Solving mkcert HTTPS Certificate Issue in WSL & Windows Chrome

🚀 Solving mkcert HTTPS Certificate Issue in WSL & Windows Chrome

If you're running Google Chrome on Windows, but your PHP website (with mkcert) is set up inside WSL, Chrome doesn’t recognize the local mkcert certificates because they are inside WSL's filesystem.

✅ Why is this Happening?

• mkcert installs certificates inside WSL (/etc/ssl/certs or ~/.local/share/mkcert).

• But Google Chrome on Windows uses Windows' certificate store (certlm.msc).

• This means Chrome on Windows doesn't trust the certificate generated inside WSL.

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✅ Solution: Copy the mkcert Root Certificate to Windows

You need to export the root certificate from WSL and import it into Windows.

Step 1: Locate mkcert’s Root Certificate in WSL

Run this inside WSL:

mkcert -CAROOT

It will return a path like:

/home/your-user/.local/share/mkcert

Inside this folder, find rootCA.pem.

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Step 2: Copy the Certificate to Windows

Run this inside WSL to copy the certificate to Windows:

cp $(mkcert -CAROOT)/rootCA.pem /mnt/c/Users/your-windows-username/Desktop/

This puts rootCA.pem on your Windows Desktop.

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Step 3: Import the Certificate into Windows

Now, you need to add the rootCA.pem to Windows' Trusted Root Certificate Store.

1. Open Windows Start Menu → Type "Manage Computer Certificates" and open it.

2. Go to Trusted Root Certification Authorities → Certificates.

3. Right-click → All Tasks → Import.

4. Select rootCA.pem from your Desktop.

5. Click Next, then Finish.

✅ Now, Windows Chrome will trust your mkcert certificates!

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✅ Solution 2: Run Chrome on WSL Instead of Windows

Instead of running Chrome on Windows, you can run Google Chrome inside WSL to avoid certificate issues.

Run:

google-chrome-stable --no-sandbox --use-gl=egl

Since it's inside WSL, it will recognize the mkcert certificates automatically.

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