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

Open your PDF in Acrobat. Click on the digital signature in the document. In the 'Signature Properties' box, select 'Validate Signature'. Acrobat will then tell you if the signature is valid and trusted.

What is the difference between verifying certificate information and managing trusted identities?

Action Purpose. Verifying Certificate Information This is about checking the details of a specific certificate, like who issued it and its expiry date. It helps you understand if a certificate is currently valid. Managing Trusted Identities This is about telling Acrobat which certificates you personally trust. If you trust a certificate, any signature made with it will be shown as trusted by your Acrobat.

Audit Signed Listings in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

2 ways to ask · copy any one

AExecute — “help me do it”Audit our past signed listing agreements from 2023, add searchable indexing by client name and…+

Audit our past signed listing agreements from 2023, add searchable indexing by client name and expiration date, and produce a list of clients with contracts expiring in the next 60 days for renewal outreach.

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

BImprove — “do it better”Search and OCR our 2023 signed listings, add bates numbers and metadata (client name, property,…+

Search and OCR our 2023 signed listings, add bates numbers and metadata (client name, property, expiration date), build a searchable index, and produce a prioritized list of clients with contracts expiring in 60 days so I can plan renewal outreach with scripts.

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

Digital SignatureAn electronic mark on a document that proves who signed it and that the document has not changed.ExampleA digital signature on your tax return confirms you submitted it and that its contents are unchanged.

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.

Trusted IdentitySomeone whose digital signature certificate you have chosen to trust in your software.ExampleYou add your manager's digital signature certificate as a trusted identity in your document software.

Who does this

3 roles

Contract ManagerLegal AssistantCompliance Officer

FAQ

about this task

Open your PDF in Acrobat.
Click on the digital signature in the document.
In the 'Signature Properties' box, select 'Validate Signature'.
Acrobat will then tell you if the signature is valid and trusted.

It's important to validate a digital signature because just seeing it doesn't mean it's real or trusted. Validation checks if the signer's certificate is trusted and if the document has been changed after signing. This ensures the document's integrity and the signer's identity, which is crucial for legal and official documents.

If a digital signature is 'not trusted', it means Acrobat cannot confirm the identity of the signer through a recognized certificate authority. This doesn't automatically mean the signature is fake, but it suggests you should be careful. You might need to manually add the signer's certificate to your list of trusted identities.

Validating a digital signature helps ensure its long-term validity (LTV) by adding verification information to the document. This information includes details about the signer's certificate and timestamp server at the time of signing. This way, even if a certificate expires later, the signature's validity can still be confirmed based on when it was originally signed, making it self-validating over time.

Action	Purpose
Verifying Certificate Information	This is about checking the details of a specific certificate, like who issued it and its expiry date. It helps you understand if a certificate is currently valid.
Managing Trusted Identities	This is about telling Acrobat which certificates you personally trust. If you trust a certificate, any signature made with it will be shown as trusted by your Acrobat.

Audit Signed Listings

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help