The e-Aadhaar PDF password, and the six reasons it fails
Four letters from your name, in capitals, then your year of birth — and never a space. That is the whole answer, and the rest of this page is about the cases where it stops being that simple, including the ones UIDAI’s own examples quietly settle.
Free · No signup · No Aadhaar number or PAN asked for
In plain text: name ARJUN MEHTA, year of birth 1994, password ARJU1994. An illustration of UIDAI’s stated format, built on an invented name.
In plain text: name SAI KUMAR, year of birth 1990, password SAIK1990. Published by UIDAI in its own FAQ. The first word gives three letters, so the fourth comes from the second word. This is the answer most pages about this question do not have.
In plain text: name P. KUMAR, year of birth 1990, password P.KU1990. Published by UIDAI in its own FAQ. Read with SAI KUMAR it settles the rule: keep a full stop, skip every space.
In plain text: name RIA, year of birth 1990, password RIA1990. Published by UIDAI in its own FAQ. Seven characters, not eight.
The format is set by UIDAI, is the same for everybody in India, and is derived rather than chosen — so there is nothing to reset.
UIDAI states it as “a combination of the first 4 letters of name in CAPITAL and the year of birth (YYYY)”, and publishes four worked examples: SURESH KUMAR → SURE1990, SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990, P. KUMAR → P.KU1990 and RIA → RIA1990. Those four settle everything: spaces are skipped, a full stop is kept, and a short name is not padded. Because it is derived from the demographic name and the year of birth attached to the file, it is not fixed for life either — after a name correction or a date-of-birth update, a newly downloaded e-Aadhaar opens on a new password. Where the derivation appears not to work, one of the two fields is not what you think it is.
SourceUIDAI FAQ — Aadhaar Online Services (e-Aadhaar password)(opens in a new tab)
Aadhaar is administered by UIDAI, a central authority, so unlike a domicile or income certificate there genuinely is one national rule, one national process and one national fee for each service. What changes without notice is the fee itself and the list of documents UIDAI accepts as proof. Every charge on this page therefore carries the date it was checked and a link to UIDAI’s own page, and where UIDAI publishes a list rather than a principle we describe the categories and send you to the list. This page asks for no Aadhaar number and stores nothing — nothing here needs your Aadhaar number, and you should be suspicious of any page that does.
The password for an e-Aadhaar PDF is the first four letters of your name in CAPITALS followed by your year of birth in four digits — so a person named ARJUN born in 1994 opens the file with ARJU1994. UIDAI publishes four examples of its own, and two of them settle the awkward cases. A name recorded as “SAI KUMAR” gives SAIK1990: the space between the words is skipped, and the fourth letter is taken from the next word. A name recorded as “RIA” gives RIA1990, because a name shorter than four letters simply contributes all of itself and nothing is padded. Never type a space into the password. The name to use is the one printed on the Aadhaar, not the one you usually write, and the letters must be capitals — the password is case sensitive.
Key takeaways
- The format is the first four letters of the name, in capitals, then the year of birth as four digits. UIDAI states it as “a combination of the first 4 letters of name in CAPITAL and the year of birth (YYYY)”.
- Spaces are skipped; a full stop is not. UIDAI publishes SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990, which shows the space between words being passed over and the fourth letter taken from the next word, and P. KUMAR → P.KU1990, in which the full stop is one of the four characters but the space after it is not. Between them those two examples settle the case that defeats most people, and they appear on almost no other page.
- A name shorter than four letters contributes everything it has and nothing is padded. UIDAI’s own example again: RIA → RIA1990, a seven-character password.
- It is the year of birth, never the full date, and never the year the Aadhaar was issued or downloaded.
- If the password is right and the file still will not open, you are probably not holding an e-Aadhaar. The e-Aadhaar, the masked Aadhaar, the Aadhaar PVC card and mAadhaar are four different artefacts. UIDAI treats all of them as equally valid forms of Aadhaar; only the two PDFs are password-protected in this way, and a screenshot of any of them is a fifth thing again.
