Windows 10: Unable to access EFS Encrypted Folder even though "current user" has Certificate and Key.

Hello Team. I have a Windows 10 pc with a folder that contains photos and videos and was encrypted a year ago, the files were accessible until december when i was asked to set up windows hello and a "Pin" to enter windows after the windows 10 22H2 System Update.After the update and Windows hello setup, none of my EFS files are accessible, The Certificate, Private Key and Master Key are in my account as shown in the images below. The resulting images show what i looked though for potential solutions and details about the issue.1,When i found that the files were inaccessible, i believed it was a

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Windows 11 users are unable to open EFS encrypted files when not connected to the company network

In recent days we became aware of a behavioural issue that seems Windows 11 related. We make use of EFS encryption for the local files on user devices, but users seem to lose access to those encrypted files when they are not on the company network. As soon as the users connect to VPN or directly to the company's domain network then they have access to the encrypted files.

This is different to the Windows 10 behaviour where users always had access to their encrypted files, even if they were not connected to the company network.

We have checked that the encryption certificate with the corresponding thumbprint exists and it shows that the private key is available.

One thing that we noticed, was that the private key is not exportable while not connected to the company network. It seems the cert is there, but the private key cannot be used to decrypt data.

Has anyone seen this behaviour on Windows 11 and how can this be prevented from happening?

Currently, the workaround is to connect to the company network and export all EFS certificates with private keys from the user certificate manager. Once this is done, delete the old certificates and import the certificates from the export file. This will resolve the issue, but it's not scalable if you have hundreds of users.

 

Encrypting File System (EFS) BackUp question

Hi Carlos.

When i encrypt my first folder (Receipt) i did a EFS BackUp (BackUp the certificates and keys) to a removable disk.

But then i wonder if i should encrypt the BackUp folder (EFS BackUp).

If i lost my certificates (because of a disk failure, for example)

When i then restore the backup copy to Windows.

Can i regain access to these files if the BackUp folder is encrypted ?.

 

Cannot Access Encrypted Files After Successfully Importing Encrypting File System (EFS) Certificate

I encrypted a folder and its contents on my Windows 10 system. I then successfully backed-up (export) my EFS certificate to a thumb drive and successfully imported the EFS certificate to a Windows 7 system. I confirmed the EFS certificate did in fact install
on the Windows 7 system and is located in my Personal | Certificates folder.

However, when I attempt to test the certificate by coping several of the encrypted files from my Windows 10 system to a USB drive and then attempting to open the files on my Windows 7 system, the file will not open. Windows as added a .PFILE file extension
to each of the documents. It's my understanding the .PFILE indicates a protected file; which would be correct.

I can open the files on the USB drive without any issues on my Windows 10 system. So, I'm confused why I can't open them on my Windows 7 system since I received successful confirmations on my both the export and import of the EFS certificate.

Any suggestions?