{"id":90845,"date":"2025-08-12T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T07:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/?p=90845"},"modified":"2025-08-26T09:02:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T07:02:38","slug":"expired-digital-certificate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/expired-digital-certificate\/","title":{"rendered":"What happens if the digital certificate has expired?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Having an expired digital certificate can become a serious problem if it is not detected in time. No digital certificate, regardless of its type or country of issue, is valid indefinitely: they are generally valid for two to four years. Some of its users, the most meticulous and organized, mark the exact expiration date on their calendar; however, many tend to resort to this type of file only when they need it, forgetting about it until the next time they need it.<\/p>\n<p>But what happens when the expiration date catches us off guard and we haven&#8217;t had time to renew it? In the vast majority of cases, users realize it has expired when they need it, in the middle of an important procedure. Not only do they lose valuable time, but they are also unable to complete the operation or procedure in question. For this reason, in today&#8217;s article, we will tell you what happens if your digital certificate has expired and reveal a solution so that you never find yourself in this situation again.<\/p>\n<h2>Expired digital certificate: what does it mean?<\/h2>\n<p>When you have an expired digital certificate, it <strong>will immediately cease to be valid for authenticating or signing digital documents<\/strong>. In other words, you will not lose access to electronic offices and online procedures, nor will you be unable to complete online procedures, such as those involving public administration electronic office platforms or services, documents with private companies, or platforms of any kind.<\/p>\n<p>However, this will not affect the documents you have signed so far, and their reliability will be maintained.<\/p>\n<h2>Why does a digital certificate expire?<\/h2>\n<p>Digital certificates mainly expire for <strong>security reasons<\/strong> and <strong>to adapt to technological and regulatory advances<\/strong>. If you think about it, once you apply for your digital certificate and several years have passed, it is likely that several events have taken place that have had an impact on digital security, whatever their nature.<\/p>\n<p>One of the maxims of digital certificates is that encryption keys and methods must be robust. When they expire and have to be renewed, this ensures that <strong>they remain robust<\/strong> and are <strong>updated to the current context<\/strong>, avoiding possible vulnerabilities, whether due to identity theft attempts by cybercriminals or technological advances.<\/p>\n<h3>How do I renew the certificate?<\/h3>\n<p>To avoid being left with an expired digital certificate, you must renew it. To do so, you must access the website of the issuing entity, ideally <strong>60 days before the expiration date<\/strong>. Once there, look for the specific label and follow the instructions provided; generally, this involves filling out a form, although they may also ask you to prove your identity. Follow the instructions for identification, renewal application, payment, and finally, download the renewed digital certificate. Verify its validity and that&#8217;s it, your digital certificate is now renewed.<\/p>\n<p>If the digital certificate has already expired and you have not been able to renew it on time, you will have to request a new digital certificate as if it were the first time.<\/p>\n<h3>I have electronically signed a document: Can the signature expire?<\/h3>\n<p>Not necessarily. It is true that some of the tools and methods used to do so have a temporary validity, but <strong>the digital signature of a signed document does not expire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>What does expire is the digital certificate used, as you already know, which is responsible for creating a digital signature and acts as its basis; the electronic evidence of the signature may also expire. To avoid this, it is important to know the expiration date of the certificate and to be aware that the date does not pass.<\/p>\n<h3>Does your company need a certificate management tool?<\/h3>\n<p>Nowadays, having a digital certificate is essential for carrying out online procedures and gaining agility in your day-to-day work. However, with the routine, we tend to forget to keep track of their validity&#8230; and often, they end up expiring without anyone noticing.<\/p>\n<p>With our digital certificate manager, Viafirma Fortress, you can securely and automatically control the entire lifecycle of your certificate. You will receive <strong>email notifications<\/strong> when its validity <strong>is about to expire <\/strong>(<strong>30, 7, and 1 days<\/strong> before it happens), and you can use them on each of your devices without installing anything.<\/p>\n<p>You can also <strong>add, delete, and revoke<\/strong> all of your organization&#8217;s digital certificates from a single control panel. We offer you the possibility <strong>to configure their use<\/strong> in an advanced way and <strong>authorize or deny access<\/strong> to specific websites, platforms, or applications, either at certain times or by user type.<\/p>\n<p>Ready to make sure your digital certificate expiry never catches you off guard again?