Desktop protection and the mini vault

Protect files where they are with .filarr containers, use the mini vault, lock everything in one keystroke and clean up temporary copies.

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The desktop app can protect more than what sits inside Filarr. It can encrypt a file right where it is on your computer, lock itself when you leave, and erase the readable copies left behind by files you opened in other applications. Everything is set in Settings → Desktop protection.

Protect files in place

"Protect in place" turns a file into an encrypted .filarr container, left in the same folder of your computer. The file does not enter your Filarr vault. The container only opens with Filarr, once Filarr is unlocked. A folder becomes a single container that holds the whole folder.

You can start from several places:

  • right-click an empty spot on the home page or in a folder, then Protect files in place… or Protect a folder in place…;
  • Settings → Desktop protection, section My protected files (in place), then Protect files… or Protect a folder…;
  • the mini vault, with Protect in place…;
  • Windows File Explorer: right-click a file or a folder, then Protéger avec Filarr. This menu entry is in French, whatever your language. On Windows 11, it may sit under Show more options.

Then, in the Protect in place window:

  1. Check the list under Selected items.
  2. Under Container destination, choose Next to the original (same folder), or In a folder of my choice… and click Choose….
  3. Tick Delete the original after verification (move) if you do not want to keep the readable original.
  4. Click Protect in place.

Filarr encrypts each item and shows the result line by line: protected with the original kept, protected with the original deleted, or failed with the original kept. The original is only deleted once the container is written and checked: Filarr decrypts it and checks that it matches the original exactly.

A container made with this device's own key only opens on this device. With a synced account, it opens on all your unlocked devices.

To open a container, double-click the .filarr file. A protected file opens in its usual application, from a temporary decrypted copy. What you save goes back into the container. The temporary copy is erased when Filarr locks, if Purge temp files on lock is on. A protected folder opens in the mini vault, where you can browse it. If Filarr is locked, the container opens once you unlock it.

My protected files

Settings → Desktop protection → My protected files (in place) lists your containers. For each one:

  • Open does the same as a double-click;
  • Show in file explorer shows it in its folder;
  • Unprotect turns it back into an ordinary file;
  • Remove takes it off the list, without touching the file.

A container that you moved or renamed shows "Not found (moved or renamed?)". Click Locate… and point to its new place.

The mini vault

The mini vault is a small window for protecting files without opening all of Filarr. Open it with Ctrl+Alt+F, or with Mini vault in the Filarr menu of the notification area.

It shows whether Filarr is Locked or Unlocked, and offers:

  • a drop zone, Drag files here to protect them. You can also click it to choose files;
  • Protect in place…, which opens the window described above;
  • Recently protected, the list of your latest files. It stays hidden while Filarr is locked;
  • Lock everything and Open Filarr.

Files that you drop on the mini vault enter your vault: Filarr adds an encrypted copy to a folder named Inbox, and the original stays where it was. Protect a file… in the notification area menu does the same.

When Filarr is locked, the mini vault says "Unlocking happens in the main window." and offers Unlock.

Lock everything

Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L, from any application. Filarr locks at once. If Purge temp files on lock is on, it also erases the temporary copies. Lock everything in the notification area menu and in the mini vault does the same.

Global keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl+Alt+F and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L work across your whole system, even when Filarr is in the background. You manage them in Settings → Desktop protection → Global keyboard shortcuts:

  1. Next to Open the mini vault or Lock everything, click Edit.
  2. Press the new combination. It must include Ctrl or Alt, plus a key. Esc cancels.

If another application already uses the combination, Filarr tells you so: pick another one. The Global keyboard shortcuts switch turns both shortcuts off.

What happens when you import

When you add files to a folder from your computer (Upload Files, or drag and drop), Filarr follows the Default import behavior:

  • Copy keeps the original, unencrypted, where it is. This is the default;
  • Move to vault deletes the original once the encrypted copy is checked.

Turn on Ask on every import to choose each time. The Import into the vault window then offers Copy, Move to vault and Protect in place, with Do not ask again (changeable in Settings → Desktop protection). When you pick Move to vault in the settings, Filarr turns Ask on every import back on, so that originals are never deleted without a question.

On an SSD, erasing the original is a best effort: the drive may keep internal copies. For full protection, turn on disk encryption (BitLocker on Windows).

Lock with your computer

  • Lock with the session locks Filarr as soon as your computer session locks (Win+L, screen saver). It works on Windows.
  • Lock on sleep locks Filarr when your computer goes to sleep.

Both are on by default. The Auto-lock row on this page shows the current delay after inactivity. Click Change in Security to change it, see Lock Filarr.

Temporary files

When you open a file from the vault in another application (Open with…, then System application), Filarr writes a readable working copy on your disk while you work.

  • Purge temp files on lock, on by default, erases these copies each time Filarr locks.
  • Purge temporary files now, then Purge now, erases them right away. A file still open in its application may resist: close it, then try again.
  • Purge temporary files in the notification area menu does the same.