WPS Certificate Management helps you manage signature certificates, encryption certificates, and trusted certificates in PDF files; this guide covers 3 core tasks, with 0 available without membership and 3 membership-related items.
At a Glance
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core tasks | 3 | Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index |
| Available without membership | 0 | Matches the number of Free rows in the index |
| Membership-related items | 3 | Matches the number of membership-required rows in the index |
| Version limits | None specified | Available in current Windows versions of WPS Office with PDF support |
About This Feature
Overview
Certificate Management in WPS PDF for Windows is used to view and maintain digital certificates used in PDF workflows. After opening the certificate management window, you can review signature certificates, encryption certificates, and trusted certificates, then add or remove certificates as needed.
Core tasks include:
- Open Certificate Management to review different certificate categories.
- Add a certificate by importing a local certificate file in .pfx, .p12, or .cer format.
- Delete a certificate that is no longer needed from the certificate list.
This feature is useful for users who work with contracts, approval files, encrypted PDFs, and signed documents. Keeping certificates organized in one place can make certificate-based PDF work easier and reduce repeated imports.
System Requirements
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating system | A Windows device with a currently supported system version |
| App version | It is recommended to use the latest version of WPS Office with the PDF component installed |
| Network | No constant internet connection is required for local certificate management, but downloading, installation, and account-related actions require internet access |
| Other | You need to be able to open PDF files; membership is required for PDF editing workflows related to this feature |
Download & Installation
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Official download | WPS Office Free Download |
| Installation | Download the Windows installer and complete the setup with the installation wizard |
| Post-install check | Open WPS Office, open any PDF file, and check whether the Protect tab shows the Certificate Management entry |
Source: WPS download page
Compare with Alternatives
| Dimension | WPS | Microsoft | Notion | Adobe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capability Summary | Manages signature certificates, encryption certificates, and trusted certificates from the Protect tab in WPS PDF, with add and delete actions | Lets users view digital signature and certificate details in Office files and work with document signatures | Provides an eSignature workflow in Google Docs and Drive for requesting signatures, tracking status, and viewing an audit trail | Supports PDF import and export workflows, but no official certificate management workflow was found in the referenced help content | Provides digital ID and certificate management for signing, encryption, importing certificates, and deleting digital IDs |
| Official Source | — | View digital signature and certificate details | Turn eSignature on or off for users | Import data into Notion | Digital ID overview |
Advantage: Keeps local PDF certificate management in the same workflow as PDF protection and signing tasks
Overall Conclusion
WPS is a practical choice for users who already handle signing, encryption, and certificate import tasks inside WPS PDF. Microsoft and Google focus more on signature viewing or eSignature workflows, while Adobe provides broader digital ID management. Notion is more focused on PDF content import and export than certificate administration.
Use Cases
| No. | Scenario | Suitable users | Main challenge | How Certificate Management helps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prepare certificates before signing a contract | Legal and administrative teams | Need to confirm that the required local certificates are available | Open Certificate Management to review signature and trusted certificates |
| 2 | Import a new signing certificate | Business users and managers | Need to add a newly received certificate file into the PDF workflow | Use Add to import a .pfx, .p12, or .cer certificate |
| 3 | Remove expired or unused certificates | Frequent users of signed PDFs | A long certificate list can make selection harder | Delete certificates that are no longer needed |
| 4 | Check encryption certificate availability | Users who send encrypted PDFs | Need to confirm whether a usable encryption certificate is already available | Review the encryption certificate list |
| 5 | Maintain a trusted certificate list | Internal document processing teams | Need to keep trusted certificates organized | Review and maintain trusted certificates in one dialog |
Membership & Benefits
Free vs WPS Premium
| Capability | Free | WPS Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Edit PDFs and use certificate-management-related editing workflows | Not included | Included |
| Basic PDF reading | Included | Included |
| Broader PDF editing and conversion tools | Limited | Included |
Source: WPS Office pricing page
Recommendations
| Usage scenario | Recommended plan | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You mainly read PDFs or only occasionally check document content | Free | A paid plan is not necessary for basic reading tasks |
| You regularly manage certificates and edit PDFs | WPS Premium | Certificate management is used in PDF editing workflows that require membership |
How to Subscribe
- Subscribe here: Get WPS Premium
Source: WPS Office pricing page