How do I know if a digital signature in my document is valid?

Open your PDF document in Adobe Acrobat. Click on the 'Signatures' panel on the left side. Right-click on the specific digital signature you want to check. Select 'Validate Signature' from the menu to see its status.

If a digital signature says 'valid but with warnings', what should I do?

First, check the warning details. It might be about the certificate's trust or a timestamp issue. Next, try to verify the certificate information. Make sure it comes from a known and reliable source. Consider adding the signer's certificate to your list of trusted identities if you know and trust them. If the warning is about long-term validity, add LTV information to make the signature self-validating over time.

What is the difference between verifying a signature and managing trusted identities?

Action Purpose Outcome. Verifying a signature To check if a specific digital signature on a document is valid, who signed it, and if its certificate is trusted at that moment. You get an immediate status report on the signature's validity and integrity. Managing trusted identities To tell Adobe Acrobat which digital certificates you personally trust, so it can use this information for future signature validations. You build a list of trusted signers, making future signature verifications smoother and more reliable based on your preferences.

Agreements Audit Trail in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

1 way to ask · copy any one

CDecide — “help me choose”I’m auditing the team’s signed agreements trail and some items show blank signer history.…+

I’m auditing the team’s signed agreements trail and some items show blank signer history. Diagnose whether missing metadata comes from old paper routing, a signatory change, or a tool misconfiguration. Tell me the practical verification steps I should do now, what to flag to legal, and one stop-gap so our next audit is clean.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid

1
Open the PDF document containing the digital signature you want to validate.
2
Locate the signature field or signature panel in the document.
3
Click directly on the digital signature or open the signature panel and select the signature you wish to validate.
4
In the signature details popup, click Signature Properties.
5
In the Signature Properties dialog, click Show Certificate to review certificate details if needed.
6
Close the certificate window, then click Validate Signature in the Signature Properties dialog.
Best practiceIf the signature status shows as 'Unknown' or 'Not Valid', check if the signer's certificate needs to be added to your list of trusted identities.
7
Review the validation result displayed in the Signature Properties dialog.

In the appWith the API

You can view detailed information about the signature's validity and certificate by clicking on the signature and opening Signature Properties.

This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.

Glossary

words on this page

CertificateAn electronic file that proves a person's or organization's identity online, like a digital ID card.ExampleYour certificate confirms your identity when you access secure online government services.

Long Term Validation (LTV)Information added to a digital signature to keep it valid even if the signer's certificate expires later.

Who does this

3 roles

Contract ManagerLegal AssistantCompliance Officer

FAQ

about this task

Open your PDF document in Adobe Acrobat.
Click on the 'Signatures' panel on the left side.
Right-click on the specific digital signature you want to check.
Select 'Validate Signature' from the menu to see its status.

A trusted identity refers to a digital certificate that you have chosen to trust in Adobe Acrobat. It matters because Acrobat uses this trust to decide if a digital signature is valid. If you trust the certificate of the person who signed the document, Acrobat can confirm their identity and that the document has not been changed since they signed it. Managing trusted identities helps you control who you believe is authentic.

First, check the warning details. It might be about the certificate's trust or a timestamp issue.
Next, try to verify the certificate information. Make sure it comes from a known and reliable source.
Consider adding the signer's certificate to your list of trusted identities if you know and trust them.
If the warning is about long-term validity, add LTV information to make the signature self-validating over time.

Adding Long Term Validation (LTV) information to a digital signature is important because it helps the signature stay valid far into the future. Without LTV, a signature might become invalid if the signer's certificate expires or is revoked. LTV embeds all the necessary information, like timestamps and revocation status, directly into the PDF, making the signature self-validating over a long period, even without external checks.

Action	Purpose	Outcome
Verifying a signature	To check if a specific digital signature on a document is valid, who signed it, and if its certificate is trusted at that moment.	You get an immediate status report on the signature's validity and integrity.
Managing trusted identities	To tell Adobe Acrobat which digital certificates you personally trust, so it can use this information for future signature validations.	You build a list of trusted signers, making future signature verifications smoother and more reliable based on your preferences.

Agreements Audit Trail

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help