SHA-256 password encryption
Your password is hashed with SHA-256 to derive a unique pixel order. Wrong passwords produce a differently scrambled image — no error hints that reveal the correct passphrase.
Free · Offline · Windows
Encrypt Images with a Password
Free offline image encryption for Windows. Hider scrambles every pixel in PNG and JPEG photos using your password — nothing uploaded, no account, no internet required.
Password-protect photos on your PC — no upload needed
Looking for a way to encrypt images without uploading them to a cloud service? Hider is a free Windows application that performs password-based image encryption entirely offline. Your photos never leave your computer — no server, no internet connection, no account required.
Whether you want to protect personal photos on a shared PC, encrypt sensitive screenshots before sharing, or secure PNG and JPEG files on a USB drive, Hider scrambles pixels locally. The encrypted file remains a valid image — it just looks like random noise until decrypted with the same password.
Why choose Hider for image encryption?
100% offline — nothing uploaded
No internet connection required at any step. Hider encrypts images entirely on your PC — ideal for sensitive workflows where cloud tools are not an option.
Batch encrypt PNG & JPEG
Drag and drop multiple PNG or JPEG files to encrypt or decrypt them in one operation. Optional overwrite mode keeps encrypted filenames discreet.
How to encrypt images in 3 steps
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Download & open your image
Install Hider free from the Microsoft Store. Open a PNG or JPEG file — or drag several files for batch encryption.
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Enter a password and click Encrypt
Type a strong password and click Encrypt. Pixel encryption scrambles the image; the file stays valid but looks like noise.
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Decrypt to restore the original
To restore, open the encrypted file, enter the same password, and click Decrypt. For a double layer, encrypt twice with two different passwords and decrypt in reverse order.
Frequently asked questions
How do I encrypt images with a password on Windows?
Install Hider from the Microsoft Store, open a PNG or JPEG file, type your password, and click Encrypt. Hider hashes your password with SHA-256 to generate a deterministic seed, then uses that seed to shuffle all pixel positions in the image. The file stays structurally valid — same dimensions, same format — but every pixel is in a different position, making the image unrecognizable. Enter the same password and click Decrypt to restore the original exactly.
How exactly does the encryption work under the hood?
Hider uses password-based pixel permutation rather than traditional byte-level ciphers. Your password is passed through SHA-256 to produce a 256-bit hash, which seeds a deterministic shuffle algorithm. That shuffle defines a unique reordering of every pixel coordinate in the image. On decrypt, the same password reproduces the same shuffle — and its reverse is applied to restore pixel positions. No encryption metadata, keys, or headers are written into the file; the only "key" is your password.
Is Hider truly offline — does it ever connect to the internet?
No. Hider never makes a network request. All SHA-256 hashing, pixel shuffling, and file writing happen entirely in memory on your PC. Your password is never transmitted anywhere. There are no telemetry calls, no licence checks, and no update pings — the app works even with no internet connection at all.
What image formats does Hider support?
Hider supports PNG and JPEG (JPG) files. The encrypted output is saved in the same format as the input and remains a fully valid image that opens in any viewer — it just looks like a scrambled mess of pixels. Batch mode lets you encrypt or decrypt many files at once with drag and drop.
Can I encrypt multiple photos at once?
Yes. Drag or select several PNG/JPEG files, enter a password, and encrypt them all in one step. For the strongest protection, encrypt each sensitive image individually with a different password — that way, compromising one password does not expose the others.
What happens if I type the wrong password?
No error message is shown. Because the algorithm is a deterministic shuffle, a wrong password simply produces a different valid shuffle — the output is a different scrambled image, not a warning. This is a deliberate security property: an attacker who tries many passwords gets no feedback about whether any attempt was close to correct.
Start encrypting your images today
Free to download. No account. No upload. Works fully offline on Windows.
Download free — Microsoft StoreAbout Hider
Hider is a free, lightweight image privacy tool for Windows, built by Hidroteknik (project lead: Alper Alyaz). Use it to encrypt images offline — free to download and share.