Personal Vault is a freemium feature of OneDrive, designed specifically to store files (such as documents, personal records, pictures, etc.) with sensitive information. The data uploaded to this area is protected with encryption and using more robust security with two-factor authentication, in addition to the typical sign-in process.
A major drawback to Personal Vault is that you can’t upload more than three files. To store more than 3 files, you’ll need to purchase a Microsoft 365 subscription. In this post, we will outline the workaround allowing you to upload unlimited files to Personal Vault without a Microsoft 365 subscription.
Upload unlimited files to Personal Vault in OneDrive
To begin, you’ll need to set up Personal Vault in OneDrive if you haven’t done so. Once done, you can follow the instructions below to upload unlimited files to the free version of Personal Vault in OneDrive on Windows 11/10.
The workaround requires you group all of your files with sensitive information inside of a zip container, so the service only sees one file in the protected area.
Here’s how:
- Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer.
- Browse to the folder with the file you want to upload to Personal Vault.
- Right-click the folder, select the New menu, and click the Compressed (zipped) Folder option.
- Confirm a descriptive name for the zip folder and press Enter.
- Select the files you want to protect using OneDrive.
- Click the Copy button from the Home tab.
- Double-click to open the newly created zip folder.
- Click the Paste button from the Home tab.
- Click the Back button (Alt + Left arrow keyboard shortcut) to return to your document’s folder.
- Select the zip folder with the confidential files.
- Click the Copy button from the Home tab.
- Click on OneDrive from the left pane.
- Double-click the Personal Vault shortcut.
- Verify your account credentials (if applicable).
- Click the Paste button from the Home tab.
The zip folder with unlimited files will now upload to your free version of the OneDrive Personal Vault.
If you ever need to access the files in Personal Vault, do as follows:
- Open File Explorer.
- Click on OneDrive from the left pane.
- Double-click the Personal Vault shortcut.
- Verify your account credentials (if applicable).
- Double-click the zip container to access your files.
- Right-click the document and select the Open option.
You can now view the contents of the confidential document.
If you need to modify the document, select the file and then extract it to a destination folder. You can then edit the document. Once you’re done editing and saving the document, right-click the original file from the zip folder and delete the file. Finally, copy the newly edited document and paste it inside the zip folder.
And that’s it!
