Aadhaar Card Download (e-Aadhaar / mAadhaar)

What is e-Aadhaar and who issues it?

e-Aadhaar is the electronic version of the Aadhaar card, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as a digitally signed PDF. It carries the same 12-digit Aadhaar number, photograph, demographic details and QR code as the printed card, and UIDAI's digital signature is what makes it verifiable.

e-Aadhaar is legally equal to the physical laminated Aadhaar card. A bank, telecom operator, employer or government office cannot insist on the printed card and refuse a downloaded copy. The signature embedded in the PDF is in fact stronger evidence than a laminated card, because it can be validated cryptographically in any PDF reader.

UIDAI distinguishes three artefacts that people often confuse:

• e-Aadhaar. The free digitally signed PDF you download yourself.
• Masked Aadhaar. The same PDF with the first 8 digits replaced by xxxx-xxxx, leaving only the last 4 digits visible.
• Aadhaar PVC card. A durable printed card on polyvinyl chloride with security features, ordered from UIDAI and delivered by Speed Post for a fee.

Who can download e-Aadhaar?

You can download if:

• You already hold a generated Aadhaar number.
• You have a mobile number registered in the Aadhaar database, because every download is authorised by an OTP sent to that number.
• You know your Aadhaar number, your 14-digit Enrolment ID (EID) from the enrolment acknowledgement slip, or a Virtual ID (VID). Any one of the three works.

You cannot use this service if:

• Your mobile number is not registered with UIDAI, or you no longer have access to the registered number. There is no online workaround, you must visit an Aadhaar enrolment centre in person to register or change the mobile number.
• Your Aadhaar has not yet been generated. If you only hold an EID from a recent enrolment, check status first; adults may wait up to 180 days for generation.
• You are trying to download somebody else's Aadhaar. The OTP goes to the holder's registered number, by design.

How to download Aadhaar online

1. Open myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in in a browser and select Download Aadhaar.
2. Choose whether you are identifying yourself by Aadhaar number, Enrolment ID (EID) or Virtual ID (VID), and enter it along with the captcha.
3. Select regular or masked Aadhaar. Choose masked if the copy is going to a private party such as a hotel or a landlord.
4. Select Send OTP, then enter the 6-digit OTP delivered to your registered mobile number.
5. Submit, and the digitally signed PDF downloads to your device.
6. Open the PDF and enter the password: the first 4 letters of your name in CAPITALS followed by your 4-digit year of birth. UIDAI's own example is SURESH KUMAR, born 1990, opening with SURE1990.

How to download Aadhaar using the mAadhaar app

1. Install the official mAadhaar app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. Check the publisher is UIDAI, since imitation Aadhaar apps are common.
2. Set a 4-digit app PIN when prompted.
3. Register your profile by entering your Aadhaar number and the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.
4. Your Aadhaar profile is now stored in the app and can be shown directly, or the PDF can be downloaded and shared from within it.

The app carries your Aadhaar in a form that can be shown offline once registered, which is useful when you need identity proof and have no network.

What does the e-Aadhaar password look like?

The rule is mechanical, and it uses your name and year of birth exactly as recorded in Aadhaar, not as you usually write them.

Two points cause most failures. First, the four characters are taken from the name string as stored, so a full stop or a space in an abbreviated name counts as a character. Second, if your recorded name is shorter than four letters, all available letters are used followed by the year. If the password will not work, download a fresh copy and read the name field on screen rather than guessing from memory.

How to order an Aadhaar PVC card

1. Log in at myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in and select Order Aadhaar PVC Card.
2. Enter your Aadhaar number, EID or VID and complete OTP verification.
3. Review the preview of the card, then pay the fee shown on the payment screen.
4. Note the Service Request Number (SRN) for tracking.
5. Track delivery using Check Aadhaar PVC Card Order Status on the same portal.

UIDAI hands the printed card over to the Department of Posts within 5 working days of the request, excluding the date of request, and India Post then delivers it by Speed Post. The fee is inclusive of GST and speed post charges and is displayed on the payment screen before you pay, confirm the current amount there rather than relying on figures quoted by third-party websites, which are frequently out of date.

What other free Aadhaar services are on the same portal?

