diff --git a/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.cc b/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.cc
index 8e74ba4f0..c2ed8858c 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.cc
+++ b/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.cc
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <string.h>  //strlen
 #include <list>
-
+#include <retroshare/rspeers.h>
 /*
 Method for cleaning up the certificate. This method removes any unnecessay white spaces and unnecessary
 new line characters in the certificate. Also it makes sure that there are 64 characters per line in 
@@ -41,8 +41,10 @@ end tag we take care of cases like -----   END  XPGP . Here extra empty spaces h
 introduced and the actual tag should have been -----END XPGP
 */
 
-std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
+
+std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate,int& error_code)
 {
+	error_code = RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_UNKOWN_ERROR ; // default
 	/*
 	Buffer for storing the cleaned certificate. In certain cases the 
 	cleanCertificate can be larger than the badCertificate
@@ -79,11 +81,14 @@ std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
 	//Boolean flag showing if the begin tag or the end tag has been found
 	bool found=false;
 	/*
-	Calculating the value of the beginCertStartIdx1 and beginCertStartIdx2. Here we first locate the occurance of ----- and then 
-	the location of BEGIN. Next we check if there are any non space or non new-line characters between their occureance. If there are any other
-	characters between the two(----- and BEGIN), other than space and new line then it means that it is the certificate begin tag. 
-	Here we take care of the fact that we may have introduced some spaces and newlines in the begin tag by mistake. This
-	takes care of the spaces and newlines between ----- and BEGIN.
+	Calculating the value of the beginCertStartIdx1 and beginCertStartIdx2. Here
+	we first locate the occurance of ----- and then the location of BEGIN. Next
+	we check if there are any non space or non new-line characters between their
+	occureance. If there are any other characters between the two(----- and
+	BEGIN), other than space and new line then it means that it is the
+	certificate begin tag.  Here we take care of the fact that we may have
+	introduced some spaces and newlines in the begin tag by mistake. This takes
+	care of the spaces and newlines between ----- and BEGIN.
 	*/
 
 	while(found==false && (beginCertStartIdx1=badCertificate.find(commonTag,tmpIdx))!=std::string::npos)
@@ -114,12 +119,14 @@ std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
 	if(!found)
 	{
 		std::cerr<<"Certificate corrupted beyond repair: No <------BEGIN > tag"<<std::endl;		
+		error_code = RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_BEGIN_TAG ;
 		return badCertificate;	
 	}
 	beginCertEndIdx=badCertificate.find(commonTag,beginCertStartIdx2);
 	if(beginCertEndIdx==std::string::npos)
 	{	
 		std::cerr<<"Certificate corrupted beyond repair: No <------BEGIN > tag"<<std::endl;		
+		error_code = RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_BEGIN_TAG ;
 		return badCertificate;	
 	}
 	tmpIdx=beginCertEndIdx+strlen(commonTag);
@@ -159,12 +166,14 @@ std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
 	if(!found)
 	{
 		std::cerr<<"Certificate corrupted beyond repair: No <------END > tag"<<std::endl;		
+		error_code = RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_END_TAG ;
 		return badCertificate;
 	}	
 	endCertEndIdx=badCertificate.find(commonTag,endCertStartIdx2);
 	if(endCertEndIdx==std::string::npos || endCertEndIdx>=lengthOfCert)
 	{	
 		std::cerr<<"Certificate corrupted beyond repair: No <------END > tag"<<std::endl;		
+		error_code = RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_END_TAG ;
 		return badCertificate;
 	}
 	/*
@@ -228,7 +237,7 @@ std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
 		{
 			cleanCertificate += badCertificate.substr(currBadCertIdx, (*headerIt).length());
 			currBadCertIdx += (*headerIt).length();
-			while(badCertificate[currBadCertIdx]!='\n')
+			while(currBadCertIdx<endCertStartIdx1 && badCertificate[currBadCertIdx]!='\n')
 			{
 				cleanCertificate += badCertificate[currBadCertIdx];
 				currBadCertIdx++;
@@ -250,35 +259,39 @@ std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
 		{
 			cleanCertificate += "\n";
 			cntPerLine=0;
-			continue;
 		}
-		else if(badCertificate[currBadCertIdx]=='=')
+
+		if(badCertificate[currBadCertIdx]=='=') /* checksum */
 		{
-			/* checksum */
+			cntPerLine=0 ;
 			break;
 		}
 		else if(badCertificate[currBadCertIdx]==' ')
-		{
 			currBadCertIdx++;
-			continue;
-		}
 		else if(badCertificate[currBadCertIdx]=='\n')
-		{
 			currBadCertIdx++;
-			continue;
+		else
+		{
+			cleanCertificate += badCertificate[currBadCertIdx];
+			cntPerLine++;
+			currBadCertIdx++;
 		}
-		cleanCertificate += badCertificate[currBadCertIdx];
-		cntPerLine++;
-		currBadCertIdx++;
+	}
+	if(currBadCertIdx>=endCertStartIdx1)
+	{
+		std::cerr<<"Certificate corrupted beyond repair: No checksum, or no newline after first tag"<<std::endl;		
+		error_code = RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_CHECKSUM ;
+		return badCertificate;
 	}
 
