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Locking and unlocking an external drive

Some WD™ External Storage devices, such as WD™ My Passport™ drives, include hardware encryption and can be password protected. All the features below are only available when such devices are plugged in. The features below aren't available with other devices.

Setting the password for a device already plugged in

  1. In the main menu click Sources. The content view will show your Sources.
  2. Locate the External Storage device you want to password protect.
  3. Under the Source, click the Ellipsis icon.
  4. Click Set lock.

In the details panel, enter the desired password, verify it, and enter a password hint to help you remember it.

When a device has a password and the device is locked, a Locked icon is shown. If it has a password and it's currently unlocked, an Unlocked icon is shown.

Tip: There's no "Forgotten password" feature for drives so be sure that the hint will help you remember the password.

If you enable Auto Unlock, when you plug this device into the same computer it will automatically unlock without having to enter the password. This is very convenient and ensures that the catalog is kept up to date (a locked device can't be cataloged).

Note that EdgeRover™ can only Auto Unlock devices that were set up in EdgeRover to Auto Unlock. If this feature was set up using different software, EdgeRover won't Auto Unlock the device.

Unlocking a device

To unlock a device, click > Unlock.

Note that unlock software built into the drive itself may appear on screen when the device is plugged in. You can unlock the drive using that software or EdgeRover™.

Prompt to lock or unlock on connecting the device

When a supported device is plugged in, and the device isn't password protected, a notification is shown asking if you'd like to lock the device. Click the notification to be taken to the details panel to set up the password. Similarly, when a locked device is plugged in, you'll be asked if you would like to unlock it.

Editing password settings

On a drive that has a password set up, click > Edit password.

In the details panel you'll find the following options:

  • Remove password
  • Change password
  • Enable Auto Unlock or Disable Auto Unlock

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