Should you delete expired certificates?

For digital certificates: generally yes, remove expired ones from servers and trust stores once replaced — leftover expired certs cause confusing errors, clutter audits, and occasionally get served by mistake. Keep an archived copy (with its private key destroyed or secured) if you need the paper trail; some industries require retaining evidence of past certificates for compliance.

For paper credentials and business certifications: don't destroy them — archive them. Past certificates prove continuous certification history, which auditors, insurers and licensing boards ask about more often than you'd think ('show us you've been ISO-certified since 2020').

A tidy pattern: an active register with only current certificates and their renewal dates, plus a cold archive of superseded ones. The register is the part that needs dates, owners and reminders — that's where the next expiry lives.