Import certificates from the Windows Certificate Store

Last updated on Aug 16, 2025

Learn how to configure Adobe Acrobat to search and import certificates from the Windows certificate store. 

You can set up Acrobat to search for and import digital certificates from the Windows Certificate Store. This allows you to use certificates already stored in Windows to securely sign and encrypt PDF documents directly within Acrobat.
For better security, avoid importing certificates from the Windows store unless your workflow specifically requires it.

Configure Acrobat for Windows certificates

Select Menu > Preferences > Signatures.

Select More in the Verification section.

Under Windows Integration, select one of the following options as required:

  • Validating Signatures: Includes certificates from the Windows Certificate Store when validating digital signatures.
  • Validating Certified Documents: Includes certificates from the Windows Certificate Store when validating certified documents.
Acrobat preferences window showing signature verification settings with options to trust certificates in the Windows Certificate Store checked.
Select the desired option to trust all root certificates in the Windows Certificate Store.

Select OK.

Import a specific certificate

In Windows Explorer, right-click the certificate file (pfx or.p12) and select Install PFX.

Follow the Certificate Import Wizard to add the certificate to the Windows store.

If prompted to validate the certificate, note the MD5 and SHA1 fingerprint values. Contact the certificate originator to confirm these values are correct before trusting the certificate.

Select OK.

Note

Refer to the Microsoft Help to learn how to import a certificate into the certificate store.