Certificate-Key Management in Windows | Scientific Data and Computing Center (2024)

The Windows operating system includes a built-in Certificate Manager that stores user and server certificates and keys. Certain applications, including the Chrome web browser, use this centralized Certificate Manager for storing and retrieving certificate information in lieu of maintaining their own, separate certificate repositories. One must use the Windows Certificate Manager in order to add a certificate-key pair to, remove from, or export certificate-key pairs from Chrome and other, similar applications.

Certificate Installation

To install or import your .p12 certificate:

1. In Windows, click the Search icon (or Windows+R keys for the Run dialog), type certmgr.msc and press Enter. Under Certificates - Current User, right-click on Personal, and select All Tasks -> Import.
   If using Chrome, clicking Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Security -> Manage certificates will launch this for you as well.
2. In the Certificate Import Wizard, click Browse.
3. In the Open dialog, at the bottom-right corner, change the file type drop-down from the default X509 to Personal Information Exchange. Then, navigate to your .p12 certificate file, click Open, and then click Next.
4. In the Private Key Protection dialog, type in your certificate password. Under Import Options, enable the Enable strong private key protection and Mark this key as exportable options, ensure Include all extended properties is also enabled, and then click Next.
5. In the Certificate Store dialog, choose Automatically select the certificate store, and then click Next.
6. Click Finish to complete the certificate import.
7. In the Importing a new private exchange key dialog, choose either the Medium or High security level. Medium requires permission acknowledgement each time your certificate is requested; High requires permission and an additional password for each certificate request. Then click Next, and/or Finish, and/or OK.
8. The Certificate Import Wizard will confirm the successful import of your certificate. Click OK. Right-click Personal again, and click Refresh. If not present before, a new Certificates folder is shown under Personal. Click Certificates, and your imported certificate will appear in the right-hand panel.

Other Certificate Actions

In Windows Certificate Manager, right-click on your certificate in the right-hand panel in order to Open, Delete, or Export the certificate, or click Properties to inspect your certificate and enable or disable its use for one or more purposes (encryption, secure email, authentication).