Protect Your Google Docs in 2023: A Step-by-Step Guide to Password Protecting Your Sensitive Information

Among the most effective tools for collaborative effort is Google Docs, but you cannot password-protect your papers using it. It’s crucial to secure the privacy of your data because it facilitates collaborations and simultaneous entry from numerous places anywhere in the globe. So, today, this article will explain how to password-protect a Google Doc in order to provide security to your documents.

By encrypting your Google Docs with a password, you can prevent outsiders or criminals from accessing your data. We’ve discussed a couple of methods in this post for password-protecting your Google Docs documents.

The Procedure to Secure Google Docs with a Password in Word

While submitting your word doc to Google Docs, you may further secure it by giving it a password using Microsoft Word. Your paper will receive additional security in just two basic steps if you have Microsoft Office loaded on your pc or laptop. And that is how you can achieve it:

Step 1: Need to Encrypt your Word file

  • You should first open the word document you wish to password-protect. Then, you need to select “File,” followed by “Info.”  A drop-down menu labeled “Protect Document” may be found there and then you can select “Encrypt with Password” by clicking on it.
  • It will open a window from where you will pick a secure password, then write it down in a secure location.

Keep in mind that you won’t be capable of obtaining the paper if you miss the password.

Step 2: submit it to Google Docs

  • After password-protecting your Word doc, submit it to Google Docs or Drive the same way you would any other file.
  • If you submit a password-protected word doc to Google Docs, Google won’t be capable of viewing it, therefore you can not make adjustments. The only way to alter it is to download it, decode it, make your changes, re-encrypt it, and then submit it to Google Docs.

How Can You Utilize Acrobat to Password Protect Google Docs?

You may add an additional degree of security to your Pdf file by password-protecting it in Acrobat before publishing it to Google Docs, just like you can with a word document. So because the free app of Acrobat does not provide this function, you can only accomplish this if you possess Acrobat Pro. And here is how to utilize Acrobat Pro to password-protect your PDF file:

Step 1: Need To Encrypt your PDF file

  • First of all, you will have to launch Acrobat Pro and view your PDF file. Afterward, you can select “File,” followed by “Password Protect.”
  • To make your password harder to decipher, use unusual characters, digits, and a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters.

Step 2: Need to upload it to Google Docs

  • Submit your PDF file to Google Docs after you’ve secured it with a password. Since you won’t be able to retrieve your passcode, don’t hesitate to write it down somewhere secure.
  • Additionally, you cannot access to see or modify your paper in Google Docs, so if you need to access the PDF file or make any modifications you’ll need to download it first.

The Procedure to Utilize Software To Password Protect Google Docs at Free of Cost?

Your Google Docs may be password-protected by putting them in a secured container. VeraCrypt may be downloaded at no cost in order to accomplish this.

You must comprehend how the program functions prior to you acquiring it. VeraCrypt is essentially a virtual portable flash drive using which you may create password-protected partitions or bins that you can install and use on several systems. When you’re finished with them, you may remove them from that gadget.

How then can you connect it to Google Drive or Google Docs is the dilemma. During explaining the process, we’ll clarify this to everyone.

You may go to VeraCrypt’s online web page and immediately acquire it by downloading it. Now, all you need to do is to follow these procedures after downloading and installing the software:

Step 1: Decide on the Volume Size and Location

  • First of all, you need to click on “Create Volume” in VeraCrypt after it has been launched.
  • You will then be presented with a new window where you may select “Create an encrypted file container.”
  • By doing this, you’ll be able to establish an encrypted container into which you may import any drives, folders, or documents that require password protection.
  • Now, you can select the “Next” option in order to proceed further. Then you have to just pick the “Standard VeraCrypt Volume” option.
  • You may also select “Hidden VeraCrypt volume” to store your documents and folders inside of another VeraCrypt volume without having their volume displayed on the first.
  • In the further step, you will select “Next”, after which you will now be prompted by VeraCrypt to select a destination for the volume. Choose any place you desire to keep, then hit “Next.”
  • VeraCrypt will prompt you to select a disc size or volume when you press “Next.” The volume or size that is allowed will be shown beneath the volume selection button.

Step 2: Proceed to password-protect the volume

You will be prompted to enter a password after choosing a size. Keep in mind you make use of a password that combines special characters, numerals, and both lowercase and uppercase letters.

  • After doing all this, a popup will appear once you click “Next”. Then you need to put the cursor over it, then drag it continuously until the bottom bar is completely filled.
  • The creation of your volume will begin once you press the “Format” button.

Step 3: Continue mounting the volume

  • Now, you can hit “Exit” to leave the volume and return to the main VeraCrypt window. From there, you have to choose a Drive, then select “Mount.”
  • In the next stage, you’ll be prompted for a password by VeraCrypt. Click “Next” after entering the password, and your disc will be prepared.

Step 4A: Need To Upload the files that must be password-protected

  • Visit “My PC,” where you may view the volume as a Local Disk. Launch it, then insert the files that need password protection.
  • Pick the volume, then click “Dismount,” to unmount the disc from VeraCrypt. After this, the Local Drive won’t exist anymore.

Step 4B: Need to Upload the Local Drive to Google Drive

  • You may submit the volume to Google Drive if you want to collaborate with other people.
  • To accomplish this, sign into Google Drive, right-click a blank area, and select “Upload Folder.” You may then select the volume and submit it from there.

Since VeraCrypt and Google Drive do not currently have a way to sync, so after the work is finished, download the modified files and place them in the volume.

Conclusion

Finally, these are some of the useful and straightforward methods using which anyone can protect their documents by password-protecting Google Docs.