Storing Secrets in Windows Apps - Avoiding Plaintext Configuration with DPAPI (archived 2026-07-27)

To avoid storing connection credentials and API tokens in plaintext configuration files in Windows apps, we walk through DPAPI / ProtectedData, the difference between CurrentUser and LocalMachine, and implementation caveats. Archived version of https://comcomponent.com/en/blog/2026/03/16/000-windows-app-secret-storage-best-practices-dpapi/, as published on 2026-07-27. The live article is maintained and may change after this date. First published 2026-03-16.