AxCrypt is free and easy to use open source strong file encryption for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/2008/7, integrated with Windows Explorer. Encrypt, compress, decrypt, wipe, view and edit with a few mouse clicks. Cryptographic primitives are AES-128 and SHA-1.

Encrypted files have a ".axx" extension added to their names (which by default is hidden, but can be displayed if the option to display known extensions in Windows is enabled), and are shown with a new icon.

To encrypt a file, right-click it in Windows Explorer, select 'AxCrypt | Encrypt'.

Then enter a passphrase.

To edit or view an encrypted file - just double-click it.

To decrypt, right-click and select 'AxCrypt | Decrypt' instead, and enter the correct pass phrase

To encrypt to a self-decrypting .exe program, right-click and select 'AxCrypt | Encrypt Copy to .exe'. You can send these files to anyone, they do not need to have AxCrypt installed.

No configuration is necessary for AxCrypt. Download, run the installer, and AxCrypt is ready to use.

English, German, French, Spanish, Italian or Swedish will be used for installation, messages and dialogues depending on the language of the system or your choice. Documentation (this document) is in English.

For programmers and system administrators, there is also a command line interface callable from batch files, scripts and other programming languages.

Backup your data!

Encryption protects your data from being seen by others, and against undetected change. It does not protect data from loss. Please backup your important encrypted files as you normally would.