Understanding Digital Signatures in Microsoft Office
This article provides a comprehensive guide on obtaining or creating a digital signature for your Office documents. For detailed instructions on utilizing these signatures within your files, refer to the section on adding or removing digital signatures in Office applications.
What Exactly is a Digital Signature?
A digital signature, often referred to as a digital ID, is essentially synonymous with a digital certificate. To apply a digital signature to an Office document, you must possess an active (non-expired) digital certificate. These certificates are generally issued by certificate authorities (CAs), which are trusted organizations that provide these credentials for use by individuals and businesses alike. Numerous commercial CAs offer both paid and free options for acquiring a digital certificate. Additionally, various institutions and government bodies may issue their own certificates.
The importance of having a digital certificate lies in its ability to provide the public key necessary for validating the private key linked with your signature. This mechanism enables the authentication of electronic information through secure means.
Obtaining Your Digital Signature from Trusted Authorities
If you intend to share digitally signed documents with others and wish for them to verify the legitimacy of your signature easily, it’s advisable to acquire your digital certificate from a reputable third-party CA. For further details on locating services that offer digital IDs or signatures, please consult our resources.
Creating Your Own Digital Certificate Instantly
If purchasing from an external CA isn’t feasible or if you need immediate access to sign documents digitally, you can generate your own self-signed certificate quickly.
Steps Based on Your Windows Version
- For 32-bit Windows:
- Navigate to
C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft Officeroot. - Select
SelfCert.exe. A dialog box titled Create Digital Certificate will appear. - In the field labeled “Your certificate’s name,” enter an appropriate name for your new certificate.
- Select OK; once you see the SelfCert Success message, click OK again.
- Navigate to
- For 64-bit Windows:
- Navigate to
C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficerootOffice16.
- Navigate to
- Click Start , navigate through All Programs , select Microsoft Office , then choose Microsoft Office Tools , followed by clicking on Digital Certificate for VBA Projects . The Create Digital Certificate box will appear .
- Enter an appropriate name in “Your certificate’s name” field .
- Click OK ; upon seeing SelfCert Success message , click OK again .
Viewing Your Created Certificate
- Open Internet Explorer.
- Select Internet Options from the Tools menu and navigate to the Content tab.
Please Note:If you use this self-created certification method when signing documents and share those files later, recipients won’t be able to automatically verify its authenticity unless they manually trust your self-signed certification first.< / p >
Additonal Resources
- Add or remove a digital signature in Office files
- Get more information about obtaining a digital ID
- Explore services offering digitals IDs or signatures
Your Next Steps Towards Enhanced Security!
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