Windows 10: Decrypting\Regaining access to encrypted files from old PC?

Hi,I have some files from my old PC on my secondary HDD that are encrypted by Windows 10. I formatted my primary SSD and my secondary HDD moved to another PC. Now I lost access to those files. Is there any way of regaining access to them or decrypting them?

:)

 

Help accessing encrypted files (Error: 0x80071771: The specified file could not be decrypted)

Hi DesignerJo0314,

EFS or Encrypting File System on Windows is designed to protect your confidential data from threats or attackers that have access to your computer. Once a file is encrypted, a recovery key or certificate is required to access
it on a different device. This means that the file can only be accessed on the same machine and same user account it was encrypted to.

Here are the ways on how to access the encrypted file on a different computer or user profile:

1. Decrypt the file before moving it to the new computer. You can encrypt the file to the new user profile once the transfer is complete.
   
2. Move the encrypted file to the new computer including the certificate or key.

Apparently, the only way to access the encrypted file on your new computer is to have the certificate or key. If you still have the old laptop, you can try to connect the hard drive to your new computer and decrypt the file.

Feel free to post back if you have other questions.

 

Regarding encryption and decryption of my files

I have actually encrypted few files in my old windows 10 pc and unknowingly i have deleted its certificate(key) but i had my onedrive account in that old pc while encrypting and i can't decrypt the files in my new PC

Is there any possible way to decrypt my files please it contains few important files in it please give me a solution for this

 

Windows encrypted files moved to linux (.pfile)

Hi, I’m Nicole, I’ll be happy to help you out today.

The .PFILE extension is used for files that have been encrypted using the built-in encryption feature in Windows. It sounds like the files were not decrypted before they were moved to the Linux PC and then moved back to the Windows 11 PC.

To regain access to the files, you will need to decrypt them. Here are the steps you can take to decrypt the files:

Right-click on the encrypted folder and select Properties.

Click on the Advanced button.

Uncheck the "Encrypt contents to secure data" checkbox.

Click OK and then Apply.

Windows will prompt you to back up your encryption certificate and key. It is important to back up this information in case you need to encrypt the files again in the future.

After the files are decrypted, they should be accessible again.

It's important to note that if you don't have the encryption certificate and key, you will not be able to decrypt the files.

You should also make sure that the files haven't been corrupted during the transfer process,

Regards.