I cannot find a way to restore a folder to its original, unencrypted state from within Cryptomator. This should be possible by simply entering the password and clicking a button. Expecting a user to move the files to some other location, delete the old folder, recreate the folder and then move the files back to the new folder is not only too much work but also prone to error. Or have I overlooked something?
If you want to see your files in the vault in an unencrypted state, just unlock the vault and go to your virtual drive.
If you want to remove a folder from the vault and store it unencrypted, just move it out of the vault to your desired location.
Hi Michael,
In other words. there is no way simple way to accomplish what I want. One must always jiggle files and folders and rename them by hand.
Example:
I have an encrypted folder named XXX
I have to open the vault move all the files and folders therein to a temp location
Delete the encrypted folder
Recreate the folder unencrypted
Move all the files and folders back to this new folder.
Whew!
I don’t get what you are trying to do.
Why would you rename files and folders?
And why would you create temp folders just because you want to move a folder from a to b?
You have file abc.doc in your vault and want to store it somewhere else unencrypted.
- open your vault.
- find file abc.doc
- copy/move it anywhere outside your vault.
If you want to move a folder and its contents, do the same. Just work with your vault like you would with any other drive. Only difference is that everything in your vault (virtual drive) is encrypted.
If you just want to edit file abc.doc, then open it directly from the vault, edit it and save it. It will be decrypted and encrypted on the fly.
I hope it’s clear why I can’t follow what exactly you are trying to do with all your steps.
I guess, I’ve failed to express myself clearly, so I’ll give it one more go:
Suppose I have a big folder that I’ve already encrypted with Cryptomator. The folder contains several subfolders and hundreds or even thousands of files. I want to keep this folder structure as is, but simply in decrypted form. My intuition says find a button or dialog, and then click it to encrypt everything in my folder. The folder name
remains intact.
I am not interested in viewing the files (I see them already in Cryptomator), decrypting a file here or there, nor moving files to a location outside of the program to decrypt them.
I realize now this may sound like a pie-in-the-sky wish, but that’s what seems natural and what I’ve been trying to ask from the very start.
Ok I understand. You are thinking about something like a 7-zip encryption/decryption process. Cryptomator works with virtual drives to show your encrypted files. An unlocked vault is a virtual drive where you can see all the content of the vault in a readable way.
So, to keep up with your example.
You have a vault that contains your files and folders in an encrypted state.
You open that vault by unlocking it with your password via cryptomator app.
Now you can see a new (virtual) drive in your file explorer. Everything you see in that virtual drive is encrypted. (But as you have opened the vault you can read it)
If you want to decrypt a folder and all its subfolders and files in it (no matter how many), just right klick and copy/move that to any destination on your PC that is not the cryptomator vault (means: move them out of the virtual drive).
That’s all. Now all your files and folders are not encrypted anymore. The vault structure is untouched, and so are the file names. It’s just copy/paste. Even more simple than a button.
But keep in mind that you do not have to do this just because you want to work with your encrypted files.
If you want to work with your encrypted files, just unlock your vault, head to the upcoming virtual drive and work as if it’s an external hd or an usb stick.
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