-	if (badCertificate[currBadCertIdx] == '=')
-	{
+	while(currBadCertIdx < endCertStartIdx1 && (badCertificate[currBadCertIdx] == '=' || badCertificate[currBadCertIdx] == ' ' || badCertificate[currBadCertIdx] == '\n' ))
+		currBadCertIdx++ ;
+
+	cleanCertificate += "==\n=";
+
+//	if (badCertificate[currBadCertIdx] == '=')
+//	{
 		/* checksum */
-		if (*cleanCertificate.rbegin() != '\n')
-		{
-			cleanCertificate += "\n";
-		}
 
 		while(currBadCertIdx<endCertStartIdx1)
 		{
@@ -296,7 +309,7 @@ std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
 			cntPerLine++;
 			currBadCertIdx++;
 		}
-	}
+//	}
 
 	if(cleanCertificate.substr(cleanCertificate.length()-1,1)!="\n")
 	{
@@ -347,6 +360,7 @@ std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate)
 	cleanCertificate += commonTag;
 	cleanCertificate += "\n";
 
+	error_code = RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_ERROR ;
 	return cleanCertificate;
 }
 
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.h b/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.h
index fddcef3f1..f14a437bc 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.h
+++ b/libretroshare/src/pqi/cleanupxpgp.h
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@
 //!  
 //! In the newer gui version, users send each other almost clean certificates,
 //! so this functon is used only to avoid possible bugs with line endings
-std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate);
+
+// Error codes (need appropriate message andtranslation in GUI) are listed in rspeers.h
+//
+std::string cleanUpCertificate(const std::string& badCertificate,int& error_code);
 
 #endif
+
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/retroshare/rspeers.h b/libretroshare/src/retroshare/rspeers.h
index 920ed9834..e1e5573a0 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/retroshare/rspeers.h
+++ b/libretroshare/src/retroshare/rspeers.h
@@ -70,6 +70,13 @@ const uint32_t RS_PEER_CONNECTSTATE_CONNECTED_UDP     = 5;
 const uint32_t RS_PEER_CONNECTSTATE_CONNECTED_TUNNEL  = 6;
 const uint32_t RS_PEER_CONNECTSTATE_CONNECTED_UNKNOWN = 7;
 
