*Maximum SSL validity period changes:
March 1, 2018 – 2 years
August 18, 2020 – 1 year
You may have noticed that if you purchase a 2*–5-year SSL certificate, the certificate you are issued is only valid for 1 year. Don’t worry, this isn’t an error.
From August 18, 2020, the maximum SSL certificate validity of an issued SSL will be limited to 1 year following new requirements announced by a number of major web browsers.
An SSL of more than 1-year is a prepay option that gets you the lowest price possible for your SSL. Buying an SSL for more years gives you a bulk discount and protects you against industry price rises.
You will still be able to use the full period you’ve paid for through the reactivation process.
What reactivation looks like?
Go to “My SSL” and click “Renew” filter next to search. Certificates that require reactivation will have “Reactivate” button next to it. Click it to enter activation flow.
The rest is a lot like the first time you bought and activated an SSL:
- Submit your data to the CA.
- Confirm that you control the domain you wish to secure.
- Pass company checks: organization validation for an OV SSL or extended validation for an EV SSL.
- Install the new SSL on your server
What happens if you don’t reactivate
If you don’t reactivate, your SSL initially issued for 1 year will expire. Your website will no longer have encryption protection and your site will be flagged as “Not secure”. The certificate status in your dashboard will change to “Paused”. You can restore a secure connection at any time through reactivation.
How is “reactivate” different from “renew”?
When you reactivate, you get a new SSL issued within the period you already paid for. Once this paid period is over, you will need to renew the whole SSL — which means paying once more for another period of your choice.
Both actions involve sending activation requests to the Certificate Authority, getting an SSL issued, and installing the issued SSL on your site. Whether you need to reactivate or renew your SSL, you will get an email reminder from us and will be guided through the corresponding process.