Display Certificate Stores in Purpose Store Mode

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Certificate Purpose mode allows you to view and inspect certificates based on what they are intended to be used for, such as client authentication or key recovery, rather than on their logical roles.

Users or local Administrators are the minimum group memberships required to complete this procedure. Review the details in "Additional considerations" in this topic.

To display certificate stores in Certificate purpose view mode

  1. Open the Certificates snap-in for a user, computer, or service.

  2. Open Certificates - Current User or Certificates (Local Computer).

  3. Right-click Certificates - Current, click View, and then click Options.

  4. Under View mode, click Certificate purpose, and then click OK. The title Intended Purposes will appear at the top of the right-hand column, allowing you to select the type of certificates you need to inspect more closely.

Additional considerations

  • User certificates can be managed by the user or by an administrator. Certificates issued to a computer or service can only be managed by an administrator or user who has been given the appropriate permissions.

  • To open the Certificates snap-in, see Add the Certificates Snap-in to an MMC.