Decrypting files from a rebooted computer?

Question

Hiya! I have windows 10 and I recently decided to completely reset my computer. Before I did the reset I saved a few of the files to an external hard drive. Long story short I reset my computer (total factory reset). I got it rebooted, I pulled open my external hard drive and some of the files I needed were encrypted (the encryption that is given when you click on a file and go to properties). I cannot decrypt these files. I was wondering if I created a login using the same domain and account of the reboot if I could gain access to these files again? Or if there is a way to figure out who these files belong to so I can try to re log into that old file?

Answer 1

Hi Kimberly,

I'm Dyari. Thanks for reaching out.

Have you backed up the EFS certificate before performing a system reset?

Check out the link below for instructions on how to back up your file encryption certificate:

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/encrypt-decrypt...

If you have lost it as well, unfortunately, there is no Microsoft native tool to recover the encrypted data except restoring from a backup if you created one because those files were encrypted with your old user profile and I am afraid the same user profile name will not help.

You can use a third-party recovery tool like Recuva, it may recover your data before encrypting them.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

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