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I downloaded a ZIP file and dragged the files out of the ZIP into a directory. The subdirectories I copied displayed in Windows Explorer in green instead of the default black.

What does the green folder text mean?

Windows Explorer green folders in Windows 7

(In case you're wondering, the download was from Baseline CSS)

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3 Answers

up vote 31 down vote accepted

Green means encrypted, blue means compressed.

If you right-click a file, go to properties and click advanced (under general tab) you have the option to encrypt the folder.

If this is a domain computer, it can be set centrally through group policy by your domain administrator which may be the reason you did not know about it… otherwise, I have not seen a program that does this automatically so you must have accidentally enabled it.

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Would a compressed and encrypted folder be a pleasant shade of turquiose? ;) – izb Aug 25 '09 at 14:11
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Nope! I thought maybe half name in one, half in another, but I just tried and it appears that the file has to be one or the other, you cannot compress and encrypt. – William Hilsum Aug 25 '09 at 14:22
As this picture shows, Windows actually says "Compress or Encrypt attributes" i26.tinypic.com/e6oihf.jpg – William Hilsum Aug 25 '09 at 14:23
The encryption and compression is a NTFS filesystem feature - and you cannot choose both. I have never seen the green color applied to .zip's though. – grawity Aug 25 '09 at 19:22
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up vote 4 down vote

AFAIK those are encrypted folders - Compression is blue.

See if there is any information about the files' status in the "Properties" Window

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up vote 1 down vote

Those are likely NTFS compressed or encrypted folders.

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