VeraCrypt encrypts a whole disk, a partition, or a file that mounts as a drive. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is the maintained fork of TrueCrypt, which stopped in 2014. Hidden volumes exist so a forced password can open a decoy container. That feature is easy to get wrong and dangerous to explain casually to a border guard.
There is no phone version. Full-disk encryption on Windows has to be set up while you can still boot a rescue disk. The password is not recoverable. A later audit of parts of the TrueCrypt code, and VeraCrypt’s own fixes, is not a promise that every release is perfect. Shut the encrypted volume when you walk away. An open drive is just a drive.
Use it for a disk or an archive at rest. veracrypt.fr
VeraCrypt’s hidden volume is a specialist feature. Practice on a USB stick with junk files before you trust it with anything real. The outer volume, if you write too much, can destroy the hidden one. Full-disk encryption needs the rescue disk saved somewhere that is not the encrypted disk. A forgotten password is not a support ticket. The project cannot recover it. Sleep and hibernation can leave keys in memory. Shut down if the threat is someone with the machine.
