8 Best Ways to Fix Google Chrome Security Certification Error

Frequently receive a “Your Connection Is Not Private” message in Chrome? And the “Not Secure” warning in the Chrome address bar? Trust the message and assume it’s protecting you from sketchy websites. But it can also be an issue on your end, so fix it before encountering an SSL error.

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, a widely recognized security protocol that ensures the websites you visit are secure and the data exchanged between the web server and your browser is encrypted.

SSL certificate errors have unique error codes with different meanings. This guide will show you what some of these codes mean, the factors causing the errors, and how to fix them.

1. Change Computer’s Date and Time

If your computer’s time and date settings are incorrect, the following SSL error codes may appear in Chrome as you browse web pages. To fix this error and prevent future occurrences, configure your computer to update its date and time settings automatically.

For Windows, open the Settings app and navigate to Time & Language > Date & time. Toggle on Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically options.

Mac users can go to System Preferences > Date & Time. Confirm identity to make changes at the bottom left corner and enable the Set date and time automatically toggle.

2. Clear SSL State Cache

To clear the SSL state cache from the Internet Properties menu, follow the steps below:

1. Press Windows Key + R then type “inetcpl.cpl” and hit Enter to open Internet Properties.

2. Go to the “Content” tab and click on the Clear SSL state button.

Step 3: Close and reboot your PC to save changes. If that does not fix the SSL Certificate Error in Chrome, continue to the next method.

3. Clear Cache and Cookies From Google

A corrupted cache can ruin your day. It’s always safe to clear the cache, so there’s no reason not to try it.

If there is overburdened browsing data in your Google Chrome, that may cause the browser to throw an SSL error.

Follow these steps to clear the browsing history, cache, and cookies for your browser.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome, tap the three-dot menu at the top.

Step 2: Go to More tools > Clear browsing data.

Step 3: From the menu, select Advanced and delete Cache and Cookies files.

To fix the Google Chrome security certification error, relaunch the browser and check if the problem is resolved.

Extensions play a vital role in the Chrome ecosystem. They add features to the basic Chrome interface and functionality. However, some extensions may not be actively maintained, could be out of date, or develop incompatibilities with new Chrome builds.

If you have many Chrome extensions installed, it can be difficult to identify the one causing issues. The easiest solution is to disable all extensions and then enable only the ones you need one at a time.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Open Google Chrome and tap the three-dot menu at the top.

2. Go to More tools > Extensions.

3. This opens the Extension menu. Tap the Remove button to remove Chrome extensions.

5. Use Chrome in Incognito Mode

Disabling Chrome extensions isn’t a logical solution for most, as you may need them daily. Instead, use Chrome’s Incognito mode to browse the web, temporarily disabling all extensions. This can help identify if malicious extensions are causing security errors in Google Chrome. To open an Incognito Window, tap the three-dotted menu icon at the top-right corner and select New Incognito Window.

If you don’t get SSL security certificate errors in Chrome when browsing affected websites in an incognito window, you’ve likely installed a bad extension. In these cases, you can use the above trick to resolve the problem.

6. Reset All Chrome Settings

Tweaking settings in Chrome can sometimes lead to issues, especially if you enable beta features. To avoid any problems, you can simply reset Chrome. Here’s how:

Step 1: Launch Chrome and open Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down and click Advanced to access all settings.

Step 3: Scroll down to the Reset and clean up section and click Restore settings to their original defaults. This will open a window with a warning stating that Windows will reset all Chrome settings. Select Reset settings to continue. Keep in mind that this will disable extensions, clear temporary data, and erase cookies. However, it won’t affect bookmarks, history, and saved passwords.

7. Use Chrome Malware Scanner

If none of the above solutions worked, your system might have malware that is interfering with Chrome. The good news is, Google has an anti-malware scanner that will detect any problems on your computer. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Chrome and go to Settings.

2. Scroll down and click Advanced.

3. Scroll down to the Reset and clean up section and click Clean up computer.

4. This will open a window where you can launch the Chrome malware scan. Simply select the Find button to start the scan.

That’s it! This should help resolve any malware issues you may be experiencing with Chrome.

8. Contact Website Administrator

The website creators need to periodically review SSL certificates. You may encounter the following SSL security errors in Chrome if a website’s SSL certificate expires and the administrator fails to renew the authentication license:

– NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID

– NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID

– NET::ERR_CERT_REVOKED

– ERR_SSL_WEAK_EPHEMERAL_DH_KEY

– ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH

If you cannot visit a website due to any of these security certificate errors in Chrome or other browsers, contact the website administrator.

Go through the steps above and fix the security certification error on Google Chrome. Let us know which trick worked for you in the comments section below. Next: Getting frequent notifications from Google Chrome? Read the post below to learn how to turn off notifications.