That’s why most people opted for alternatives like BitLocker, which comes with Windows, or VeraCrypt. The danger of using EFS is that you could encrypt important data, then delete your account and forget to back up the key beforehand.
Unfortunately, there is no way to decrypt the data again after that. Especially on business PCs or computers used by several people. That is why we recommend disabling the use of EFS. Reduces the risk of inadvertently encrypting files that could become inaccessible later. However, before doing so, you should check if your files are already encrypted.
The best way to do this is with Nirsoft’s Find My Files tool. After you have downloaded the software (no installation required!), double-click the Searchmyfiles.exe file. Next, in the Search Options window (in the Attributes section), set the Encryption option to Yes. Click Start Search.
If the search returns no results, everything is fine. Otherwise, you should try to decrypt the encrypted files so that they are not lost after disabling EFS. Next, type Group Policy in the taskbar search box and click Edit Group Policy.
(By the way, Group Policy Editor is only included in Windows Pro, as well as the Education and Business editions of the operating system.)
Now click on Computer Configuration and navigate to Windows Settings > Security Settings > Public Key Policies. Right-click the Encrypting File System folder and select Properties. Under Encrypting files with EFS (Encrypted File System), select the Don’t allow option and close the window with OK.