The myAadhaar portal bundles several free services worth knowing about, because each solves a problem people otherwise pay agents to fix:

• Retrieve Lost or Forgotten EID/UID: recovers your Aadhaar number to your registered mobile. Also available by SMS to 1947.
• Verify an Aadhaar Number — confirms whether a given number is valid and active.
• Verify Email/Mobile Number; tells you which contact details UIDAI holds, which is the fastest way to find out why an OTP is not arriving.
• Generate a Virtual ID (VID), a temporary 16-digit substitute for your Aadhaar number.
• Lock/Unlock Biometrics, blocks biometric authentication against your Aadhaar until you unlock it. This is the single best protection against misuse of your fingerprints.
• Aadhaar Authentication History; lists up to the 50 most recent authentication transactions against your number, so you can spot use you did not authorise.
• Paperless Offline e-KYC; shares a verifiable KYC file without disclosing your Aadhaar number.
• Lock/Unlock your Aadhaar number entirely.

Why an Aadhaar download fails, and how to fix it

• OTP does not arrive. The registered number is wrong, out of service, or on roaming with SMS blocked. Use Verify Email/Mobile Number to check which number UIDAI holds, then visit a centre to change it.
• Password rejected. You are using your name as you write it rather than as Aadhaar stores it. Rebuild the password from the name field shown on screen.
• "Invalid Aadhaar number". A digit has been transposed, or you are entering a VID that has since expired. Generate a fresh VID or use the EID instead.
• Captcha keeps failing. Refresh the captcha; the portal is case-sensitive.
• PDF looks unsigned. The green validity tick appears only after your PDF reader trusts UIDAI's certificate chain. The file is still valid; this is a reader configuration issue, not a defect in your Aadhaar.

How do I get help with an Aadhaar download problem?

• UIDAI toll-free helpline: 1947
• Email: help@uidai.gov.in
• Portal: myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in and uidai.gov.in
• SMS services: available to 1947 from your registered mobile number

Downloading e-Aadhaar is completely free and unlimited, on both the portal and the mAadhaar app. Cyber cafés and mobile shops routinely charge Rs 20 to Rs 100 for a service that costs nothing and takes about two minutes on your own phone, and paying them means disclosing your Aadhaar number and OTP to a stranger who can then authenticate as you. Only the physical PVC card carries a genuine government fee, and that is paid to UIDAI on the official portal. No UIDAI official will ever telephone you to ask for your OTP.

How to check your application status

"Application status" means something different depending on which Aadhaar-related request you have pending, since downloading e-Aadhaar itself is instant and has no status to check. Three separate trackers cover the requests that do take time.

Checking a new Aadhaar enrolment or update request

1. Go to myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in and select Check Aadhaar/EID Status (or the equivalent enrolment/update status option on the portal).
2. Enter your 14-digit Enrolment ID (EID) and the enrolment date and time printed on your acknowledgement slip, or use your Aadhaar number if it has already been generated.
3. Submit to see whether your Aadhaar has been generated, or whether a demographic or biometric update you requested has been processed, rejected, or is still under review.
4. If the enrolment slip has been lost and you cannot retrieve the EID, use Retrieve Lost or Forgotten EID/UID on the same portal, or send an SMS to 1947 from your registered mobile number.

Adults can take up to 180 days for a fresh Aadhaar to be generated after enrolment, so a status that still reads "in process" well within that window is not a fault, only enrolments still pending beyond it are worth escalating through the helpline.

Checking an Aadhaar PVC card order

1. Log in at myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in and open Check Aadhaar PVC Card Order Status.
2. Enter the Service Request Number (SRN) you received when you placed the order, along with your Aadhaar number, EID or VID.
3. The tracker shows whether the card has been printed, handed to the Department of Posts, or is out for Speed Post delivery. Since UIDAI hands the card to the Department of Posts within 5 working days of the order, a status that has not moved past "printed" after that window is worth following up on through the helpline rather than waiting indefinitely.

Following up by helpline or email

• Call the UIDAI toll-free number 1947 and quote your EID, SRN, or Aadhaar number so the agent can pull up the exact record instead of a general query.
• Email help@uidai.gov.in with the same reference number if the query needs a written response, such as a status that has been stuck for an unusually long time.
• Keep the acknowledgement slip (for enrolment or update requests) or the SRN (for a PVC card order) until the status shows fully complete, since these are the only reference numbers UIDAI's systems can look up your request by.

There is no separate "application" to track for the free e-Aadhaar PDF download itself: the OTP-based download either succeeds immediately or fails at one of the points covered earlier on this page, with no queued or pending state in between.