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I am trying to access the SSL certificate for a certain website (textnow.com) but I can't find where it is stored on my computer, even in the certificate manager. Also, when I click on the lock next to the website name, then connection is secure, then certificate is valid, I see this: cert

The view certificate button is greyed out and it doesn't let me click it. How can I get the local file address of the certificate?

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  • It would be stored in the Certificate Manager. However, the website appears to be signed by a non-standard Root CA. It's location on your machine is entirely based on which certificate store it was installed to.. You can check %AppData%\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\My\Certificates if you know which certificate it is.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Apr 4, 2022 at 20:32
  • @Ramhound how do I navigate to there?
    – Kovy Jacob
    Commented Apr 4, 2022 at 20:42
  • You cannot do “View Certificate” because that’s what you’re already doing. The certificate would not be stored anywhere. Do you want to save it?
    – Daniel B
    Commented Apr 4, 2022 at 20:57
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    @KovyJacob this is an XY Problem. The certificate is exchanged in the SSL handshake. This isn’t something you “send” to a web server. It’s something the web server sends to you.
    – Appleoddity
    Commented Apr 4, 2022 at 22:08
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    @KovyJacob - That isn’t how TLS certificates work. Your not even viewing the correct certificate for the website. Your behind corporate internet protection (specifically content filtering). Contact your system administrator for more information
    – Ramhound
    Commented Apr 4, 2022 at 23:00

1 Answer 1

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The certificate is not present as a file but only in memory. It is sent by the server as part of the SSL/TLS handshake. To save it, go to the “Details” tab and press “Copy to File”.

Google Certificate Details

Your PC knows to trust the certificate because it trusts the issuer. That’s the essence of the chain of trust with the Public Key Infrastructure. Only the trusted issuer is stored on your PC (in the certificate store, not as plain files).

Because you do not have the private key (it’s secret), you cannot really do all that much with the certificate. You can use it to trust this site specifically.

You appear to be subject to a corporate MITM proxy. As such, you do not see the “real” certificate chain. This may or may not be relevant to whatever you’re trying to do.

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