A digital signature is an electronic, encrypted, stamp of authentication on digital information such as email messages, macros, or electronic documents. A signature confirms that the information originated from the signer and has not been altered.

To add a digital signature to a form or a form template, a digital certificate is required. You can obtain a digital certificate through a commercial certification authority or from your internal security administrator.

The Signature Details dialog box displays certificate information such as the signer’s name in the Signing as box, and who issued the certificate. Open the file that contains the certificate you want to view.

Adding a time stamp to your signature means that your macro will still be treated as signed, even after your certificate has expired, as long as the certificate isn't revoked.

For signing and signature verification, the Key Usage attribute of the certificate must be Digital Signature. For encryption and decryption, the Key Usage attribute of the certificate must be Data Encipherment or Key Encipherment.

A digital signature confirms that any macros, code modules, and other executable components in the database originated with the signer and that no one has altered them since the database was signed.

A digital signature is an electronic, encrypted, stamp of authentication on digital information such as e-mail messages, macros, or electronic documents. A signature confirms that the information originated from the signer and has not been altered.

Microsoft and Windows components are signed by leaf certificates mainly issued by six Microsoft Issuing CAs. Beginning in July 2025, these 15-year Issuing CAs begin to expire according to the following schedule.

A digital signature is used to authenticate digital information — such as form templates, forms, e-mail messages, and documents — by using computer cryptography. Once a form is signed, either the entire form or part of the form that was signed cannot be altered without invalidating the signature.

What is a digital signature? A digital signature or ID is more commonly known as a digital certificate. To digitally sign an Office document, you must have a current (not expired) digital certificate.