You can use Personal Vault to password-protect your private or essential documents when using OneDrive on a Windows computer, a mobile device, or a browser. OneDrive locks down Personal Vault by default after 20 minutes of inactivity. However, if you want to increase unlock time of OneDrive Personal Vault in Windows, there are ways to do it.
When Should You Increase Unlock Time?
Increasing the unlock time of Personal Vault depends on safety and how long you use OneDrive. The disadvantage of increasing unlock time is security. As Personal Vault is a space where you store private data, increasing the unlock time will make the data inside vulnerable, making it accessible to anyone, including virus attacks or even third-party applications that can access your files when you increase the unlock time.
You can edit Office documents like Word, PowerPoint, or Excel in the Personal Vault on your PC but not mobile. Any changes you or others make will automatically sync whenever you are online.
How Do I Increase the Unlock Time on The OneDrive Personal Vault
Given below are two methods you can use to increase the unlock time on OneDrive:
1. Increase the unlock time via the OneDrive app
2. Increase the unlock time via Registry Editor
1] Increase the unlock time via the OneDrive app
Using the OneDrive app is the first method to increase the Personal Vault lock time in OneDrive. Here is how to carry that out:
- Right-click the OneDrive icon on your Taskbar
- Choose Settings from the menu.
- Click the Account option on the left pane.
- Next, look for the Lock Personal Vault after: option under the heading Personal Vault.
- Click the drop-down box next to Lock Personal Vault after
- Choose the time you want to increase the unlock time of the OneDrive Personal Vault.
Read: Reset OneDrive to Fix OneDrive Problems on Windows
2] Increase the unlock time via Registry Editor
Using Registry Editor is the second way to increase the OneDrive Personal Vault lock time. Refer to the following instructions:
- Open Registry Editor
- Go to the following path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive
- Right-click OneDrive.
- Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name it VaultInactivityTimeout.
Note: If the VaultInactivityTimeout DWORD already exists, skip the first step and move on to the next step.
- Double click VaultInactivityTimeout DWORD
- Use any of the following options to increase the unlock time on OneDrive’s Personal Vault and press OK to save the changes:
- 1 hour: 1
- 2 hours: 2
- 3 hours: 3
- 4 hours: 4
Note: If you wish to reset this setting, open Registry Editor and follow the same path. Next, select the Value data as 0 by double-clicking the VaultInactivityTimeout REG_DWORD value. After that, press the OK button to save the changes.
Read: Fix: System Restore Failed While Restoring, Copying Or Mounting The Registry
FAQs
Q: How do you unlock Personal Vault without the Internet?
A: Microsoft authentication methods such as your fingerprint, face, PIN, or a code sent to you via email or SMS are required to access Personal Vault within OneDrive.
Q: Can you use OneDrive Personal Vault for free?
A: Anyone with a free OneDrive account can only have three files in their OneDrive Personal Vault. Note that organizational accounts, such as those used for work or school, are incompatible with OneDrive Personal Vault.
Q: Does OneDrive delete all files from Vault if it is disabled?
A: Any files in your Personal Vault when you disable it are permanently deleted, and you cannot recover them at any point.
