Verify the Digital Certificate for a Notarized Document – Proof Help Center
To verify the digital certificate on a notarized document, you must download the document and open it in Adobe Reader or Acrobat desktop software, then check the signatures bar for a valid signature message and use the Signature Panel to inspect certificate ownership, validity, and signature details, noting that browser or email viewers cannot perform this verification and you may need to establish trust with a root certificate if the green check mark does not appear.
The short answer: You can verify the digital certificate on a notarized document using Adobe Reader or Acrobat desktop software. You'll need a downloaded copy of the document — browser and email viewers won't work.
Verifying the Authenticity of Your Document
Note: You must have a downloaded copy of the document to verify it — you cannot verify the digital certificate directly within a browser or email software.
Verify the Digital Certificate
- 1.Open the document in your Adobe Reader or Acrobat desktop software.
- 2.If the digital certificate is valid, you will see the signatures bar at the top of the document area, with the message "Signed and all signatures are valid."
- 3.Click the Signature Panel button in the signatures bar to inspect the details of the digital certificate.
- 4.Inspect the certificate and signatures:
- Signature Panel: Assess certificate ownership and validity and ensure that the document has not been modified since the signature was applied.
- Signature Details viewer: Review additional information related to the signature owner and certificate authority.
Note: If you're not seeing the green check mark and your document was notarized through Proof, you may need to establish trust with a root certificate in Adobe before you can verify digital signatures on e-signed and notarized documents.
Summary Checklist
- Download a copy of the document to your computer before verifying.
- Open the document in Adobe Reader or Acrobat desktop software.
- Check the signatures bar for "Signed and all signatures are valid."
- Click Signature Panel to inspect certificate ownership, validity, and signature details.
Still unsure? Contact Proof Support for help.
Related
Adobe Platform Seal – Proof Help Center
The Adobe Platform Seal feature in Proof uses Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL) certificates to tamper-seal eSigned documents, displaying a green checkmark in Adobe for certified single-party signed documents (excluding multi-party and notarized ones), and can be enabled by contacting Proof’s Customer Success Manager or Support team.
What Is a Digital Certificate (Technically)?
A digital certificate, within the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) framework, is a data structure containing a user's public key and identifying information, which is attached to a document signed with the user's private key to enable recipients to verify the signature's authenticity and the document's integrity through asymmetric cryptography.
Establish Trust with a Root Certificate in Adobe – Proof Help Center
To resolve Adobe warnings or missing green checkmarks on Proof-notarized documents caused by untrusted root certificates, users must manually install the Proof or IdenTrust root certificate file (proof-root-ca-r1.crt) into Adobe Reader or Acrobat to establish a trust relationship, enabling Adobe to verify the digital certificate and display the green checkmark for valid notarizations.
Digital Certificates Now Available
In March 2026, Proof introduced exclusive, rigorously audited digital certificates for notaries that meet WebTrust standards and are listed on Adobe's Authorized Trust List, providing a secure digital identity that digitally signs and stamps notarized documents with a visible green checkmark in Adobe Acrobat, preventing seal replication, enhancing trust, and ensuring remote online notarizations are more secure and traceable than traditional paper-based methods.
File Size and Format Requirements
Documents must be uploaded as full, digitally created PDFs (not photos or scans) saved at 100% magnification with dimensions of 8.5 x 11 inches, each file under 30MB and all files combined under 500MB, to ensure proper signature and notary placement and document clarity.
Audit Trails Overview
Proof generates two audit trails for every completed transaction: a transaction-level audit trail providing a high-level summary of key signing events (such as signer details, ID verification, and seal application) reflecting only the most recent transaction, and a more detailed, tamper-sealed document-level audit trail embedded within the document itself that records all actions on the document and is viewable in Adobe Acrobat, with both accessible to anyone who has access to the document.