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Samantha35821666349w
Participant
March 2, 2024
Answered

Unable to use a certificate on a PDF in Acrobat

  • March 2, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 10720 views

When clicking on the "use a certificate" menu option under tools, all of the options underneath are greyed out and I cannot select any of them to create a box for a digital signature. I'm fairly certain all of the correct certificates are where they're supposed to be on my laptop, not sure if its something I'm missing in the Adobe app itself? I've had no issues signing PDFs with this certificate in the past or with filling out PDFs. I'm just not able to create a signature block??

 

 

    Correct answer S_S

    Hi @jan_zil,

     

    Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble with using certificates in Acrobat Reader.

     

    Even if the certificates show up on the certificate manager, there could be high chances that they need to be reimported to Reader for usage. To do so:

      1. Go to Menu > Preferences > Signatures.

      2. Under Identities & Trusted Certificates, click More….

      3. Make sure your certificate appears under Digital IDs.

      4. If not, click Add ID > Use a Digital ID from a file or Windows Certificate Store.

      5. Import it again if necessary.

    More info about working with digital certificates can be found here: https://adobe.ly/42M5Ev3

     

    Hope this helps.


    Regards,
    Souvik.

    2 replies

    J
    jan_zil
    Participant
    April 17, 2025

    Same issue. Used my qualified certificae many times, now I can not. I see my certificate installed in cert manager but the certificate is not available for me in Acrobat reader any more. What is the problem with that ????

    S_S
    Community Manager
    S_SCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    April 23, 2025

    Hi @jan_zil,

     

    Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble with using certificates in Acrobat Reader.

     

    Even if the certificates show up on the certificate manager, there could be high chances that they need to be reimported to Reader for usage. To do so:

      1. Go to Menu > Preferences > Signatures.

      2. Under Identities & Trusted Certificates, click More….

      3. Make sure your certificate appears under Digital IDs.

      4. If not, click Add ID > Use a Digital ID from a file or Windows Certificate Store.

      5. Import it again if necessary.

    More info about working with digital certificates can be found here: https://adobe.ly/42M5Ev3

     

    Hope this helps.


    Regards,
    Souvik.

    S
    Samantha35821666349wAuthor
    Participant
    March 3, 2024

    Ended up finding a solution, you have to select print and then under the printer selections, "Microsoft print to PDF" and save it as a new PDF. Problem solved!

      L
      Lincoln358788352mb8
      Participant
      March 5, 2024

      This solution did not work for me - we still have a totally grey screen when trying to add a digital certificate, this only started after the latest Adobe update with the "AI Assistant"

        S
        stanislav_1970
        Participant
        December 23, 2024

        Did you find a solution fot this totally grey screen?

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