Advertisement

Enable Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10

Controlled Folder Access is a new feature of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. It is intended to protect valuable data from malicious apps and threats, such as ransomware. In this article, we'll see how to configure and use this feature.

Advertisеment


Controlled folder access monitors the changes that apps make to files in certain protected folders. If an app attempts to make a change to these files, and the app is blacklisted by the feature, you’ll get a notification about the attempt. You can complement the protected folders with additional locations, and add the apps that you want to allow access to those folders.

The Controlled Folder Access feature is first introduced in Windows 10 build 16232 as part of the Windows Defender Antivirus app. It can be enabled in its settings.

To enable Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10, you need to perform these steps.

  1. Open the Windows Defender Security Center.
  2. Click on the Virus & threat protection icon.Virus Threat Protection Icon
  3. On the next page, click the Virus & threat protection settings link.Virus Threat Protection Settings Link
  4. Enable the option Controlled folder access.Controlled Folder Access Section Enable Controlled Folder Access In Windows 10
  5. If prompted by UAC, confirm the operation.
  6. Now, click the Protected folders link below the Controlled folder access category.Protected Folders Link
  7. On the next page, click the button + Add a protected folder.Add A Folder To Controlled Folder Access
  8. Browse for the folder you want to protect with Controlled Folder Access. It will be added to the list of folders as shown below.Folder Added To Controlled Folder Access
  9. Finally, you can define which apps are allowed to access the protected folders. To define apps, click the Allow an app through Controlled folder access link below the Controlled folder access category.Add An Allowed App Link
  10. On the next page, click the button + Add an allowed app. Add An Allowed App
  11. Browse for the executable file of the app which will have access to the folder.

You are done. Now, only the selected apps will have access to the folder protected by the Controlled folder access feature. If some other app will try to modify files in the protected folder, a notification will appear. See the screenshot below.Controlled Folder Access Notification

Here are some extra details for those who would like to control the feature with a Registry tweak.

To enable the feature, set the GuardMyFolders 32-bit DWORD to 1 under the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exploit Guard\Controlled Folder Access

Reg1

The folders protected by Windows Defender are stored under the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exploit Guard\Controlled Folder Access\GuardedFolders

Reg3 The apps you have whitelisted are stored under the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exploit Guard\Controlled Folder Access\AllowedApplications

Reg2

That's it.

Support us

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:

If you like this article, please share it using the buttons below. It won't take a lot from you, but it will help us grow. Thanks for your support!

Advertisеment

Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

css.php
Using Telegram? Subscribe to the blog channel!
Hello. Add your message here.