The password will not work: symptom, cause, fix
Every ranking page on this question states the formula and stops. This is what to do when the formula does not work — in rough order of how often each cause turns out to be the real one.
| What the refusal says | What it actually means | The cheapest fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rejected, and you are certain of the name and the year | You typed a space, or you stopped at a first word shorter than four letters instead of running on into the next one. | Read the letters off the card, ignoring every space, and count to four. UIDAI’s own examples are SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990 and P. KUMAR → P.KU1990: the space is skipped both times, and the full stop is kept. |
| Rejected on a phone, accepted nowhere | The keyboard capitalised the first character and left the rest lower case, or added a trailing space after an autocorrect. The password is case sensitive and character-exact, and it never contains a space. | Type it into a plain notes field first, with caps lock on, so you can see exactly what you produced. Then copy it across. |
| Rejected, and you used your full date of birth | The format takes the year alone — four digits, no day, no month, no separator. | Try the year on its own. If your Aadhaar shows only a year rather than a full date, that year is still the right one. |
| Rejected, and the year you used is printed on the card | The year near the foot of an Aadhaar is often the year of issue or of a later update, not the year of birth. | Use the year from the date-of-birth field specifically, and nothing else. |
| Rejected, and the name you used is the name you have always used | The name UIDAI holds is not the name you think it is. An expanded initial, an unnoticed middle name, or a spelling entered at enrolment years ago. | The record governs. If the record is itself wrong, that is a name correction with a strictly limited number of attempts, and worth reading about before starting.If that fails — A name that is wrong on Aadhaar will cost you again at the PAN linking step, where the two names are matched as strings. Fix it once, properly. |
| The reader says the file is damaged, or rejects every attempt instantly | A partial or corrupted download. Silent, and commoner than people expect on an unstable connection. | Delete it and download again. Compare the file size against the first attempt. |
| It opens but shows blank pages, or asks for a newer reader | An old or lightweight PDF reader that handles the encryption and embedded fonts badly. | Open it in a current mainstream reader on a desktop before concluding the file is at fault. |
| It opens with no password at all | It is not an e-Aadhaar. Probably a screenshot, a scan, or a photograph of a PVC card. | Not a defect, but a screenshot carries no digital signature and no readable secure QR code, which is exactly what a verifier checks. Download the real thing if the recipient needs it. Note that mAadhaar itself is a different case: UIDAI treats it as an official form of Aadhaar, equally valid with the letter, the PVC card and the e-Aadhaar. |
| It opens, but most of the Aadhaar number is hidden | You downloaded the masked version, which replaces the first eight digits by design. | Download the unmasked version if the full number is genuinely needed — and ask whether it is. Masked Aadhaar is the safer thing to hand over and is badly under-used. |
Rejected, and you are certain of the name and the year
What it meansYou typed a space, or you stopped at a first word shorter than four letters instead of running on into the next one.
The cheapest fixRead the letters off the card, ignoring every space, and count to four. UIDAI’s own examples are SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990 and P. KUMAR → P.KU1990: the space is skipped both times, and the full stop is kept.
Rejected on a phone, accepted nowhere
What it meansThe keyboard capitalised the first character and left the rest lower case, or added a trailing space after an autocorrect. The password is case sensitive and character-exact, and it never contains a space.
The cheapest fixType it into a plain notes field first, with caps lock on, so you can see exactly what you produced. Then copy it across.
Rejected, and you used your full date of birth
What it meansThe format takes the year alone — four digits, no day, no month, no separator.
The cheapest fixTry the year on its own. If your Aadhaar shows only a year rather than a full date, that year is still the right one.
Rejected, and the year you used is printed on the card
What it meansThe year near the foot of an Aadhaar is often the year of issue or of a later update, not the year of birth.
The cheapest fixUse the year from the date-of-birth field specifically, and nothing else.
Rejected, and the name you used is the name you have always used
What it meansThe name UIDAI holds is not the name you think it is. An expanded initial, an unnoticed middle name, or a spelling entered at enrolment years ago.
The cheapest fixThe record governs. If the record is itself wrong, that is a name correction with a strictly limited number of attempts, and worth reading about before starting.
If that fails — A name that is wrong on Aadhaar will cost you again at the PAN linking step, where the two names are matched as strings. Fix it once, properly.
The reader says the file is damaged, or rejects every attempt instantly
What it meansA partial or corrupted download. Silent, and commoner than people expect on an unstable connection.
