Guides/Elba vs BitLocker
Elba vs BitLocker: disk vs folder, two layers of the same idea
BitLocker encrypts your Windows disk while it's off. Elba encrypts a specific folder while your logged-in user is present. They protect against different attackers, and using both is normal.
BitLocker guards against
Someone stealing the powered-off laptop and pulling the drive.
Elba guards against
Someone reading a folder while your session is logged in, or picking up a file that's been backed up to the cloud or a spare drive.
Questions people actually ask
- Is BitLocker enough on its own?
- For a stolen laptop, largely yes. For a specific ‘this folder is nobody else's business’ requirement, no.
- Does Elba conflict with BitLocker?
- No. Elba's sealed folder sits happily inside a BitLocker-encrypted volume.
Take the island
Elba is one HTML file. It runs locally in a Chromium browser, seals a folder with AES-256-GCM, never phones home, and becomes open source on 1 January 2030.
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the price falls each year · free to all 1 jan 2030
pay once · no account · nothing leavesRelated guides
- Elba vs FileVault: macOS full-disk plus folder-level fencing
FileVault encrypts your Mac's disk at rest. Elba adds a per-folder fence for the things you want sealed while you're logged in.
- How to encrypt files on Windows without admin rights
Locked-down work laptop? Elba is a single HTML file — no installer, no admin prompt, no registry keys.
- Elba vs VeraCrypt: two different jobs, honestly compared
Elba and VeraCrypt solve related but different problems. Here's when to pick one over the other for local file encryption.