I created a password protected vault in my local directory using cryptomator. It asks for a path and I gave it a name in local directory structure. Since it is a local vault it was visible in my usual directory structure. I am able to read and write to it without unlocking my vault. Furthermore if I lock my vault I am able to access the files in the vault. What am I doing wrong?
When you open the vault, a new local “drive” should appear.
Here you save the files you want to encrypt.
The path you were asked during vault creation is the place where cryptomator stores the encrypted vault files. You’ll find several “masterkey” files in this folder and a subfolder that has the same name as your vault.
Do not place files here manually. They will not be encrypted.
Do not move, rename, change anything in this path.
If you have a backup plan (hopefully you have) and you want to include the encrypted files in your backup, this path contains all the files you want to backup. (Although I recommend a local unencrypted backup of important files).
If you want to sync your files to an online service, these are the files that have to be included into the sync.
Only the files that you store in the virtual drive that cryptomator creates after opening a vault will be encrypted.
When you close your vault, the virtual drive will disappear and thus the unencrypted files will not be accessible anymore.
Hi Michael
Thanks for responding so fast. It worked. Thank you.
I have however a follow-on question or two if you don’t mind.
Why do you say “Although I recommend a local unencrypted backup of important files”? Is this because sometimes an encrypted vault or file may become unusable and therefore better to have an en-encrypted backup?
Kind Rgds
Exactly. Please note: this is a personal point of view and hast nothing to do with my trust in the cryptomator app especially. I prefer to have at least one backup local (means: “in my house”) that is not encrypted/unpacked/“not in any way manipulated” by 3rd party apps, just for the worst case scenario when the apps you need to unencrypt/unpack/“make them readable” has failures.
Please keep in mind (and this is very important): cryptomator protects your privacy when storing files online. It is not a tool that protects you again data loss issues. That is the job of your backup.
https://docs.cryptomator.org/en/latest/security/security-target/
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