Service Alerts

Digital Certificates

Setting up Outlook 2007 to use signing and encryption certificates

  • Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista
  • Application: Outlook 2007
  1. Make sure that you have imported your certificates into the Windows Certificate store.
  2. Open Outlook.
  3. From the Tools menu, select Trust Center and click the E-mail Security section.
  4. Select the following options:
    • “Add Digital Signature to Outgoing Messages.” This option includes your signing certificate on all outgoing messages.
    • "Send clear text signed messages when sending signed messages." This ensures that recipients can read your signed messages. It is especially important if your recipient is using a Web-based or mobile mail client.
  5. For encryption, ITS recommends that you do not select the option to "Encrypt contents and attachments for outgoing messages." ITS recommends that you manually choose encryption for individual messages rather than setting it by default.

    Note: You can send an encrypted message only if you have the recipient's public key.
  6. Click the Settings button. Outlook displays your signing and public encryption certificate. Outlook includes your public signing certificate when it sends your signing certificate so that other users may send you encrypted messages.
  7. Click OK.
  8. 3 24Send an e-mail to yourself as a test. Delivered messages display the signing icon, encryption icon, or both, depending on the options you selected.