How can I implement my e-mail certificate (S/MIME) in Outlook 2016 and sign/encrypt my e-mails?

If you previously applied for your certificate using Internet Explorer on the same computer as your Outlook installation, it should already be installed. You can jump directly to "Sign and Encrypt".
If you have previously used Firefox to collect your certificate, you will need to export the certificate from the browser and save it to your hard drive in PFX/P12 format. Instructions can be found in the FAQ article "How can I export an email certificate (S/MIME) from Firefox?"
If your certificate is on another computer, you will need to transfer it to the computer where Outlook is installed.
- Send it to yourself by email or save the certificate file on a USB stick and then copy it to the PC where Outlook is installed.
- Then follow the instructions below to import the certificate into Outlook 2016.

To import your certificate into Outlook 2016

1

Open your Outlook and select File > Options

2

Select "Trust Center" in the options on the left side and click on "Trust Center Settings...".

3

Switch to the "E-Mail Security" tab in the left menu and click on "Import/Export".

4

In the following window you have the possibility to import the certificate from the previously saved certificate file into Outlook. To do so, select the path where you saved the file and enter the password you have set. Enter a name for the Digital ID and confirm the entry with "OK".

5

Specify the security level that should be used to save your PrivateKey and click "Ok".

6

Congratulations! The certificate was successfully imported into Outlook 2016.

Signing and encryption of messages

Signing an email ensures that the recipient knows that the email came from you and informs them that it was not modified during transmission.
Encrypting an email ensures that only the recipient can read the content and attachments of the email.

To encrypt e-mails, you must first have the recipient's e-mail certificate in your certificate store. To obtain the recipient's certificate, first ask the recipient to send you a signed e-mail. When you receive the signed e-mail, his certificate is automatically imported into your certificate store and you can then send an encrypted e-mail to that person.

Assigning your certificate

1

Open your Outlook and click on File > Options.

2

Select "Trust Center" in the options on the left and click on "Trust Center Settings...".

3

In the Trust Center, go to the "E-Mail Security" tab and select "Settings". In the following dialog box you can select certificates for encrypting and signing e-mails. Enter the path to the certificate that you have purchased from us and click on "Ok".

If you are unsure which certificate to select, you can mark the certificate and click "View certificate" to view the certificate details.

4

Click on "Ok" to return to the Trust Center.

Signing and encryption of certain messages

1

To encrypt/sign a specific e-mail before sending, first open a new message and write down your text so far.

2

Once you have entered your text, select the "Options" tab at the top and click "Sign" and/or "Encrypt" to enable signing and/or encryption of the message.

3

As soon as you click on "Send", Outlook will convert the message according to your specifications and send it to the recipient.

Signing and/or encryption of all messages by default

1

Open your Outlook and click on File > Options.

2

Select "Trust Center" in the options on the left side and click on "Trust Center Settings...".

3

Select "E-Mail Security" to access the settings.

To encrypt each message by default, select the "Encrypt content and attachments for outgoing messages" option.
To sign each message by default, select the "Add digital signature to outgoing messages" option.
If you only want to use one of the two options, you can leave the respective checkbox empty. You can set this as you wish.

To confirm the authenticity of a message, it is sufficient to sign the message. Encryption is only required if you want to transmit data confidentially, for example.

4

Click on "Ok" to save the settings.