# How to Check an SSL Certificate in Your Browser — 5 Quick Checks (2026)

A padlock in the address bar does not mean a site is safe. Phishing pages now use HTTPS too, so the padlock alone proves nothing — you have to inspect the certificate itself. These five checks take about a minute.

**1. Click the padlock, then "Connection is secure" / "Certificate".** Every modern browser shows the certificate details in two clicks. If the browser shows any warning instead, stop — do not enter passwords or card details.

**2. Check the domain name matches exactly.** The certificate is issued for a specific domain. Lookalike spellings, extra words, or a different subdomain mean you are not on the real site, no matter how professional it looks.

**3. Check who issued it and when it expires.** A certificate from a known issuer with a sensible validity period is normal. A certificate expiring in a few days, or issued minutes before you visited, is a warning sign for a hastily built scam page.

**4. Check the domain's age.** Scam sites are usually days or weeks old. A quick [domain age checker](https://websinspect.com/domain-age-checker/) tells you when the domain was registered — a brand-new domain asking for money deserves extra suspicion.

**5. Run a free automated check.** If anything looks off, verify with a free [SSL certificate checker](https://websinspect.com/ssl-certificate-checker/) and [check if a website is safe](https://websinspect.com/) before you trust it with personal information.

The full step-by-step walkthrough is in [How to Check an SSL Certificate in Your Browser](https://websinspect.com/blog/how-to-check-ssl-certificate/) on [WebsInspect](https://websinspect.com/).