How to check when an SSL certificate expires

Fastest: our tool

Enter the website address in our certificate checker. You will see the expiry date, the days left, the issuer, the names in the certificate and whether browsers trust it. This also works for someone else's site, without opening the certificate details in the browser.

Chrome

1. Click the icon to the left of the address (two sliders, with the tooltip “View site information”).
2. Click “Connection is secure”, then “Certificate is valid”.
3. On the “General” tab, in the “Validity Period” section, the “Expires On” field is the expiry date. All the names the certificate was issued for are on the “Details” tab.

In Edge, click the padlock next to the address, then “Connection is secure” and the certificate icon in the corner of the pop-up.

Firefox

1. Click the padlock next to the address, then “Connection secure” and “More information”.
2. On the “Security” tab, click “View Certificate”. In the “Validity” section, the “Not After” field is the expiry date.

Safari

On a Mac, in the “Safari” menu choose “Connection Security Details”, then “Show Certificate”. The expiry date is in the certificate details, next to the information about the issuer. On iPhone, Safari does not show the certificate of a site that works correctly, so check it on a computer.

With the openssl command

On a computer with Linux or macOS (in the terminal; on Windows in Git Bash), type the following, replacing the domain name:

echo | openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 \
  -servername example.com 2>/dev/null \
  | openssl x509 -noout -subject -issuer -dates

The notAfter line is the expiry date. It ends with “GMT”, which is Coordinated Universal Time, so convert it to your own time zone. The issuer line tells you who issued the certificate.

In your freessl.pl dashboard

For certificates saved in your account, the dashboard shows the issue date, the expiry date and the recommended renewal date. We send you an email reminder after two thirds of the validity period and a second one a week before it ends.

How long a certificate is valid

A Let's Encrypt certificate is currently valid for 90 days. Let's Encrypt has announced that validity will be shortened to 64 days from February 10, 2027 and to 45 days from February 16, 2028. Paid certificates are also valid for less and less time; details in the SSL certificate guide.

What to do when the certificate has expired

Chrome and Edge then show a warning with the code NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID, and Firefox with SEC_ERROR_EXPIRED_CERTIFICATE. Generate a new certificate for the same addresses in the generator and upload it to the same place following the guide for your hosting. We cover other warnings on the page “Your connection is not private”.