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SSL checker

Which names your certificate covers, who signs it and how many days it has left.

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The mail one? Add the port: mail.yourdomain.com:993 for IMAP, :995 for POP3 or :465 for SMTP.

Reference

How it works and how to read it

Before letting you in, the browser checks that the certificate is for that name, that it's in date and that it's signed by someone it trusts. If any one fails, you get the warning that the connection isn't private.

The name

It's only valid for the names it contains

Every certificate comes with its list of names. yourdomain.com and www.yourdomain.com are two different names: if one is missing, anyone visiting through it will see the warning. A wildcard covers one level of subdomains, but not the bare domain.

What a certificate covers

example

yourdomain.com

the domain

www.yourdomain.com

with www: another name

*.yourdomain.com

tienda., blog.: one level

a.b.yourdomain.com

two levels: not covered

The dates

They keep getting shorter

Let's Encrypt certificates last 90 days, and the industry has agreed to lower the maximum for everyone to 47 days by 2029. Renewing them by hand no longer makes sense: what matters is that automatic renewal works.

Maximum lifetime

until 2026

paid ones, one year

398 days

15 Mar 2026

first cut

200 days

15 Mar 2027

second cut

100 days

15 Mar 2029

the final maximum

47 days

The chain

From the certificate to a trusted root

Your certificate is signed by an intermediate, and the intermediate by a root the browser already has installed. The server has to send your certificate and the intermediates. If one is missing, some browsers fetch it themselves, but other programs, such as curl or many applications, return an error.

A complete chain

yourdomain.com

your certificate: sent by the server

YR1

Let's Encrypt intermediate: also sent

Root YR

another intermediate: also sent

ISRG Root X1

the root: already in the browser

FAQ

Are SSL and TLS the same thing?

In practice, yes. SSL is the name of the original protocol, which stopped being used years ago; what encrypts your website today is TLS, usually version 1.2 or 1.3. The name “SSL certificate” has stuck out of habit, but it's the same certificate TLS uses.

Why does the browser say the connection isn't private?

Because one of the three checks fails: the certificate has expired (or isn't valid yet), it doesn't include the name you visited, or its chain doesn't reach an authority the browser trusts. The report tells you which of the three it is. If the certificate is fine and the padlock still doesn't appear, it's usually mixed content: the page loads images or scripts over http://.

When does my certificate expire and who renews it?

The date is in the certificate itself: at the top you see the days it has left and the exact date. Free ones, such as Let's Encrypt certificates, are requested and renewed automatically by the server. On cPanel hosting AutoSSL does it, and for it to work the domain has to point to the server. Paid ones are renewed by whoever bought them, so it's worth noting the date.

Does the padlock mean the website can be trusted?

No. It means the connection is encrypted and the certificate belongs to that domain. Anyone can get a free certificate in minutes, including a phishing website. The padlock protects what you send in transit, but says nothing about who is on the other side.

Can I check the email certificate?

Yes: type the server with the port, for example mail.yourdomain.com:993 for IMAP, :995 for POP3 or :465 for SMTP. We also accept :8443. Not port 587: it starts unencrypted and upgrades to TLS with STARTTLS, and we don't check that here. To see how your email arrives, try the email test.