The cheapest fixDelete it and download again. Compare the file size against the first attempt.
It opens but shows blank pages, or asks for a newer reader
What it meansAn old or lightweight PDF reader that handles the encryption and embedded fonts badly.
The cheapest fixOpen it in a current mainstream reader on a desktop before concluding the file is at fault.
It opens with no password at all
What it meansIt is not an e-Aadhaar. Probably a screenshot, a scan, or a photograph of a PVC card.
The cheapest fixNot a defect, but a screenshot carries no digital signature and no readable secure QR code, which is exactly what a verifier checks. Download the real thing if the recipient needs it. Note that mAadhaar itself is a different case: UIDAI treats it as an official form of Aadhaar, equally valid with the letter, the PVC card and the e-Aadhaar.
It opens, but most of the Aadhaar number is hidden
What it meansYou downloaded the masked version, which replaces the first eight digits by design.
The cheapest fixDownload the unmasked version if the full number is genuinely needed — and ask whether it is. Masked Aadhaar is the safer thing to hand over and is badly under-used.
If none of the above applies
- 1Confirm you are opening the file you think you are. A folder with three downloads in it, two of them abandoned, is a surprisingly common cause.
- 2Take the letters of the name in order, ignoring every space, and stop at four — running on into the second word if the first is shorter, exactly as in UIDAI’s SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990. Do not type a space at any point.
- 3Download the file again on a stable connection, on a desktop, and open it in a mainstream reader.
- 4If the registered mobile number no longer works, the download is blocked until it is fixed. UIDAI’s Aadhaar app can change it on face authentication while the old number still receives messages; once it is gone, that is an Aadhaar Seva Kendra visit.
- 5Order an Aadhaar PVC card — it can be ordered with no registered mobile at all, by giving any other number for the OTP — or get a colour print at an enrolment centre for ₹30 on biometric authentication. Neither needs the PDF to open.
Never upload the file to a site offering to remove the password, and never install an app that promises to open it. There is no legitimate service that needs a copy of your Aadhaar in order to tell you your own year of birth.
What the e-Aadhaar password is, exactly
The password is generated from two fields UIDAI already holds about you, joined together with nothing in between. There is no separate password sent by SMS, no password on the acknowledgement slip, and nothing to reset. It is the same every time you download the same e-Aadhaar, on any device. What it is not is fixed for life: it is derived from the demographic name and the year of birth attached to the file you downloaded, so if either of those changes on your Aadhaar record, a file downloaded afterwards opens on a different password. Files you saved before the change keep the old one.
UIDAI states the format as “a combination of the first 4 letters of name in CAPITAL and the year of birth (YYYY)”. Read that literally, because every failure on this page comes from reading it loosely. Four letters, from the name as UIDAI holds it, in capitals; then four digits, being the year of birth alone.
The word doing the most work is “name”. It means the name printed on the Aadhaar — the string in UIDAI’s database — and not the name you sign, the name your friends use, or the name on your PAN. Where those differ, the Aadhaar string wins, because it is the only one the file was built from.
The one thing UIDAI’s wording does not tell you outright is what happens to a space, and its own examples answer it. “SURESH KUMAR” born in 1990 gives SURE1990 — four letters from the first word, and the space is never reached. “SAI KUMAR” gives SAIK1990 — three letters from the first word and then, skipping the space, the K of the second. And “P. KUMAR” gives P.KU1990 — the full stop is taken but the space after it is not. So: never type a space. A full stop that falls inside the first four characters is typed as printed.
Open the e-Aadhaar you have already downloaded on a device where you can see the file name, or look at any photocopy of your Aadhaar. Read the name off it character by character. Nine times in ten the password is failing because the name on the record has an initial, a middle name, or a spelling you had stopped noticing.
