Windows 10 comes with its own baked-in antivirus solution called Windows Defender, and it is enabled by default when setting up a new PC. At the very least, that affords you some basic protection against the many malware threats out in the wild. But did you know there is an added optional layer that can keep your pictures, videos, work documents, and other files safe in the event of a ransomware infection? The caveat is that you have to manually enable ransomware protection in Windows 10.

Or more specifically, a feature called 'Controlled folder access.'

To enable it, type 'Ransomware protection' in the Windows search bar, or take the long way by navigating to Settings > Update & Security, click on Open Windows Security, click on Virus & threat protection, then scroll down and click on Manage ransomware protection.

The Controlled folder access toggle is set to 'off' by default (or at it least it was on my PCs). Turning it on designates specific folders that only trusted apps have permission to access, and you can add folders beyond the ones that are selected by default. There's also a section to grant specific apps permission to access your protected folders, if need be.