Your Digital ID Name Cannot Be Found by the Underlying Security System [Fixed]

“Your Digital ID name cannot be found by the underlying security system” is a common error message associated with Microsoft Outlook. This security error comes up when Outlook users try to decrypt an encrypted email.

Encrypted emails can only be accessed by the intended recipient who has the password to decode the content. Check out the fixes and workarounds below:

1. Verify Outlook Certificate

Verify that you have chosen the right certificate to access the content of the email.

1. Open Outlook on your computer, then navigate to File > Options.

2. Click on Trust Center from the left windowpane.

3. Under Microsoft Outlook Trust Center, click on the “Trust Center Settings” button.

4. Click on the “E-mail Security” tab on the left windowpane.

5. Under “Encrypted email”, click on Settings to confirm.

2. Enable Client Authentication and Secure Email

1. Open Internet Explorer and click on the Gear link at the top-right corner of the screen.

2. Click on Internet options from the pop-up menu.

3. Next, go to the “Content” tab.

4. Then under “Certificates”, click on the Certificate button, next to Personal.

5. Click on Advanced. 

6. Under Certificate purposes, find and enable both “Client Authentication” and “Secure Email” options.

7. Click on OK to save the changes.

3. Disable Windows Firewall

Your computer’s firewall system may also be responsible for the “Your Digital ID name cannot be found by the underlying security system” error.

1. Open Control Panel and navigate to System and Security > Windows Defender Firewall.

2. Click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off.

3. Select Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended) for both private and public network settings. 

4. Click on OK, and restart your PC.

4. Start Outlook In Safe Mode

The error could be caused by additional plugins or add-on files. Here’s how to run Outlook in safe mode:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.

2. Type Outlook.exe /safe in the text field, then press Enter to run the command.

3. From the resulting Choose Profile prompt, select Outlook, and click on OK.

5. Delete Problematic Certificates

1. Press the Windows + R, then type mmc in the text field and press Shift + Enter to open Microsoft Management Console.

2. Click Yes on the resulting UAC prompt.

3. Press Ctrl + M to open the Snap-ins window.

4. Under Available snap-ins, double-click on Certificates.

5. Select My user account > Finish.

6. Now, under Selected snap-ins, remove suspected certificates.

6. End All Outlook Processes

If you continue to get the “Your Digital ID name cannot be found by the underlying security system” error, you should end all Outlook-related processes in Task Manager.

1. Right-click on the Start menu and select Task Manager from the resulting menu.

2. Under the Processes tab, right-click on any Outlook-related process and choose End task.

3. Restart your computer afterward.

7. Use Registry Editor

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.

2. Type regedit in the text field, then press Enter to run the command.

3. Go to this path address: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Security

4. Right-click on the right side of the screen, then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

5. Save the value name as UseAlternateDefualtEncryptionAlg.

6. Double-click on it to edit the Value data and change it from 0 to 1.

7. Right-click on the right side of the screen again to create a new DWORD (32bit) Value. Save the name as DefaultEncryptionAlgOID.

8. Double-click it and edit the Value data to 1.2.840.113549.3.7

9. Close the Registry Edit window and restart your computer. Open Outlook to confirm that the problem is fixed.

Also Read:

• What is Outlook & What is it Used For?
• Outlook For Linux

So, now you know how to get rid of the “Your Digital ID name cannot be found by the underlying security system” error in Microsoft Outlook. Carry out the fixes one by one until the problem is completely resolved. Good luck!