Worked examples, including the four cases that catch people out
Four of the examples below are UIDAI’s own, published in its FAQ. They are worth more than any number of invented ones, because between them they settle every argument people actually have: what happens to a space, what happens to a full stop, and what happens to a short name. The remaining two apply UIDAI’s own SAI KUMAR rule to other shapes and use invented names.
| Name as printed on the Aadhaar | Year of birth | Password | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARJUN MEHTA | 1994 | ARJU1994 | The ordinary case. Four letters from the first word; the surname is never reached. |
| SURESH KUMAR | 1990 | SURE1990 | UIDAI’s own example. The first word alone supplies all four letters, so nothing about the space arises. |
| SAI KUMAR | 1990 | SAIK1990 | UIDAI’s own example, and the important one. The first word gives only three letters, so the fourth is taken from the second word — the space is skipped, not typed. This is the commonest reason a correct-looking password fails. |
| P. KUMAR | 1990 | P.KU1990 | UIDAI’s own example. The full stop is taken as one of the four; the space after it is skipped, exactly as in SAI KUMAR. Type the full stop, never the space. |
| RIA | 1990 | RIA1990 | UIDAI’s own example. A name shorter than four letters contributes all of itself. Nothing is padded, and the password is seven characters, not eight. |
| M K SHARMA | 1978 | MKSH1978 | Two initials, spaces skipped, then the first two letters of the surname — the same construction as UIDAI’s SAI KUMAR. An illustration of UIDAI’s rule, not a separate rule. |
| ANU | 2001 | ANU2001 | The single-word short name. Same principle as RIA: three characters plus the year. |
| SRI RAM | 1965 | SRIR1965 | A three-letter first word: the fourth letter is the R of the second word, and the space between them is skipped. Directly parallel to UIDAI’s SAI KUMAR example. |
The SURESH KUMAR, SAI KUMAR, P. KUMAR and RIA rows are UIDAI’s own published examples, reproduced exactly. The other rows apply the same rule to other shapes; they are illustrations, not separate rules, and the names in them are invented. UIDAI publishes no example involving an apostrophe, a hyphen or any other punctuation besides the full stop, so this page does not invent one — where a name contains such a character and the password is refused, treat it as a case for a fresh download rather than for guessing.
Why the password fails, and what to do about each cause
The troubleshooting table below is the part of this page that does not exist anywhere else. Every ranking page on this query states the formula and then pads with download steps; none of them tells you what to do when the formula does not work. These are the causes, in rough order of how often they are the real one.
| What you are seeing | What is actually wrong | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Password rejected, and you are certain of the name and the year | The first word of the name is shorter than four letters, so the password runs on into the next word — and you have either stopped at the short word or typed the space between them. | Read the letters off the card, ignoring every space, and count to four. UIDAI’s own SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990 is that case exactly. A full stop inside those four characters is typed as printed. |
| Password rejected on a phone | The keyboard has auto-capitalised only the first letter and left the rest lower case, or has inserted a trailing space after an autocorrect. | Turn on caps lock or the shift lock rather than relying on autocapitalisation, and type into a plain notes field first so you can see exactly what you produced — including any space you did not mean to add. |
| Password rejected, and you used your full date of birth | It is the year alone. Four digits, no day, no month, no separators. | Try the year alone. If your Aadhaar shows only a year of birth rather than a full date — which is the case for a great many people enrolled without a birth certificate — that year is still the one to use. |
| Password rejected, and you used the year on the card | The year printed near the bottom of an Aadhaar can be the year of issue or of a later update, not the year of birth. | Use the year in the date-of-birth field specifically. |
| Password rejected, and the name you used is the name you always use | The name UIDAI holds is not the name you think it is — an expanded initial, a middle name, a different transliteration, or a spelling that was entered at enrolment and never noticed. | The record governs, not your usage. If the record itself is wrong, that is a name correction, and it is a separate journey with a strictly limited number of attempts. |
| The reader says the file is damaged, or asks for a password and rejects every attempt instantly | A partial or corrupted download. It happens on unstable connections and it is common enough to be worth ruling out before anything else. | Delete the file and download it again on a stable connection. Compare the file size to the previous attempt. |
| The reader opens the file but shows blank pages, or a “please use a newer reader” notice | An old or non-standard PDF reader. The e-Aadhaar uses encryption and embedded fonts that some lightweight mobile readers and older desktop viewers handle badly. | Open it in a current mainstream PDF reader on a desktop before concluding anything is wrong with the file. |
| The file opens without asking for a password at all | You are not holding an e-Aadhaar. It is probably a screenshot, a scan, a PVC card image or an export from the m-Aadhaar app. | That is not a defect, but it may not be accepted where an e-Aadhaar is. See the comparison of the four documents below. |
| Password accepted, but the Aadhaar number is partly hidden | You downloaded a masked Aadhaar, which replaces the first eight digits with crosses by design. | Download the unmasked e-Aadhaar instead if the recipient needs the full number — and consider whether they actually do. |
Do not upload your e-Aadhaar to a site offering to remove the password for you, and do not install an app that promises to open it. The file is password-protected precisely because it carries your Aadhaar number, your date of birth, your address and your photograph in one place. There is no legitimate service that needs a copy of it in order to tell you your own year of birth.
