My desktop folder and the other encrypted folder both are placed in the same non-system drive. But in both cases the "decryption" failed and the same dialog appeared in both cases saying -- "An error occurred applying attributes to the file: //path//...... The specified file could not be decrypted. [Ignore] [Ignore All] [Try Again] [Cancel] "


Now whenever I create a file or folder on my desktop - I get encrypted files / folders. What can I do now to get my PC back to normal???


Please help!!!

:)

 

Why all my newly created files and folders Encrypted in Desktop?

Every time I create a new folder or file and save it to my Desktop, a gold padlock icon appears on it. I tried the following steps but no use:

1. Go to C:\Users\User_Name and select Desktop folder, right click on it, select properties, then go to Advanced, unchecked the option "Encrypt the option to secure data". Then it shows one error as

"An error occurred trying to apply attributes to the file:

C:\Users\User_name\Desktop

The specific file could not be decrypted" .

2. Open an administrator command line and run "cipher /u /n" to list all the EFS files.

Then run "cipher /d "path to the file"" to decrypt all the EFS files.

Any other suggestions ?

Regards

 

Desktop is encrypting files automatically

Dear technologically savvy people,

I have no idea what I did, but now any file that goes through the desktop is automatically encrypted. If I place a photo on the desktop- encrypted, if I change the name of a file on the desktop- encrypted, saved on the desktop- encrypted.

It's a tedious process to manually click Properties>General Tab>Advanced>Deselect Encrypt data>Apply for every single file, every time it touches the desktop. I think I found the source of the problem, where under Local Disk>Users>(my username) the desktop
tab itself has a padlock on it, as shown below.





I don't know how it got there, or how to get rid of that padlock, as every time I try to click Properties>General Tab>Advanced>Deselect Encrypt data>Apply on the desktop, it gives the following error:





I used the instructions listed in a different forum:

Why Are All My Newly Created Files and Folders Encrypted?

This instructed me to use the "cipher /u /n" command in administrator mode, then "cipher /d "path to the file"" to decrypt whatever was wrong.





I know there's nothing more on the whole computer that I've encrypted. As the results show, unfortunately, nothing else encrypted was found, and nothing was decrypted.

I really don't want to create a new profile to get around it. What can I do to get my computer to stop automatically encrypting stuff?

 

Files on the desktop are always encrypted

Hello meNESS_642,

An effective encryption ensures that a data is secured and protected at all times, but this may become an issue if you only want to encrypt certain files and not all files that you are creating or saving. As a work around to resolve this issue, we recommend
that you follow the steps below:

• Press the Windows key + X, then select
  File Explorer.
• In the Address bar, enter %userprofile%.
• All the File folder paths for your user profile will show up.
• Right-click, select New and then Folder.
• Name that folder as New Desktop or name of your preference.
• Select then Right-click on the original Desktop Folder and choose
  Properties.
• Go to Location tab. In the path location, edit it and enter the new location of the new desktop folder.
  
• Click OK, then Apply.
• It will ask you to transfer all your files from that folder, if you wish to copy everything select
  Yes.
• Automatically, the new Desktop folder will take place and you’ll be able to save files without encryption.
  

Let us know how it goes.