This article provides troubleshooting steps for users who encounter issues opening Actifile-encrypted files.
Note: Access the Actifile Support Site to create a ticket or review articles in the Knowledge Base and other resources.
Authorized users within an organization—those with the Actifile Agent deployed using the correct installation key—should be able to open files encrypted by Actifile without any issues.
However, there may be instances where a user encounters difficulties opening an encrypted file. Your support personnel must be well-equipped to troubleshoot these issues.
What does an encrypted file look like?
Instruct the personnel what it looks like when an unauthorized user opens a file encrypted by Actifile:
1. A .txt file will open but display encrypted text.
2. A Microsoft Office file (such as Word or Excel) will not open. It will display an error message indicating that it cannot be opened.
Settings to check
1. A request of this kind doesn’t necessarily indicate a ransomware attack. Instead, consider the following:
a. Is this an Actifile customer?
b. Is encryption enabled for this customer?
c. Is the file encrypted?
Here is how to check if a file is encrypted.
Old interface:
Type the file’s name in the search bar in the top menu. The Data Explorer page will open. If the green badge with a lock icon appears on the file info card, the file is encrypted.
.png?width=688&height=163&name=unnamed%20(9).png)
New interface:
Go to Data Explorer > Discovered Data and type the file’s name in the search bar. If the green lock icon appears below the file’s name, then the file is encrypted.
2. If you answered yes to all the above, proceed with the following steps:
a. Check the services on the end user’s machine.
- Ensure that both the Actifile and Actifile Updater services are running. To do so, open Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (macOS) and look for Actifile and Actifile Updater in the list of running background processes.
b. Verify settings in the Actifile portal.
- Navigate to Deployment > Installed Devices and click on the user’s device name to open its settings.
Old interface:
.png?width=688&height=232&name=unnamed%20(10).png)
New interface:
- Check if App Access to Files Monitoring (previously Data In Use Monitoring) is on. This setting is essential, as it controls the driver responsible for transparent decryption.
Old interface:
New interface:
- Confirm if the application used to open the file is allowlisted. If it isn’t, consider whether it should be. For guidance on checking or whitelisting an application, refer to this article.
Decrypt a file manually
You can manually decrypt a file for a user with the help of AFDecryptor. This tool is installed as part of the Actifile application when you install the agent.
This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to decrypt a file manually with AFDecryptor.
Troubleshoot automatic decryption failures
Use the Troubleshooting guide for other potential automatic decryption failures.
If any issues occur with the need to remove Actifile as part of the troubleshooting, consider the following steps first:
1. Turn off App Access to Files Monitoring (in the legacy UI, Data in Use Monitoring) in the user’s device settings to disable the drive that allows for the transparent decryption of files.
Note: Remember to turn App Access to Files Monitoring back on after troubleshooting so the user can open Actifile encrypted files.
To access the device settings, head to Deployment > Installed Devices and click on the device name.
Old interface:
New interface:
2. If the issue remains unresolved, then on the user’s system, turn off the Actifile services in the following order:
> Turn Actifile Updater off first
> Turn Actifile Updater off
3. If the problem persists, create a ticket on the Support Site with Actifile logs attached. To learn how to retrieve the logs, consult this instruction.