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STATUS_ENCRYPTION_FAILED
The file could not be converted to EFS-encrypted form
EFS encrypts NTFS file data and stores metadata that protects the file-encryption key for authorized users and recovery agents. Failure can result from an unsupported file system, missing certificate or key material, policy, metadata errors, or an operation that cannot preserve all streams.
Do not delete the original or copy it through a tool that drops EFS metadata. Record whether the file was already partly encrypted and whether the failure occurred locally or through EFSRPC on a remote server.
What to inspect
- Confirm the volume is NTFS and query the current encryption state with cipher.
- Check the user EFS certificate, private-key availability, policy, and recovery-agent configuration.
- Review EFS and file-system events, then test a new non-sensitive file on the same volume and account.
References
- Microsoft Open Specifications: Encrypting File System overview
- Microsoft: EncryptFile
- Microsoft: EFS file and recovery keys
- Microsoft: cipher
- Microsoft Open Specifications: NTSTATUS values
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