Display Archived Certificates

Archived certificates are certificates that have expired or have been renewed. In many cases, it is good practice to retain archived certificates instead of deleting them. For example, you might keep an archived certificate to verify digital signatures on old documents that were signed by using the key on the now-expired or renewed certificate.

Users or local Administrators is the minimum group membership required to complete this procedure. Review the details in "Additional considerations" in this topic.

To display archived certificates

1. Open the Certificates snap-in for a user, computer, or service.

2. On the View menu, click Options.

3. Under Show the following, select the Archived certificates check box, and then click OK.

4. Click one of the certificate stores. In the details pane, archived certificates are identified with an A attribute in the Status column.

Additional considerations

• User certificates can be managed by the user or by an administrator. Certificates issued to a computer or service can only be managed by an administrator or user who has been given the appropriate permissions.
  
  
• To open the Certificates snap-in, see Add the Certificates Snap-in to an MMC.