Which document did you actually download?
Four different things are all loosely called “the Aadhaar card”, and people routinely download the wrong one, discover it will not open — or opens too easily — and conclude the password is broken. They are not interchangeable, and one of them is not password-protected at all.
| What it is | Password-protected? | What it shows | Where you get it | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e-Aadhaar | Yes — first four characters of the name in capitals, then the year of birth. | The full Aadhaar number, name, date of birth, gender, address and photograph, with UIDAI’s digital signature. | Downloaded from the myAadhaar portal after an OTP to the registered mobile. | The general-purpose electronic Aadhaar. Legally equivalent to the printed card. |
| Masked Aadhaar | Yes — the same password. | The same, except that, in UIDAI’s words, the “first 8 digits of Aadhaar number” are replaced “with xxxx-xxxx while only last 4 digits of the Aadhaar Number are visible”. | The same download, with the masked option selected. | Anywhere identity must be shown but the number itself is not needed. The safer thing to hand over, and under-used. |
| Aadhaar PVC card | Not applicable — it is a physical card posted to you. | The number, photograph and demographic details, with security features and a secure QR code printed on plastic. | Ordered online from UIDAI for ₹75 inclusive of GST and speed post, and orderable even if you have no registered mobile number, by giving any other number for the OTP. | A durable wallet card. UIDAI states it is equally valid. Not a substitute for the e-Aadhaar where a signed PDF is specifically wanted. |
| mAadhaar | No — access is controlled by the app’s own PIN rather than by a document password. | The Aadhaar as held in UIDAI’s own app, carrying the same secure QR code. | The mAadhaar app, from the Play Store or the App Store. | An official form of Aadhaar in its own right. UIDAI’s position is that “the different forms of Aadhaar are Aadhaar Letter, Aadhaar PVC card, eAadhaar and mAadhaar” and that “all forms of Aadhaar are equally valid and acceptable” — so this is not a lesser copy. |
| A screenshot or a photocopy | No. | Whatever the screen or the page showed. | Your own phone or photocopier. | Convenience only, and the one item in this table that is not a form of Aadhaar. It carries no digital signature and no readable secure QR code, which is exactly what a verifier checking an e-Aadhaar or an mAadhaar is looking at. |
Masking behaviour, the validity of each form and the PVC card charge as published by UIDAI and checked on 10 September 2026. UIDAI revises its charges; the current figure is on its own schedule.
If you cannot open it at all
There are two ways out, and they are genuinely different rather than two versions of the same one.
The first is to download the file again. This is the right move whenever the failure looks like a technical one — a reader that says the file is damaged, a download that finished suspiciously fast, or a file that behaves differently on a second device. It needs the mobile number registered with your Aadhaar to be working, because the download is authenticated by a one-time password sent to it. If that number is out of date, you have found a different problem, and it is one that generally cannot be fixed online.
The second is to stop trying to open a PDF and get the information another way. An Aadhaar PVC card is posted to the address on the record. An enrolment centre can print an Aadhaar for you. And for the specific case where an institution wants to verify you rather than to hold a copy of your Aadhaar, the offline e-KYC route exists precisely so that a verifier can confirm your details without ever receiving your Aadhaar number.
The one thing not to do is to keep guessing. There is no lockout, but there is also nothing to discover: the password is a function of two fields, and if the function is not producing the right answer, one of the two fields is not what you believe it is.
The download authenticates by an OTP to the number on your Aadhaar record, so a dead number blocks it. UIDAI’s Aadhaar app can now change that number on face authentication — but only while the old number still receives messages. If it is already gone, the change is an Aadhaar Seva Kendra visit. In the meantime you are not stuck: an Aadhaar PVC card can be ordered giving any other mobile number for the OTP, and an enrolment centre can print your Aadhaar on biometric authentication for ₹30.
