how to decrypt encrypted files in windows 7

There might only be one, but if not, the only certificates you are interested in are the ones that have Encrypting File System listed under Intended Purposes. You should see all the certificates listed in the right pane. Now expand Personal and then click on Certificates.

In Windows 7, you can also type in certmgr.msc and press Enter to open the certificate manger. The first way is to click on Start and type in certificate.Ĭlick on Manage user certificates and this will open up the certificates for the current user. There are a couple of ways to backup file encryption certificates and I’ll mention them below. If you can still access the computer where the data was originally encrypted, you can try exporting the certificate and then importing it on a different machine. Unfortunately, there is no way around this since the encryption is very strong and cannot be broken easily. You should definitely do this immediately. If you do not have these encryption keys, you will not be able to decrypt the data. In Windows 7 and higher, you’ll actually get a prompt asking you to backup your encryption key (EFS certificate).

How to decrypt encrypted files in windows 7