If you plan to exchange digitally signed documents with other people, and you want the recipients of your documents to be able to verify the authenticity of your digital signature, it is a good idea to obtain a digital certificate from a reputable third-party certificate authority (CA). If you select the option Get a digital ID from a Microsoft partner in the Get a Digital ID dialog box, you are redirected to the Microsoft Office website, where you can purchase a digital certificate from one of the third-party certificate authorities (CAs). Get a digital signature from a Microsoft partner To learn more about each option, see the following sections. You have two options for getting a digital signature:

If you try to digitally sign an Office 2007 document without a digital certificate, the Get a Digital ID dialog box appears, and you are asked to select how you want to get your own digital signature.

Digital certificates make it possible for digital signatures to be used as a way to authenticate digital information. Many institutions, governments, and corporations can also issue their own certificates.Ī digital certificate is necessary for a digital signature because it provides the public key that can be used to validate the private key that is associated with a digital signature. There are many commercial third-party certificate authorities from which you can either purchase a digital certificate or obtain a free digital certificate. Digital certificates are typically issued by a certificate authority (CA), which is a trusted third-party entity that issues digital certificates for use by other parties. To digitally sign an Office document, you must have a current (not expired) digital certificate. What is a digital signature?Ī digital signature or ID is more commonly known as a digital certificate. To learn more about how to use them in Office documents, see Add or remove a digital signature in Office files. This article explains how you can get or create a digital signature for use in Office documents.

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