Find Password Protected Documents

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET Staff on February 27, 2009

This app may be slightly outdated, but it is still useful for finding password protected documents. Unimaginatively named, Find Password Protected Documents has as plain an interface as you'd expect. That simplicity makes the app very easy to learn for inexperienced users. A short Help file is overkill, as most users will need only the interface notes.

Operating Find Password Protected Documents is a mere matter of choosing a search location from the three check-box choices or by using the trusty Windows browse tool to pick a folder and subfolders. By default, the app looks for password-protected files from Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, MS Money, OneNote, PowerPoint, and ZIP. It's easy to skip any of those file types with a quick tick in their associated check boxes.

Searching is speedy and the app returns a comprehensive list that shows name, document type, password type, file size, full path, and other helpful information. The spreadsheetlike list is easily sorted by clicking a column header. The program also lists how easily the password could be discovered by the publisher's password recovery software.

Find Password Protected Documents may not find all such documents on your system, but it will return a near comprehensive list that is easily saved to a file for later review. The demo has a heavy limitation of three found files, but novice to experienced users looking for a quick and useful password protected file search tool should give this one a test.