Secured Socket Layer (SSL) certificate has been there on the website development sector for years now. We use this certificate to ensure that the data exchanged between web servers are fully encrypted. However, there are several technical glitches while implementing this SSL certificate on your website. Sometimes, you may face the error that says ‘security certificate expired‘ at the time of opening your site in a browser. There might be numerous reasons behind the error. In this article, we are going to discuss the different solutions to fix the error that you have encountered.
Reasons Behind The Security Certificate Expired Error
When you are using an SSL certificate on your site, you don’t have to worry about the encryption of your data. But if you are facing the ‘SSL certificate expired‘ error on your site, then there might be a lot of reason causing it. If the connection to the internet is not secure, then you might encounter the error. You might also face the error if you haven’t chosen the right URL for your site.
The DNS TXT record is also responsible for the error. Sometimes, the private key of your site may be missing, and that is causing the error. If the CSR becomes invalid or the common name mismatches with the base name, then also you may face the error. You can also encounter the error if the certificate is not listed as a trusted one in your browser. If you have mixed content in your site or a duplicate key, then you are like to come across this error.
Different Solutions To Fix The Security Certificate Error
Although there are a lot of reasons that can cause the error, there are numerous solutions as well. You can follow the section below to get the solutions for resolving it.
Solution 1 – Set Your Date And Time Settings Properly
Sometimes, you may face the error if the date and time are incorrect in your device. If you have not set the date and time in a proper way, then you might face the error. You can change the date and time settings of your device by going to the device settings and update it according to your current region.
Solution 2 – Set The Certificate As Trusted In Your Browser
You might have encountered the error due to the reason that the certificate is not on the trusted certificate list of your browser. So, in order to solve such issues, you have to add this SSL certificate to the trusted certificate list. To do so, you can follow some easy steps as mentioned in the section below.
Step 1:
In your browser, click on the option called ‘Continue to this website’ (not recommended) to proceed to the website.
Step 2:
Then, you should click on the red certificate error option that appears on the address bar of the browser. It would allow you to open the information window of the different certificates.
Step 3:
After that, click on the View Certificates button, and then click on the option called ‘Install Certificate’ in order to set the untrusted certificate as the trusted one.
Step 4:
Once you click on ‘Install Certificate’, a warning message would appear. Now, you have to click on Yes to install the certificate on your browser.
The above steps would allow you to install the certificate in your browser.
Solution 3 – Snap In The Configuration Of The Certificates
The certificates may be missing from the Local computer that causes the error. So, in order to solve the issue, please apply the steps as mentioned in the section below.
Step 1:
At first, click on the Start button and search for ‘Run’ to open the Run dialog box.
Step 2:
As the Run window opens, you should type ‘mmc’ in the input box and then click OK.
Step 3:
After that, the File Menu opens where you have to choose Add/Remove Snap-in from the list.
Step 4:
Now, you should select the certificates and then click on Add that would add the certificates on your computer.
Step 5:
Afterward, you have to choose the Computer account from the option given below and then click on Next.
Step 6:
Then, select Local Computer and click on the Finish button from the menu that appears.
Step 7:
After completing the steps, you need to click on Close and then OK to save all the changes.
Solution 4 – Recover The Private Key
If the private key of the SSL certificate is missing, then you might also face the error. There are several ways to fix the SSL certificate expired issue. In order to solve the error, you should follow the steps as mentioned in the section below.
Step 1:
You need to open the Command Prompt with administrative access. In order to do so, type ‘cmd’ in the Windows search menu and then right click on the Command Prompt to select Run As Administrator.
Step 2:
In the command line, enter the following command to get into the right location.
“cd c:/users/srv2012_r2_std_x64”
Step 3:
Now, you have to type another command that would recover the private key of the certificate.
‘certutil –repairstore my <serial number>‘
So, if you have successfully recovered the private key of the certificate, then you would get a message in the Command Line.
Solution 5 – Renew The SSL Certificate
Among the different reasons behind the error, the major reason might be that the certificate really needs a renewal. If so, then you can go to the official site of your certificate provider. There, you need to log in to your account and follow the onscreen instructions to complete your renewal request. If you are wondering how to check SSL certificate expiration date of your site, then you would find it here.
If you are facing the security certificate expired error in your browser while opening a website, then you can follow the above fixes and resolve the problem in no time.
