How to completely delete a certificate from a user of Windows 10.

Question

I want to remove a certificate that I once installed from my user account.
Usually I know that it can be done from the Microsoft management console.
(Execute "mmc" command from the command prompt)

However, it was confirmed that even if the deletion was performed by the operation of this GUI, some entities remained.
The path I referred to is as follows.

(1) Certificate
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\My\Certificates\

(2) Subject Key
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\My\Keys\

When I checked, the file of "(1) Certificate" disappears properly in the delete operation described above, but the file remains without "(2) Subject Key" disappearing.

As for this "(2) Subject Key", is it a file that does not adversely affect the system when I delete it directly from the explorer?
Or is there any other standard way to remove this?

Answer 1

Hi @knt1N

The standard way to delete the certificate would be to check the installed certificates using the command certmgr.msc and delete it from the list.

Press Windows Key + R Key together, type certmgr.msc, and hit enter. You will get a new window with the list of Certificates installed on your computer. Locate the certificate you want to delete and then click on the Action button then, click on Delete.

You can also find the actual registry entries under:

\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\

In HKEY_CURRENT_USERfor user-specific certificates and KEY_LOCAL_MACHINEfor machine-specific certificates,

Hope this resolves your Query!!

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Answer 2

I cannot delete certificate. It keeps coming in as a invalid certificate. I need to delete i

Answer 3

remove a vpn

Answer 4

Run the certmgr.msc
on personal-->certificate-->remove the certificate you want to delete