Add or import a certificate into Contacts

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Microsoft Outlook uses certificates in cryptographic e-mail messaging to help provide more secure communications. To use cryptography when you send and receive e-mail messages, you must first obtain a digital ID from a certificate authority (CA). Digitally signing a message applies the sender's certificate and public key to the message. Your certificate is sent with the message to help authenticate you to the recipient.

A certificate contains a contact's public key. After you add or import the certificate to your contact list, Outlook can use it to verify digitally signed mail from the contact.

What do you want to do?

Add a contact and certificate received in an e-mail message to your contact list

Import a certificate into your contact list

Add a certificate to the Global Address List

Add a contact and certificate received in an e-mail message to your contact list

1. Open the digitally signed message from the recipient.

2. Right-click the name in the From box, and then click Add to Contacts on the shortcut menu.

3. If you already have a contact entry for this person, select Update new information from this contact to the existing one.

Note: 

• To view the certificate for a contact, in the Contacts folder, double-click the contact to open it, and then click the Certificates tab.

• To import a certificate (.cer) file for a contact into Outlook when viewing the Certificates tab, click Import. You usually import a certificate when a contact sends it to you as an attachment.

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Import a certificate into your contact list

1. In Contacts, open the contact form for the contact whose certificate you want to import.

2. On the Contact tab, in the Show group, click Certificates, and then click Import.

3. Locate and select the certificate file that you want, and then click Open.

Note: Certificate files have either a .p7c or .cer file extension.

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Add a certificate to the Global Address List

This feature requires you to use a Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, Exchange Server 2003, or Exchange Server 2007 account. Most home and personal accounts do not use Microsoft Exchange.

1. On the Tools menu, click Trust Center.

2. Click E-mail Security.

3. Click Publish to GAL.

Note: 

• The server automatically stores each user's certificate in the Global Address List, to make it easier to exchange encrypted e-mail messages within your organization. You can also add a default encryption certificate from another source by saving the certificate to your computer and then publishing it to the Global Address List.

• When you publish certificates to the Global Address List, your current security settings are used. If your security settings are not set up, the certificates are deleted from the Global Address List.

• When you want to replace your certificate in the Global Address List, for example when it expires, install a new certificate on your computer, and then publish that certificate by using the steps listed above.

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