None of my browsers can find my electronic SSL certificates, though Acrobat and other digital signing tools can. How can I fix that

Question

None of my browsers can find my electronic SSL certificates, but Acrobat and other digital signing tools can.

Hi, I am just setting up a new HP Pavilion laptop using Windows 11. I already have an HP Envy laptop with Windows 11, which is fully functional, and an old HP laptop with Windows 10 that needs to be retired, but still functions.

The only problem I seem to have on the new HP Pavilion is that none of my browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) will open the digital SSL certificates that I´ve installed on it for providing digital identification. The same SSL certificates work normally on the two old HPs.

The message I get when I try to use the certificates in the browsers on the HP Pavilion is always to the effect that the system could not detect any suitable certificates. A typical error message (in Spanish, because I'm in Spain) is: "Error de identificación. No se detecta certificado electrónico o no se ha seleccionado correctamente".

However, the certificates all show up correctly in my Windows certificate store, under "Your Certificates", with the message "This certificate is OK". That applies to all three browsers.

Interestingly, both Acrobat and my AutoFirma signature tool can find these certificates on the new laptop.

Having read some similar threads, I have tried a few things:

I have compared in detail the Internet Options on my HP Pavilion with those on the HP Envy, where the SSL certificates function normally. The settings are identical. (I also tried ticking on the SSL 3.0, which someone had suggested in one of the threads, but that had no effect).

I have cleared the cache and the SSL.

I have tried to open the certificates in all three browsers of the new laptop while the AVG antivirus and the Windows security sytems were temporaririly disabled.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the certificates from the security versions. They are all p12 files.

I have changed the time settings on the laptop from automatic to manual. The date and time were and are correct. All certicates are valid.

Can anyone please help, I don´t know what to try next. All certificates are valid. They all work on my two old laptops. But they don't work on the new laptop, which as far as I can see is using the same browser and Internet settings.

Many thanks, PetertheSpanishPainter

Answer 1

None of my browsers can find my electronic SSL certificates, but Acrobat and other digital signing tools can.

But signing tools don't utilize SSL certificates, SSL is only for communication.

So, sure it is for SSL?

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_certificate

Answer 2

Thanks Olaf. On my new HP Pavilion laptop, my digital certificates are found and can be used by my Acrobat Pro system for signing documents. However, they cannot be found on this laptop by any of my browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox). This suggests that the certificates are in good order on this laptop. Furthermore, the same certifcates work perfectly normally on all three browsers in my two old laptops. The blockage must be somewhere on th browser side. All the best, Peter

Answer 3

Thanks Olaf. My Acrobat Pro uses my Personal Digital Certificates to sign documents. In my new laptop, this is working, However, none of the browsers can find my certificates when they need. They are however always visible inthe Windows Certificate Store