Windows protected files

Privacy policy. Want to experience Defender for Endpoint? Sign up for a free trial. Controlled folder access helps you protect valuable data from malicious apps and threats, such as ransomware. Controlled folder access is included with Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server Controlled folder access is also included as part of the modern, unified solution for Windows Server R2 and Audit mode allows you to test how the feature would work and review events without impacting the normal use of the device.

Group Policy settings that disable local administrator list merging will override controlled folder access settings. They also override protected folders and allowed apps set by the local administrator through controlled folder access. These policies include:. For more information about disabling local list merging, see Prevent or allow users to locally modify Microsoft Defender AV policy settings.

Open the Windows Security app by selecting the shield icon in the task bar. You can also search the start menu for Windows Security. An updated version, which is compatible with Protected View, may be needed. It's possible the person who sent you the document used a cloud font, which is a font that doesn't ship with Windows or Office but which must be downloaded from the Internet the first time it's used. If so, and it's a font you don't already have installed, that font won't download while you're in Protected View.

Word will try to substitute another font that will hopefully look okay. If you're confident that the document is safe, and want to see it the way the author intended, you'll need to enable editing so that Word can download and install the correct font. Note: If Word is unable to find any compatible fonts to substitute you might see black boxes where the text should be.

Enabling editing so the correct font can download should fix the problem. When you are in protected view, editing is locked, so you can't cursor around the document as expected. However, if you need to navigate through a document in Protected View with a screen reader, you can press F7 to turn on caret browsing. This action should allow you to navigate through the text without being in edit mode.

Open a document after a file corruption error. Check file compatibility with earlier versions. Add or remove protection in your document, workbook, or presentation. Notes: This functionality is currently only available in Microsoft clients. Need more help? Expand your skills. Get new features first. Was this information helpful?

Yes No. Thank you! Any more feedback? The more you tell us the more we can help. Can you help us improve? Resolved my issue. Microsoft writes that all commonly trusted applications can still make changes to the protected folders. This includes Microsoft Office applications and other major vendor products. I was unable to find a definitive list of what is or is not allowed.

As described later in this article, not knowing what works is a good reason to enable audit mode when first enabling CFA. Like most Windows security configurations, how you approach implementing CFA depends on the size of your organization and how you manage CFA policy exceptions.

Regardless of the approach, organizations should always consider first implementing CFA in audit mode. When in audit mode, CFA logs application attempts to change files in protected folders but does not block these actions.

Security teams can then review the logs and add additional approved applications to prevent business operation interruptions. This brings up the window shown in Step 6. I set this up on a Windows 10 virtual machine that shares folders with its host. Select a folder, and CFA immediately begins protection. The folder selected here is already protected under Documents, but you get the idea. You can quickly review all applications that CFA recently denied.

This allows easy identification of applications you might need to approve and applications you might want to investigate immediately. This information is available by selecting Block history. Join the Community. Follow Us On Author Help.

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