How to Fix ‘NET ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM’ in Google Chrome

Your step-by-step guide to get rid of the pesky ‘NET::ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE ALGORITHM’ warning message

If you’re seeing the “NET ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM” error, you’re either a website visitor trying to access a website or a website owner who just realized that you’re displaying this error on your website. In this post, we’ll talk about both cases and help you resolve this error that says “your connection is not private.” Most of the time, the “NET::ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM” (or “ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM”) occurs in Google Chrome because a website has an SSL certificate with an outdated algorithm.

Let’s not waste much time and jump straight to the solution.

Fix the NET ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE ALGORITHM Error in Google Chrome (For Website Owners)

This error can be quite a pain as it’s likely to drive away website visitors. It could result in decreasing traffic and nobody wants that. As we saw, the reason behind this error is an outdated hashing algorithm. This type of algorithm compresses data to a fixed length in terms of bytes.

The SSL certificate you have installed on your website uses such a hashing algorithm to encrypt and decrypt the data that transfers between your web server and your site visitors’ clients. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that hashing is at the heart of SSL certificates. And your website security is at great risk if you’re using an outdated or insecure hashing algorithm.

Now you must be wondering how you can stop using outdated algorithm and start using current ones. Well, first thing you should do is check whether the SSL certificate you’re using supports the SHA-2 algorithm or not. If not, then it’s time to get an SSL certificate with latest technical features.

And if you’re using an SSL certificate that supports SHA-2 and are still facing this error, then the problem lies in your web server. Either your server is too old to support SHA-2 or it’s not been configured to support SHA-2. You should check with your server administrator to see about resolving the issue immediately.

Fix the NET::ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM Error in Google Chrome (For Website Visitors)

Most of the time, this error displays due to a problematic SSL certificate and/or the web server’s configuration settings. In both of these cases, the responsibility and ability to fix the issue is always in the hands of the website administrator. However, there are rare instances where your browser may responsible for causing the error. Let’s explore what you can do as a website visitor. Try the outlined solutions one-by-one. If one doesn’t work, try the next one.

Update Google Chrome

• First, open Google Chrome.
• Now, type chrome://settings/help in the address bar.
• Let Google Chrome update by itself.

Clear Google Chrome’s Cache Memory

• Open Google Chrome.
• Click on the three vertical dots you see in the top-right corner.
• Go to Settings.
• Move to the end of the page and click Advanced–> Privacy and security –> clear browsing data.
• Choose all three options (Note: This will clear all of your browsing data) and select on Clear Data.
• Close Chrome and launch it again.

Reset Google Chrome to Default Settings

• Open Google Chrome.
• Click on the three vertical dots you see in the top right corner.
• Go to Settings.
• Click on
• Now, click on Reset settings to their original defaults and reset the settings.

Clear Google Chrome’s DNS Cache

• Open Google Chrome.
• Type chrome://net-internals/#dns in the address bar.
• Click the Clear host cache button

Disable Google Chrome’s Extensions

First, try to open the website in the incognito mode of Google Chrome. If you don’t encounter this error, the problem is likely to be in Chrome’s extensions.

• Click on the three vertical dots you see in the top right corner.
• Now, click on More tools option
• Go to Extensions
• Turn all extensions off and check whether the error persists.

Turn Off Antivirus/Firewall

This is not a recommended option as it could make your system vulnerable to threats. Proceed only if you’re okay with it.

Last Resort: Continue with Insecure Connection

If any of the solutions listed above didn’t work, the problem is likely to be in the website and there’s nothing you could do about it. The most you could do is contact the website administrator/owner and inform them about the same. Till then, you can proceed to the website by clicking on the Advanced button on the bottom right of the page.