Why are some file names in green or blue in color? Well, Windows has a unique way of identifying the folder or files that are either compressed or encrypted by the current user. If any folder or its contents are compressed to save disk space or encrypted to secure the data, its font color is changed from default black to blue or green depending upon your selection. This feature is quite useful when identifying such compressed or encrypted files & folders.
But you can choose to turn the color setting off if you wish. In this guide, we will show you how to turn off or on, displaying encrypted or compressed NTFS file names, in green or blue color in Windows 11/10/8/7.
Show encrypted or compressed files in color
Before we see how to show encrypted or compressed NTFS files color, let’s take a look at how to enable compression or encryption on any file in Windows 11/10.
1. Press Windows Key + E on your keyboard to open File Explorer and navigate to the desired file/folder you want to compress/encrypt.
2. Select the desired file/folder and press Alt + Enter on your keyboard to open its Properties window.
3. In the bottom right corner, click on Advanced button under Attributes section.
4. This will pop-up the Advanced Properties window for the file/folder in question. Now, under Compress or Encrypt attributes section, you can check one of the two available boxes:
- Compress contents to save disk space – This will compress the file/folder size and reduce its storage footprint.
- Encrypt contents to secure data – This will encrypt your file/folder and secure the data by attaching a digital certificate. Only the user who encrypts it would be able to access these files.
5. Click OK to save the settings. Similarly, click Apply and OK on the properties window to save the settings for the underlying file/folder.
Read: Compress Files, Folder, Drive in Windows to save Disk Space.
Now, that you’ve enabled compression and encryption on your desired file/folder, you can go ahead and change its color to distinguish it from other normal files and folders. You can show Encrypted file names in green & Compressed file names in blue color.
1. Select the compressed or encrypted file/folder you want to change the color and navigate to View tab in the File Explorer ribbon bar. Click Options present on the far right in the View tab.
This will open up the Folder Options for File Explorer in Windows where you can configure several settings pertaining to files and folders.
2. Now navigate to the View tab under Folder Options window and scroll down to find a checkbox named Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color. Check this box and click on Apply followed by OK.
3. That’s it! The Font color will be changed as per your selected attribution method. The default color for compressed files is Blue while for encrypted files is Green. Now, you can easily identify the files or folders that are compressed or encrypted.
That’d be all fellas! Hope it helps.
This post will show you how to add Encrypt or Decrypt item to the context menu.
