Method 1: How to Unlock a Flash Drive in Windows Let’s go over three ways to unlock an encrypted USB drive-one for Windows, one for macOS, and one that works regardless of which operating system you use. It’s not possible to recover files from an encrypted USB drive unless the drive is decrypted/unlocked first. In any case, once the file is decrypted using the decryption key, you can open and view the contents of the file like normal until it is encrypted again.

In most cases, this is in the form of a password, but it could also be a physical access card or biometric data. In order to view an encrypted file, you must first decrypt it using a decryption key.

File encryption is a method used to digitally protect your data from unwanted access. While encrypted, the file is no longer readable through normal means.

When a file has been encrypted, an encoding algorithm has been applied to it which modifies the data until a decryption key has been used. If you’ve found yourself in a situation where you need to recover lost files from an encrypted/password-locked USB drive, the instructions provided in this article are just what you need to get them back regardless of if you’re using Windows or macOS.

Why? Because files stored on an encrypted (password-protected) USB drive can’t be accessed by anyone unless the USB drive is decrypted and unlocked first. Data encryption is among the most effective techniques for protecting confidential files, but it can become a double-edged sword when recovering lost data.

Usb key password protection