After generating and validating your Personal Authentication Certificate, you will receive an email with instructions for collecting your certificate. This guide will help you use Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer Mode to collect your certificate.
How to Enable Internet Explorer Mode
Go to browser Settings by clicking the menu button on the top right and selecting Settings.
Go to "Default browser" in the left-hand menu. Here you will enable a few settings required to use Internet Explorer mode:
1. Set Let Internet Explorer open sites in Microsoft Edge to "Incompatible sites only (Recommended)"
2. Set Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode to "Allow"
3. Next to Internet Explorer mode pages, click the Add button.
After clicking Add, you will be prompted to enter the URL of the web page that should be loaded in Internet Explorer mode. Here you will enter the URL from the collection website in the email sent by the Certificate Authority once validation is completed.
After adding the order form URL, you should refresh the browser. You can be sure Internet Explorer mode is working when you see the banner under the URL bar. Do not click the "Open in Microsoft Edge" button.
How to Collect the Certificate
Enter the Email Address and Collection Code provided in the Certificate Authority's email with the collection instructions, then continue to the next page.
You should see a Web Access Confirmation pop-up asking if you will allow a certificate operation. Click YES on this pop-up every time it occurs or else the collection process will not be able to continue.
After allowing the certificate operation, proceed to request the certificate on the collection website. The collection process may take a few minutes.
Once the process is done, the web page will change. You may not see a confirmation message that the certificate is collected.
You may be able to configure your email client to utilize the certificate at this point. If you intend to install the certificate on another device, you will need to export the file from the browser.
How to Export the Certificate
Now, to receive the actual certificate, you must export the certificate with its private key from the browser's certificate store, then save it to your PC/desktop as a PFX (.p12) file. Follow the detailed instructions below to navigate through the export process.
- Open Settings
- Navigate to Privacy, search, and services then scroll down to the Security section
- Click Manage certificates to access the Certificate Store
4. In the Certificate Store window, the certificate's name and expiration date should match the details from your order. Click to highlight the certificate, then click Export to Open the Certificate Export Wizard.
5. Click Next.
6. On the Export Private Key page, select "Yes, export the private key" -- if this option is unavailable, then the private key is missing, and you will need to re-issue the certificate to fix the key.
7. On the Export File Format page, ensure the following options are checked:
- Personal Information Exchange - PKCS #12 (.PFX)
- Include all certificates in the certification path if possible
- Enable certificate privacy
8. On the Security page, create a Password for the certificate. You will enter this password again any time you install the certificate on another device.
9. On the File to Export page, click the Browse button to select a location and name to save the certificate file.
10. To Complete the Certificate Export Wizard, make sure the settings are correct and click Finish.
- File name: this should be the directory and file name entered previously.
- Export Keys: Yes
- Include all certificates in the certification path: Yes
- File Format: Personal Information Exchange (*.pfx)
Your certificate has now been exported with its private key as a PFX file. You can install this file on other devices if necessary.
