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Trusting Your Root CA on Windows

Sahil Phule edited this page Oct 6, 2024 · 1 revision

Trusting Your Root CA on Windows

Complete this guide to trust your server's Root Certificate Authority (Root CA) on Windows.

  1. Ensure you have downloaded your Root CA

  2. Click the “Start” menu, type “mmc”, and select "Run as administrator" to access the Windows Management Console.

    Windows MMC

    When prompted with the “User Account Control” window, select “Yes” to allow this program to run.

  3. When the Management Console opens, navigate to File > Add/Remove Snap-in.

    Windows Console Root
  4. Select “Certificates” in the left side menu, then “Add”. This will open another window.

    Add Certificates
  5. Select “Computer account” and click “Next". Leave defaulted options on the next screen and click “Finish”.

    Add Snap-in
  6. When you return to the “Add or Remove Snap-ins” page, ensure “Certificates (Local Computer)” exists under “Console Root” in the “Selected snap-ins” section, then click “OK”.

    Snap-in Selected
  7. In the left hand menu of the Management Console, navigate to Certificates (Local Computer) > Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates.

    Certificates in Management Console
  8. Right click on the “Certificates” directory, then navigate to All Tasks > Import.

    Import certificate
  9. Click “Next” on the first page of the Certificate Import Wizard, then browse to the location where you saved the downloaded certificate and open it. Then click "Next".

    Import cert wizard
  10. On the “Certificate Store” window, ensure that it says “Trusted Root Certificate Authorities” and click “Next”. Then click "Finish" on the final screen.

    Import cert wizard
  11. Select “OK” when the import is successful.

    Import success!
  12. Verify your server's Local Root CA certificate is in the “Certificates” folder:

    Successful cert install
  13. You can save the console settings (where we added a snap-in), if desired. The CA certificate will remain imported to the CA certificate store either way, and you will likely use this guide if you need to import a new certificate.

    Console settings
  14. If using Firefox, complete this final step.