Knowledge Base

Knowledge BaseCertificate Signing Request (CSR)

How to Generate a CSR for an SSL Certificate Using Microsoft Management Console (MMC)?

Updated on February 6, 2026

How to Generate a CSR for an SSL Certificate Using Microsoft Management Console (MMC)?

Overview:
This guide provides a step-by-step process for generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) for an SSL Certificate using the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). This method allows you to create a CSR and private key directly from the Windows Current User certificate store.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

Access to a Windows computer

Permission to manage server certificates under Current User → Personal

Details for the certificate subject (e.g., Common Name, Organization, Country, etc.)

A Sectigo account to submit the CSR after generation

Procedure

Click on Windows Start menu > Run

On the 'Run' dialog box, enter "certmgr.msc" and press "Ok" - This will open up the Current User Certificate snap-in on an MMC.

On the Certificate Manager snap-in, right-click on the Personal folder.

Select All Tasks > Advanced Operations > Create Custom Request. This will open up the 'Certificate Enrollment'' Wizard.

On the 'Certificate Enrollment' wizard, click Next on the 'Before You Begin' page.

Graphical user interface, text, application Description automatically generated

On the next page, select the option 'Proceed without enrollment policy' and click Next.

. Graphical user interface, text, application Description automatically generated

On the Custom Request page, select '(no template) Legacy Key' as 'Template' option and select 'PKCS#10' as 'Request Format' and then click Next.
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On the 'Certificate Information' page, expand the 'Details' drop-down and click 'Properties' to bring up the 'Certificate Properties' page

On the 'General' tab of the 'Certificate Properties' page, enter a Friendly Name for your certificate.

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On the Subject tab, you can enter the Subject Details that can be included on the CSR.
The Subject details can be the 'Common Name', 'Organization Name', 'State', 'City', 'Country' and 'Email'.
Common Name and Country are mandatory.
Please note, the Certificate Subject may not include all the given values on this certificate request. It depends on the certificate type you purchase from Sectigo.

Note: For DV Certificates, the subject details can have the common name and country

For OV certificates Subject can have Common Name (FQDN), Organization Name, State, Country

For EV certificates, Same as OV, but must exactly match the legal business name and location.

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After Updating the 'Subject', open the Private Key tab to set the 'Key Options'. Make sure that you set the Key Size to 2048 (or) 4096 and enable the 'Mark private key as exportable' check box.
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After finishing the configuration, you will get a page where you can save the CSR file. Select a location to save the CSR file. Enter a name for the file and click Finish.
You can then submit the CSR through your Sectigo client portal to complete the certificate request.