What to do with original files? And what happens if my computer crashes?

Help Desktop App
1

I just dragged all of my files from my Google Drive folder into a newly created Cryptomator vault - in which it copied the files over, instead of moving it.

Does that mean I should delete the originals now, since it is copied into the vault?

And what happens if my computer crashes and all my files are in the vault, but Cryptomator is no longer installed? How do I retrieve my files if it is encrypted on the online version of Google Drive?

Thanks for the help - this app seems awesome. I just need to make sure I’m doing it right to make it effective :smiley:

2

Does that mean I should delete the originals now, since it is copied into the vault?

For the case you forget your password you could move this unencrypted files to an external hard disk and store it in your house safe :wink:

If you leave all unencrypted files next to the encrypted one, the encryption is completely useless.
That means, if you’re sure, you copied all files into your vault, think about the backup mentioned above but then I would highly recommend to delete all unencrypted files from your Google Drive (not the one inside the vault :smile: ).

Cryptomator is no longer installed?

If your system crashed, you have to install Cryptomator on the new device, download your vault from Google Drive and after that, all files are accessible again.

How do I retrieve my files if it is encrypted on the online version of Google Drive?

Because we provide end-to-end encryption you are not able to access the unencrypted files directly in the Google drive online version. You can use our mobile apps (iOS and Android) to access these files or download the complete vault and use it within the desktop application.

3

Awesome! Thank you for the fast response!

Two more questions, please:

  1. What about files that I have on my computer that I do not upload to the cloud? If I choose to include these files inside a new vault (let’s say, to prevent hackers who may have found its way into my computer), is there a way to retrieve these if my computer crashes?

I’m assuming not, since I wouldn’t have been able to retrieve it to begin with, unless it is uploaded consistently to an external hard-drive.

  1. Can I somehow use Cryptomator to browse the web more securely? I have a VPN that I use over public wifi - can I layer Cryptomator on top of that for web-browsing purposes? Or is cryptomator purely for computer files?

Thanks again - much needed software in this crazy world!

4
  1. What about files that I have on my computer that I do not upload to the cloud?

I personally use a few different vaults with different purposes. Some of them are stored in the cloud, some are only local backed up with my general backup mechanism (as you mentioned with external disks). I’m using vaults like this because some files are too big for my cloud, not because I don’t trust our security mechanism ;).

  1. Can I somehow use Cryptomator to browse the web more securely?

Cryptomator is for encrypting files, nothing more, nothing less :sunglasses:.

5

Thanks for your detailed responses again - I greatly appreciate it!

So, I tested out a scenario of if my computer crashes, and recovering the encrypted files from Google Drive.

What I did:

  1. I uploaded all of my files into a ‘Vault’ folder, within my Google Drive. All encrypted - great. Now, let’s say the Mac computer crashed - womp womp

  2. So, I went onto another computer (Windows), and downloaded Cryptomator. I logged into Google Drive, and downloaded the ‘Vault’ encrypted folder

  3. Installed Cryptomator. Created a new vault and opened it

  4. Unzipped Google Drive ‘Vault’ folder, and dragged it over to the newly created vault

  5. It copies everything over, but it is still in the encrypted form.

What did I get wrong along the way? Thanks for your help!

6
  1. …Created a new vault and opened it

Please use instead of Create new vault, Add existing vault (this button is located in the same view, which you found the Create new vault). In this dialog, select the masterkey.cryptomator-file you’ve downloaded inside the folder and you’re done (Hint: please don’t change the folder-structure inside your “Vault”-folder)

7

Amazing! That worked :slight_smile:

Locking up all my files now and will spread the word about cryptomator!

Thanks again

8

Hah sorry, 1 more question:

Technically, if somebody hacks into Google Drive and takes my cryptomator backup master key file, they can try to decrypt the files, correct? They can only successfully do it if they have my password though, right?

1 Like
9

Yes this is correct. Some details about this szenario are mentioned here: What if Dropbox gets hacked?