Easily Password Protect Your Files/Folders in Ubuntu/Linux Mint

In this tutorial, we will explain for newbies how to easily password protect files or folders in Ubuntu/Linux Mint systems. You don't have to use any third-party software, we will just use the archive manager to compress the file or folder and lock it with a password so that you disallow unauthorized users from copying your contents.

Getting Started

Right click on the file(s) or folder(s) and select Compress:

In the window that will appear, select a compression format (7z, zip, tar, etc.), then click Other Options:

Enter any password of your choice, check on "Encrypt the file list too", then click Create:

You have now compressed and password-protected your file/folder. No user can now extract the archive file unless he/she provides the correct password:

More Advanced Options

If you want to prevent other users from deleting or moving the password-protected archive file you have just created, open the terminal and cd to where it is stored, then run this command:

sudo  chattr +i file-name.ext

To undo this, enter this command:

sudo  chattr -i file-name.ext

Slax 7.0.3

Tomáš Matějíček has announced the release of Slax 7.0.3, an updated release of the project's Slackware-based live CD: "A new version of Slax is available for download. This release adds several new features and fixes a few bugs as well. Probably the most interesting feature is PXE boot support and improved X auto-detection. All modern computers nowadays support PXE, which allows booting an operating system over network interface independently of data storage devices (like hard disks). Slax fully supports PXE booting now. How to do that? One computer will act as a server, so just boot Slax on it from CD or USB and make sure to have the appropriate boot menu option 'Act as PXE server' checked. Slax on the server computer will provide DHCP, TFTP and HTTP services to enable PXE booting for other computers on the network." See the full release announcement for a list of new features and changes. Download (MD5): slax-English-US-7.0.3-x86_64.iso (219MB).

Bodhi Linux 2.2.0

Jeff Hoogland has announced the release of Bodhi Linux 2.2.0, an Ubuntu-based distribution featuring the Enlightenment 0.17 window manager as the default desktop user interface: "The Bodhi team and I are very happy to present to you our 2.2.0 release - the first Bodhi images to feature the stable E17 desktop. This release is exciting for a number of reasons. To start with, we are introducing a few new things with this update release. With this release, we will now be maintaining two 32-bit install discs: one that is PAE enabled by default and one that is not. The kernel without PAE will be an older stable kernel (in this case 3.2) while the PAE enabled kernel will be the latest kernel - for 2.2.0 this means 3.7 kernel. Our 64-bit release also comes with the 3.7 kernel. These discs are also our first released images that are hybrid ISO images." See the release announcement for further details, relevant links and obligatory screenshots. Download: bodhi-2.2.0-64.iso (573MB, MD5).

Snowlinux 4

Lars Torben Kremer has announced the release of Snowlinux 4, a Debian-based distribution with MATE (a desktop environment forked from GNOME 2): "The team is proud to announce the release of Snowlinux 4 'Glacier'. Snowlinux 4 is based upon Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 'Wheezy' and uses Linux kernel 3.5. MATE 1.4 is the default desktop environment and LightDM as the new default login manager that replaces GDM 3. It includes its own greeter for LightDM. Many new features have been introduced, like snowMenu, the Snowlinux menu and snowMount, the Snowlinux mount tool for drives. The Snowlinux metal theme was colored blue and the icon set was updated with the latest Faience icons. Snowlinux now uses Pidgin as the default IM client. This release comes with Firefox 17 and Thunderbird 17, LibreOffice, Rhythmbox and Shotwell." Read the rest of the release announcement which includes a screenshot and upgrade information. Download: snowlinux-4-glacier-amd64.iso (935MB, MD5).