<\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-author-block\"><div class=\"custom-author-photo-wrapper\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Noelia_garcia-150x150.webp\" class=\"custom-author-photo\" alt=\"Noelia Garc\u00eda\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Noelia_garcia-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Noelia_garcia.webp 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/div><div class=\"custom-author-meta\"><div class=\"custom-author-name\">Noelia Garc\u00eda<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/noelia-garcia-egea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"linkedin-icon\" aria-label=\"LinkedIn\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"#0062be\"><path d=\"M19 0h-14c-2.761 0-5 2.239-5 5v14c0 2.761 2.239 5 5 5h14c2.762 0 5-2.239 5-5v-14c0-2.761-2.238-5-5-5zm-11 19h-3v-10h3v10zm-1.5-11.268c-.966 0-1.75-.784-1.75-1.75s.784-1.75 1.75-1.75 1.75.784 1.75 1.75-.784 1.75-1.75 1.75zm13.5 11.268h-3v-5.604c0-3.357-4-3.099-4 0v5.604h-3v-10h3v1.354c1.396-2.586 7-2.777 7 2.476v6.17z\"\/><\/svg><\/a><\/div><hr class=\"custom-author-separator\"><p class=\"custom-author-bio\">Noelia is part of Viafirma&#039;s Marketing department, where she is in charge of the strategy and writing of the corporate blogs. She brings the reader the latest news about technology, digital identity and digital transformation in a clear, useful and updated way.\r\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"vf_related_posts_wrapper\"><h2 class=\"vf_related_posts_title\">Related information<\/h2><div class=\"vf_related_posts\"><article class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/digital-certificate-manager-companies\/\" class=\"vc_gitem-post-link\"><div class=\"vc_gitem-post-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"475\" src=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/290425_blog_gestor-768x475.webp\" class=\" wp-post-image\" alt=\"Nube con candado representando seguridad digital en la nube, ideal para ilustrar el uso de un gestor de certificados digitales en empresas\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/290425_blog_gestor-768x475.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/290425_blog_gestor-300x186.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/290425_blog_gestor-1024x634.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/290425_blog_gestor.webp 1228w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div><\/a><div class=\"vc_gitem-post-data\"><h3 class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post_title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/digital-certificate-manager-companies\/\">Digital certificate manager: for all companies?<\/a><\/h3><p class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post_excerpt\">Cloud solution suitable for SMBs and large enterprises<\/p><\/div><\/article><article class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/7-advantages-of-a-digital-certificate-manager\/\" class=\"vc_gitem-post-link\"><div class=\"vc_gitem-post-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"459\" src=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Portada-gestor-certificados-digitales-1-768x459.png\" class=\" wp-post-image\" alt=\"7 ventajas de un gestor de certificados digitales\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Portada-gestor-certificados-digitales-1-768x459.png 768w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Portada-gestor-certificados-digitales-1-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Portada-gestor-certificados-digitales-1-1024x612.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Portada-gestor-certificados-digitales-1-1536x918.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Portada-gestor-certificados-digitales-1-2048x1224.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div><\/a><div class=\"vc_gitem-post-data\"><h3 class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post_title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/7-advantages-of-a-digital-certificate-manager\/\">7 advantages of a digital certificate manager<\/a><\/h3><p class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post_excerpt\">Surely, in your law firm, agency, company or organization you<\/p><\/div><\/article><article class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/how-to-get-a-digital-certificate\/\" class=\"vc_gitem-post-link\"><div class=\"vc_gitem-post-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Como-conseguir-mi-certificado-digital-para-los-tramites-online-768x512.webp\" class=\" wp-post-image\" alt=\"como-conseguir-mi-certificado-digital-para-los-tramites-online\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Como-conseguir-mi-certificado-digital-para-los-tramites-online-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Como-conseguir-mi-certificado-digital-para-los-tramites-online-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Como-conseguir-mi-certificado-digital-para-los-tramites-online.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div><\/a><div class=\"vc_gitem-post-data\"><h3 class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post_title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/how-to-get-a-digital-certificate\/\">How to get a digital certificate?<\/a><\/h3><p class=\"vc_gitem-post-data-source-post_excerpt\">We tell you how to get the digital certificate and how to check its validity. We also explain all its...<\/p><\/div><\/article><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What happens if your digital certificate has expired?...","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":91241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"class_list":["post-90845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources-blog-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viafirma.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}