Proton, the company that is known for its highly secure software services including Proton Mail, is now offering Windows users a way to upload their files to the cloud with full end-to-end encryption support.
Today, after an extensive beta period, the new Proton Drive Windows app is now generally available for download. Proton"s blog post states that it works with Windows 10 and 11, and allows users to back up their PC"s content to the cloud and access them from any device.
The blog post stated:
Proton Drive for Windows also preserves our unique end-to-end encryption, meaning no one else, not even Proton, can decrypt your synced files. This encryption doesn’t just cover your files’ contents but also their metadata, including file and folder names, file sizes, dates uploaded, and more.
The app will let users upload and sync up "any folder on your computer without restriction", according to Proton.
The blog post also offers up more info on how Proton Drive"s files will interact with your PC"s storage:
Unlike regular files, files in the Proton Drive folder on your computer don’t automatically take up any space on its hard disk. They’re only downloaded to your device when you access them, providing an “on-demand” sync. Proton Drive will also intelligently cache files you’ve accessed recently or access often, so they don’t need to be re-downloaded. If you only need these files once, you can adjust your computer settings so that Proton Drive automatically switches unopened files back to online-only storage after a set amount of time.
The service offers 1GB of free cloud storage space, but you can boost that amount to 200GB if you sign up for the standard Proton Drive subscription which costs $3.99 per month.
You can also get up to 500GB of cloud storage with the $9.99 monthly Proton Unlimited plan. That also gives users premium access to all of the company"s other secure software services, including its Mail app, It also provides access to the recently launched Password Manager.