{"id":4725,"date":"2026-10-02T10:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/?post_type=support_article&p=4725"},"modified":"2026-10-02T10:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:41:41","slug":"unable-to-remove-folder-from-being-protected-by-elements-dataguard-feature-due-to-setting-being-controlled-by-admin","status":"publish","type":"support_article","link":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/fi\/support-articles\/unable-to-remove-folder-from-being-protected-by-elements-dataguard-feature-due-to-setting-being-controlled-by-admin\/","title":{"rendered":"Unable to remove folder from being protected by Elements DataGuard feature due to setting being controlled by admin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Issue:<\/h3>\n

When looking in the Elements Agent App and file control <\/strong>window's Protected <\/strong>tab, the folders show that the setting is controlled by admin. Remove button is greyed out and thus unable to remove folder from being protected by the Elements Endpoint Protection DataGuard feature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How can these folders be removed from being protected by DataGuard?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Resolution:<\/h3>\n

The Protected folders are related to the DataGuard feature, which protects the folders from being encrypted by ransomware.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The "Controlled by admin" message is expected behaviour since these folders have been either automatically protected due to the\u00a0Discover monitored user data folders automatically <\/strong>setting being enabled or then the folders have been manually set as protected in the Elements profile.\u00a0 The folders which are automatically protected or manually set as protected cannot be removed from the local user interface.\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
If you do not want to have any folders automatically protected, you can disable the Discover monitored user data folders automatically <\/strong>setting by following these steps:<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. Log in to the Elements Security Center portal: https:\/\/elements.withsecure.com<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Navigate to Security configurations > profiles\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Click on the profile that is in use on the devices\u00a0<\/li>\n
  4. Navigate to the DataGuard <\/strong>settings page in the Premium <\/strong>section<\/li>\n
  5. In the Monitored folders <\/strong>section, disable Discover monitored user data folders automatically\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Click Save profile<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    When the profile has been saved, no folders will be automically protected by DataGuard.<\/div>\n
    \u00a0<\/div>\n
    To remove folders from DataGuard's Manually included folders<\/strong> list, follow these steps:<\/div>\n
    \n
      \n
    1. Log in to the Elements Security Center portal: https:\/\/elements.withsecure.com<\/a><\/li>\n
    2. Navigate to Security configurations > profiles\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. Click on the profile that is in use on the devices\u00a0<\/li>\n
    4. Navigate to the DataGuard <\/strong>settings page in the Premium <\/strong>section<\/li>\n
    5. In the Monitored folders <\/strong>section, navigate to the Manually included folders <\/strong>list<\/li>\n
    6. Click on the trashcan icon on the right side of the row<\/li>\n
    7. Click Save profile<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Now the folder which was removed from the manually included folders list will no longer be protected.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Unable to remove folder from being protected by Elements DataGuard feature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","support_article_product":[99],"class_list":["post-4725","support_article","type-support_article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"source_foreign_id":"000015620","source_version":1,"source_system":"salesforce","source_date_updated":"2026-10-02 07:41:41","import_hash":"b879cb08190743cb3f17bdfc34571ac0e04d8b65","vanilla_article_id":"","vanilla_url":"","vanilla_kb_id":"","vanilla_category_id":"","machine_translated":false,"reactions_helpful_yes":"","reactions_helpful_no":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_article\/4725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/support_article"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"support_article_product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_article_product?post=4725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}