What if the name on the record is itself wrong?
Sometimes the password investigation ends somewhere unexpected: the name UIDAI holds is not merely a version you had forgotten, it is wrong. A misspelling entered at enrolment, an initial expanded into a word that is not your name, a middle name that belongs to somebody else in the family.
That is a different problem from this page, and an important one, because a name that is wrong on Aadhaar will keep costing you — most immediately when you try to link your PAN, where the two names are matched as strings and an equivalent is not good enough.
Two things are worth knowing before you start. First, correcting a name and legally changing one are different requests with different evidence: a correction needs only an existing document already carrying the right version, where a change needs the evidence of the change itself. Second, the number of name updates you get on Aadhaar is capped for life, so the string you submit should be the one you intend to keep.
Worked examples
Example 1: The initials case, worked through
- Name printed on the Aadhaar
- P. KUMAR
- Year of birth
- 1990
- What the person tried
- PKUM1990, then KUMA1990, then “P. K1990” with the space
- 1.Write out the name and strike out every space: P, full stop, K, U, M, A, R.
- 2.Take the first four of what remains, in order: P, full stop, K, U.
- 3.That gives “P.KU” — which is exactly UIDAI’s own published answer for this name, so the full stop is counted and the space after it is not.
- 4.The companion example confirms the rule rather than the exception: UIDAI also publishes SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990, where the space is skipped and the fourth letter comes from the second word.
- 5.Append the year of birth: 1990.
P.KU1990 — UIDAI’s own published answer. The rule to carry away is simple and it is the one nobody states: skip every space, keep a full stop, take four, add the year.
Example 2: The short-name case, worked through
- Name printed on the Aadhaar
- RIA
- Year of birth
- 1990
- What the person tried
- RIA01990, RIAX1990, RIAA1990
- 1.The name has three characters and the format asks for four.
- 2.Nothing is padded. There is no filler character, no repeated letter, no zero.
- 3.The name contributes all three of its characters.
- 4.Append the year of birth: 1990.
RIA1990 — a seven-character password, and UIDAI’s own published answer. The instinct to pad it to eight is what defeats people here.
Example 3: The case where the password is right and the file still will not open
- Name printed on the Aadhaar
- ARJUN MEHTA
- Year of birth
- 1994
- Password used
- ARJU1994
- What happened
- The reader reports that the file is damaged or invalid
- 1.A reader that reports damage rather than a wrong password is telling you the problem is the file, not the string.
- 2.Check the file size against a second download. A truncated download is the commonest cause and it is silent.
- 3.Open it in a mainstream desktop PDF reader rather than a lightweight mobile one, because the e-Aadhaar carries encryption and embedded fonts that some readers handle badly.
- 4.If it still fails, download it again on a different connection.
A redownload fixes the great majority of these. Nothing about the password changed, and nothing needed to: the string was never the problem.
More questions about this page
What is the password of the e-Aadhaar PDF?▼
What is the e aadhar password if my name has only three letters?▼
What is the aadhar card pdf password when the name has initials?▼
Is the e adhar password case sensitive?▼
Do I use my date of birth or just the year in the aadhaar password?▼
Why does my adhar password not work even though everything looks right?▼
How do I open my Aadhaar PDF if I have forgotten my year of birth on the record?▼
Is mAadhaar a valid Aadhaar, or do I need the PDF?▼
Does the e-Aadhaar password ever change?▼
Can I remove the password from my e-Aadhaar?▼
Is masked Aadhaar the same file with a different password?▼
Official sources checked
The statutes, rules and regulator pages the statements on this page were checked against.
- UIDAI’s statement of the password format and all four of its published examples — SURESH KUMAR → SURE1990, SAI KUMAR → SAIK1990, P. KUMAR → P.KU1990 and RIA → RIA1990 — together with the definition of masked Aadhaar, the ₹75 Aadhaar PVC card charge and the route for ordering one on a non-registered or alternate mobile number, and UIDAI’s statement that all forms of Aadhaar are equally valid. This page replaces five UIDAI FAQ links that returned 404 when rechecked on 10 September 2026; the content moved here when UIDAI rebuilt its site.