+/* Error codes for certificate cleaning */
+const int RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_ERROR      = 0x00 ;
+const int RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_UNKOWN_ERROR  = 0x01 ;
+const int RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_BEGIN_TAG  = 0x02 ;
+const int RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_END_TAG    = 0x03 ;
+const int RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_CHECKSUM   = 0x04 ;
+
 /* Groups */
 #define RS_GROUP_ID_FRIENDS    "Friends"
 #define RS_GROUP_ID_FAMILY     "Family"
@@ -215,7 +222,7 @@ virtual  bool hasExportMinimal() = 0 ;
 
 virtual	bool loadCertificateFromFile(const std::string &fname, std::string &ssl_id, std::string &gpg_id)  = 0;
 virtual	bool loadDetailsFromStringCert(const std::string &certGPG, RsPeerDetails &pd,std::string& error_string) = 0;
-virtual	bool cleanCertificate(const std::string &certstr, std::string &cleanCert) = 0;
+virtual	bool cleanCertificate(const std::string &certstr, std::string &cleanCert,int& error_code) = 0;
 virtual	bool saveCertificateToFile(const std::string &id, const std::string &fname)  = 0;
 virtual	std::string saveCertificateToString(const std::string &id)  	= 0;
 
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.cc b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.cc
index 54e04e68d..0b45dfc1a 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.cc
+++ b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.cc
@@ -1285,13 +1285,13 @@ bool 	p3Peers::loadDetailsFromStringCert(const std::string &certstr, RsPeerDetai
         }
 }
 
-bool p3Peers::cleanCertificate(const std::string &certstr, std::string &cleanCert)
+bool p3Peers::cleanCertificate(const std::string &certstr, std::string &cleanCert,int& error_code)
 {
 	std::string cert;
 	std::string peerInfo;
 
 	if (splitCert(certstr, cert, peerInfo)) {
-		cleanCert = cleanUpCertificate(cert);
+		cleanCert = cleanUpCertificate(cert,error_code);
 		if (!cleanCert.empty()) {
 			if (!peerInfo.empty()) {
 				if (*cleanCert.rbegin() != '\n') {
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.h b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.h
index 358463a9a..f576aea61 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.h
+++ b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3peers.h
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ virtual bool hasExportMinimal() ;
 
 virtual	bool loadCertificateFromFile(const std::string &fname, std::string &id, std::string &gpg_id);
 virtual	bool loadDetailsFromStringCert(const std::string &cert, RsPeerDetails &pd, std::string& error_string);
-virtual	bool cleanCertificate(const std::string &certstr, std::string &cleanCert);
+virtual	bool cleanCertificate(const std::string &certstr, std::string &cleanCert,int& error_code);
 virtual	bool saveCertificateToFile(const std::string &id, const std::string &fname);
 virtual	std::string saveCertificateToString(const std::string &id);
 
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/connect/ConnectFriendWizard.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/connect/ConnectFriendWizard.cpp
index ba23760f8..8752e3b41 100755
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/connect/ConnectFriendWizard.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/connect/ConnectFriendWizard.cpp
@@ -384,10 +384,34 @@ void TextPage::cleanFriendCert()
 {
     std::string cert = friendCertEdit->toPlainText().toUtf8().constData();
     std::string cleanCert;
+	 int error_code ;
 
-    if (rsPeers->cleanCertificate(cert, cleanCert)) {
+    if (rsPeers->cleanCertificate(cert, cleanCert,error_code)) {
         friendCertEdit->setText(QString::fromStdString(cleanCert));
+
+		  if(error_code > 0)
+		  {
+			  QString msg ;
+
+			  switch(error_code)
+			  {
+				  case RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_BEGIN_TAG: msg = tr("No or misspelled BEGIN tag found") ;
+																				break ;
+				  case RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_END_TAG: 	msg = tr("No or misspelled END tag found") ;
+																				break ;
+				  case RS_PEER_CERT_CLEANING_CODE_NO_CHECKSUM: 	msg = tr("No checksum found (the last 5 chars should be separated by a '=' char), or no newline after tag line (e.g. line beginning with Version:)") ;
+																				break ;
+				  default:
+																				msg = tr("Unknown error. Your cert is probably not even a certificate.") ;
+																				break ;
+			  }
+			  QMessageBox::information(NULL,tr("Certificate cleaning error"),msg) ;
+		  }
     }
+    QFont font("Courier New",10,50,false);
+    font.setStyleHint(QFont::TypeWriter,QFont::PreferMatch);
+    font.setStyle(QFont::StyleNormal);
+    friendCertEdit->setFont(font);
 }
 
 //