Major browsers and Certification Authorities, working through the CA/Browser Forum, have agreed to shorten the maximum validity period of publicly trusted SSL/TLS certificates. The goal is simple: make the web safer by reducing the time a certificate remains valid before it must be renewed.
Timeline: max SSL certificate validity
- March 12, 2026 – 200 days (just under 7 months)
- August 18, 2020 – 1 year
- March 1, 2018 – 2 years
What this means for you
- SSLs purchased for 1 year or longer and issued after March 12, 2026 will be issued for up to 200 days. To use the remaining purchased period, you’ll need to reactivate the SSL.
- SSLs issued for 1 year before the reduction to 200 days will remain valid until their expiration date.
- If an SSL was issued for 1 year before March 12, 2026, and you reissue it after March 12, 2026, the reissued SSL will be issued for no longer than 200 days.