- The ₹30 “Print Aadhaar” service at an enrolment centre for a resident with no registered mobile number, and the routes for retrieving a lost or forgotten Aadhaar number. Checked 10 September 2026.
- What to do when the registered mobile number is the obstacle: the in-app mobile-number update, its face authentication, and the case in which UIDAI still requires an Aadhaar Seva Kendra.
- UIDAI’s published schedule, and the source of every figure on this page. Checked 10 September 2026.
- Where the e-Aadhaar and the masked Aadhaar are downloaded. UIDAI cites this address itself; it could not be reached from the environment this page was built in, so it is given as UIDAI publishes it rather than as independently checked.
e-Aadhaar, masked Aadhaar, PVC card, mAadhaar — and the screenshot that is none of them
People routinely open the wrong one, find it will not open — or opens too easily — and conclude the password is broken. UIDAI’s own position is that the Aadhaar letter, the Aadhaar PVC card, the e-Aadhaar and mAadhaar are all equally valid forms of Aadhaar; only the two PDFs are password-protected, and a screenshot is not a form of Aadhaar at all.
| Point of comparison | e-AadhaarThe signed PDF | Masked AadhaarThe same, number hidden | PVC cardA physical card | mAadhaarUIDAI’s own app | A screenshotNot a form of Aadhaar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Password protected? | Yes — first four letters of the name in capitals, spaces skipped, then the year of birth. | Yes — the same password. | Not applicable. It is a plastic card posted to you. | No — the app is protected by its own six-digit PIN instead. | No. |
| Shows the full Aadhaar number? | Yes. | No — the first eight digits are replaced with crosses and only the last four are visible. | Yes. | Yes, within the app. | Depends on what was on screen. |
| Carries UIDAI’s digital signature or secure QR? | Yes. This is the thing a verifier actually checks. | Yes. | A secure QR code, plus physical security features. | Yes — the same secure QR code, readable in UIDAI’s own scanner apps. | No. This is why it is refused where an e-Aadhaar or an mAadhaar is accepted. |
| How you get it | Downloaded from myAadhaar after a one-time password to the registered mobile. | The same download, masked option selected. | Ordered online from UIDAI for ₹75, inclusive of GST and speed post — and orderable with no registered mobile, by giving any other number for the OTP. | The mAadhaar app, from the Play Store or the App Store. | Your own phone. |
| When to use it | The default. UIDAI states it is as valid as the physical copy. | Anywhere identity must be shown but the number itself is not needed. Under-used. | A durable wallet card, equally valid. | In person, where a verifier can scan it. An official form of Aadhaar, not a convenience copy. | Showing somebody something quickly. Not for submission. |
e-Aadhaar
The signed PDF
- Password protected?
- Yes — first four letters of the name in capitals, spaces skipped, then the year of birth.
- Shows the full Aadhaar number?
- Yes.
- Carries UIDAI’s digital signature or secure QR?
- Yes. This is the thing a verifier actually checks.
- How you get it
- Downloaded from myAadhaar after a one-time password to the registered mobile.
- When to use it
- The default. UIDAI states it is as valid as the physical copy.
Masked Aadhaar
The same, number hidden
- Password protected?
- Yes — the same password.
- Shows the full Aadhaar number?
- No — the first eight digits are replaced with crosses and only the last four are visible.
- Carries UIDAI’s digital signature or secure QR?
- Yes.
- How you get it
- The same download, masked option selected.
- When to use it
- Anywhere identity must be shown but the number itself is not needed. Under-used.
PVC card
A physical card
- Password protected?
- Not applicable. It is a plastic card posted to you.
- Shows the full Aadhaar number?
- Yes.
- Carries UIDAI’s digital signature or secure QR?
- A secure QR code, plus physical security features.
- How you get it
- Ordered online from UIDAI for ₹75, inclusive of GST and speed post — and orderable with no registered mobile, by giving any other number for the OTP.
- When to use it
- A durable wallet card, equally valid.
mAadhaar
UIDAI’s own app
- Password protected?
- No — the app is protected by its own six-digit PIN instead.
- Shows the full Aadhaar number?
