Many applications look for a certificate in only one certificate store. If a certificate is not in the certificate store that you need, you can move it from one store to another.

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

To move a certificate

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

  2. Under the logical store that contains the certificate to move, click Certificates.

  3. In the details pane, click the certificate that you are moving. (To select more than one certificate, hold down CTRL and click each certificate.)

  4. On the Action menu, click Cut.

  5. In the console tree, click the logical store where you want to move the certificate.

  6. On the Action menu, click Paste.

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.

  • In the Certificates snap-in, you can only move an object within certificate stores. For example, you cannot move an object to a folder in Windows Explorer. To move a certificate to or from a folder on the file system or a removable storage device, see Import a Certificate, Export a Certificate, and Export a Certificate with the Private Key.

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