With HTTPS/SSL, users are assured that their data will be secure. This is a requirement for privacy and security online today.
There are three big reasons why you should care about having SSL protected site (also known as HTTPS security):
1. Without HTTPS/SSL, browsers will show a security warning about possibly insecure store.
2. End-to-end encryption is a requirement for user and store data privacy.
3. Google has been punishing sites for years for not having an HTTPS security layer.
Fortunately, fixing SSL for your PrestaShop is easy and can be done in absolutely any store. Let us take a look at the following:
- What is HTTPS or SSL in PrestaShop
- Why PrestaShop Needs HTTPS
- Does HTTPS In PrestaShop Improves SEO Score
- How To Enable HTTPS In PrestaShop
- Conclusion
What is HTTPS or SSL in PrestaShop
When you open your store in your browser, you should see a security badge near the URL. It is displayed in every browser.
Here is how it looks like when a store is protected with HTTPS encryption:

Here is how it looks when encryption is not enabled:

Why PrestaShop Needs HTTPS
PrestaShop is an ecommerce platform. Every ecommerce platform deals with private user information: purchases, browsing history, and checkout information where a user fills his confidential information starting from his name and ending with shipping address or credit card information.
This data is easily exposed to the network (thanks to the insecure store) if it is not protected with HTTPS.
HTTPS encrypts communication between your store and your client. Therefore, nobody, except the mentioned user, can see personal details.

Does HTTPS In PrestaShop Improves SEO Score
HTTPS has nothing to do with SEO. It won’t increase your rankings. But it can lower your rank as Google punishes sites without security.
1. Google Chrome browser shows the user a badge about possibly insecure site
2. Sometimes insecure badge appears near-site URL
These two issues prevent excellent user experience, making users less likely to click or browser your store.
User experience is the key element which increases or decreases search result ranking.
How To Enable HTTPS In PrestaShop
HTTPS certificate is given only by a hosting provider. Fortunately, almost all hosting providers will provide you with an HTTPS certificate for free. So the only work you have to do is go to your back office and force all pages to use HTTPS.
To check if a hosting provider enables HTTPS, just enter your store domain to the browser URL input bar with the HTTPS://
prefix. Like https://example.org.
If the site opens correctly – your hosting supports HTTPS, and you can continue.
In the PrestaShop back office, click Shop Parameters → General. You will see input Enable SSL – set that one and hit Save.

There are two possible reasons if you can’t toggle these options:
- The hosting provider does not have HTTPS enabled (see your control panel to allow this option) Your store is behind a proxy. The only way to enable HTTPS is to do it from the database administration panel (like PHPMyAdmin).
- Update two values in your MySQL database (through PHPMyAdmin) to force HTTPS usage on all pages. In the
ps_configuration
table, find keys namedPS_SSL_ENABLED
andPS_SSL_ENABLED_EVERYWHERE
and set values to1
. Then visit the back office for the HTTPS setup page, and you should see checkboxes enabled.
Conclusion
HTTPS is a great way to increase security for your store. Still, you can see our blog for more articles. There are many more PrestaShop customizations you can make.