- Yes, within the app.
- Carries UIDAI’s digital signature or secure QR?
- Yes — the same secure QR code, readable in UIDAI’s own scanner apps.
- How you get it
- The mAadhaar app, from the Play Store or the App Store.
- When to use it
- In person, where a verifier can scan it. An official form of Aadhaar, not a convenience copy.
A screenshot
Not a form of Aadhaar
- Password protected?
- No.
- Shows the full Aadhaar number?
- Depends on what was on screen.
- Carries UIDAI’s digital signature or secure QR?
- No. This is why it is refused where an e-Aadhaar or an mAadhaar is accepted.
- How you get it
- Your own phone.
- When to use it
- Showing somebody something quickly. Not for submission.
Masking definition, the validity of each form and the PVC card charge as published by UIDAI, checked 10 September 2026. UIDAI revises its charges; its own schedule carries the current figure.
Downloading the file again, step by step
The right move whenever the failure looks technical rather than textual — a reader reporting damage, a download that finished suspiciously fast, or a file that behaves differently on a second device. Every screen below is drawn by us, not captured from UIDAI.
- 1
Open myAadhaar and choose to download the Aadhaar
Illustration — not a screenshot
A recreation of what the myAadhaar portal shows at this step, drawn in our own styling. The real screen will look different; the fields and the wording are what matter.
Download Aadhaar
The service sits under the login, so you are asked to identify yourself before anything is generated.
- 1Aadhaar number
- ____ ____ ____
- Captcha
- the characters shown on screen
Send OTP
- 1We show the field as a shape, never as a number. Nothing on GetNyay asks you for your Aadhaar number, and you should be suspicious of any page that looks like this one and does.
- 2
Authenticate with the one-time password
Illustration — not a screenshot
A recreation of what the myAadhaar portal shows at this step, drawn in our own styling. The real screen will look different; the fields and the wording are what matter.
Verify OTP
Sent to the mobile number registered with your Aadhaar — not to any other number you may have given elsewhere.
- 1One-time password
- ______
2Error
Your mobile number is not registered with Aadhaar.
Verify and download
- 1Six digits, valid for a short window. If it does not arrive, the number on the record is the thing to check first, not the network.
- 2This is the wall. A mobile number cannot be updated online — UIDAI requires an enrolment centre visit — and until it is fixed, every online Aadhaar service that authenticates by one-time password is closed to you. Worth fixing before it is urgent.
- 3
Choose masked or full, then open the file
Illustration — not a screenshot
A recreation of what the myAadhaar portal shows at this step, drawn in our own styling. The real screen will look different; the fields and the wording are what matter.
Do you want a masked Aadhaar?
- 1Masking
- Yes, hide the first eight digits of my Aadhaar number
2Notice
The downloaded file is password protected. Use the first four characters of your name in capitals followed by your year of birth.
Download
- 1Tick this unless the recipient genuinely needs the full number. A masked Aadhaar proves who you are without handing over the number itself, and almost nobody uses it.
- 2The password is the same whether or not you masked it. Masking changes what the document shows, not how it is protected.
Illustrations of the myAadhaar flow, drawn in our own styling and carrying no real Aadhaar number, name, mobile number or date of birth. Source of the underlying facts: UIDAI, uidai.gov.in, checked 10 September 2026. UIDAI’s reproduction policy excludes commercial use, so this cluster recreates UIDAI screens rather than reproducing them.
You are here
Opening the e-Aadhaar file
What to do next
- 1
If the name on the record turned out to be wrong, fix it before it costs you again
A wrong name on Aadhaar surfaces next at the PAN linking step, where the two names are matched as strings and an equivalent is not good enough.
Correcting a name in Aadhaar → - 2
If the registered mobile number is out of date, start there
It closes every online Aadhaar service, not only the download, and it cannot be fixed online.
What can be updated online, and what cannot → - 3
If you came here on the way to linking your PAN, that is the next page
Check whether you are already linked before doing anything — most people who search for it are, and do not know it.
Linking Aadhaar with PAN → - 4
If you want to know what your PAN itself says about you
The fourth character encodes holder type, and the fifth is your surname initial. Both are worth knowing before you file a correction.
Reading your own PAN →