Bluehost Web Hosting Help

How to Manage AutoSSL

Enabling Bluehost’s free SSL is quick and easy. By enabling an SSL for your website, your domain will be given the "HTTPS://" prefix, which means your website will be labeled as "secure" in most web browsers. This article will help guide you through enabling or disabling the Free SSL provided by Bluehost.

If you are interested in our Paid SSL Options, please visit our SSL Certificate page, and select the SSL plan that works best for you.

Note: If you are using a 3rd party CDN, login to your CDN provider’s dashboard and locate their SSL management page. From there, you can copy and paste the SSL certificate and key information we have provided.

Note: If you do not have a website with Bluehost, you will be unable to use the Free SSL.

If you have a website, but your domain is hosted with another provider, you will need to log into your domain provider’s dashboard and make sure the A Record for your domain is pointed to the IP address associated with your Bluehost website. Otherwise, you will be unable to use the Free SSL

How to Enable Free SSL for WordPress users
How to Enable Free SSL for Non-WordPress users
Disable AutoSSL

How to Enable Free SSL for WordPress users

Log in to your Bluehost dashboard, and navigate to the SSL Certificate product page.
If the Free SSL (AutoSSL) is currently disabled, choose the domain you would like to install to in the upper right-hand drop-down box Install SSL on

Click Enable AutoSSL.
Once the Free SSL (AutoSSL) is enabled, navigate to the Security tab in the My Sites section of your dashboard.
Under Security Certificate, ensure that toggle switch is On.

If your toggle is already On, your site is secured by an SSL and no other action is necessary.
If the switch is Off click the toggle to turn it On.

Test to make sure your SSL certificate is working by typing in your domain name and navigating to your website. You should see HTTPS:// appear before your domain name and any subsequent pages on your site.

If you still do not see your website as “secure,” please contact our support team at: 844-213-7846.

How to Enable Free SSL for Non-WordPress users

Log in to your Bluehost dashboard, and navigate to the SSL Certificate product page.
If the Free SSL (AutoSSL) is currently disabled, choose the domain you would like to install to in the upper right-hand drop-down box Install SSL on

Click Enable AutoSSL.

Once the Free SSL (AutoSSL) is enabled, you may need to add a redirect to ensure the domain resolves to the HTTPS protocol.

Adding a Redirect in the File Manager

Once the Free SSL (AutoSSL) is enabled, navigate to the File Manager section of your dashboard.
Locate your .htaccess file. The primary .htaccess file is located in your public_html folder.
To learn more about accessing this file, please see our .htaccess Tutorial.
Click on the file to open your Code Editor.
Using the Code Editor, add these lines to the beginning of your .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/$1 [R=301,L]
Note: Substitute example.com with your domain name.
Test to make sure your SSL certificate is working by typing in your domain name and navigating to your website. You should see HTTPS:// appear before your domain name and any subsequent pages on your site.

If you still do not see your website as “secure,” please contact our support team at: 844-213-7846.

How to Disable Free SSL

NOTE: Disabling the Free SSL and not purchasing a Paid SSL may cause your website to be marked "not secure". This could reduce the credibility of your site with visitors.

If you want to disable the Free SSL: