How to Create a Self-signed Digital Certificate in MS Office

MS Office lets you create a self-signed digital certificate or ID to add a signature and protect documents. Here is how to do it.

MS Office lets you sign a document with your personalized signature. This signature ensures the document’s authenticity and the identity of the person who signed it. For example, if you sent a contract to a third party, the target user can sign the Word document with their digital signature. To digitally sign a document, Office uses a digital certificate. A digital certificate is a unique identifier and an authenticator that verifies who you say you are.

Digital certificates are issued by a trusted third party called a Certificate Authority for a fee. If you are in a commercial or professional environment, paying for a Certificate Authority is well worth it.

However, if you don’t or can’t pay for a Certificate Authority, as an alternative, you can create a self-signed digital certificate in MS Office using the SelfCert tool or a PowerShell command. In fact, this is one of the most popular ways organizations and developers create self-signed digital certificates to ensure identity and authenticity. A self-signed digital certificate works the same way as a regular digital certificate. The significant difference is that the identity of the entity or user who created, issued, and signed the digital certificate is not independently verified.

Without further ado, let me show you how to create a self-signed digital certificate in MS Office.

Create a Self-Signed Digital Certificate in MS Office Using SelfCert Tool

Note: The steps below have been tested and verified to work in Office 2016, 2019, 2021, and Office 365.

MS Office includes a simple tool called SelfCert that lets you create a self-signed digital certificate with just a few clicks. Here is how:

Step 1: First, open the File Explorer by pressing the “Windows key + E” shortcut.

Step 2: Next, go to the “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16” folder.

Note: If you’ve installed a 32-bit version of MS Office, go to the “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16” folder.

Step 3: Find and double-click the “SELFCERT.EXE” file.

Step 4: This action will open the “Create Digital Certificate” window. Here, enter the certificate name and click the “OK” button.

Step 5: As soon as you do that, SelfCert will create a self-signed digital certificate in the name you chose. Click the “OK” button in the “SelfCert Success” window.

That is it. You’ve successfully created a self-signed digital certificate in MS Office.

Create a Self-Signed Digital Certificate in MS Office Using a PowerShell Command

Using PowerShell to create a self-signed digital certificate in MS Office is the modern way. Here’s how.

1. Right-click the Start menu.
2. Select the “Terminal” or “Windows PowerShell” option.
3. Run the following command while replacing “YourName” with the name of your choice. New-SelfSignedCertificate -Type CodeSigningCert -Subject "CN=YourName" -CertStoreLocation Cert:\CurrentUser\My
4. That’s it. After running the command, a custom self-signed digital certification is created in MS Office.

Steps for Using a Self-Signed Certificate in the Signature in Office

Once you’ve created a self-signed certificate, follow these steps to use it to sign in to Office.

First, open the Digital Signature dialog by searching for “Add a digital signature” in the top search bar in any Office application. In the “Sign” dialog, click the “Change” button next to “Signing as”.

In the “Select a certificate” window, click the “More options” link.

Now, select the certificate you just created and click the “OK” button.

That’s it. You can now proceed with the signature. It will use the newly created certificate for digital signing. You can verify the certificate by looking at the “Signing as” section.

Once signed, the certificate information is also visible under the signature line.

That is all. It is that simple to create a self-signed digital certificate in MS Office. If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.

Good to read: How to add a signature to a Word document.