How to fix ssl expiry on WooCommerce

Steps for WooCommerce

1. WooCommerce itself does not manage SSL — the certificate is controlled by your web hosting provider.
2. Log in to your hosting control panel (cPanel, Plesk, or your host's dashboard) and navigate to the SSL/TLS section.
3. If your host offers a free Let's Encrypt certificate, look for an 'AutoSSL' toggle (cPanel) or 'Free SSL' option and ensure it is enabled.
4. If managing manually: SSH into your server and run `sudo certbot renew --dry-run` to test; then confirm the cron job at `/etc/cron.d/certbot` or `sudo systemctl status certbot.timer` is active.
5. Some managed WordPress hosts (WP Engine, Kinsta, SiteGround) have a one-click SSL renewal button in their own dashboards — check your host's specific control panel.

What is ssl expiry?

A TLS (SSL) certificate is the digital credential that puts the padlock in your visitors' browser bar and enables the secure "https://" connection to your store. Every certificate has an expiry date — typically 90 days (Let's Encrypt) or 1–2 years (paid CAs). When it expires, browsers immediately block visitors with a full-screen "Your connection is not private" warning, and the padlock disappears. Auto-renewal is a process (a scheduled script or a hosting feature) that requests a fresh certificate a few weeks before the old one expires, so the swap happens invisibly to shoppers.

An expired certificate is an emergency: every visitor sees a hard browser warning and most will leave instantly, causing an immediate and total loss of sales. Google also uses HTTPS as a ranking signal, so a lapsed certificate can drop your organic rankings. Payment processors and card networks require an active TLS certificate — an expired cert can cause checkout failures and put you in breach of PCI-DSS compliance. Setting up auto-renewal costs nothing and takes minutes; ignoring it risks hours or days of complete store downtime.

See the complete Ssl expiry guide for every platform and the full background.