Remove the password from your e-Aadhaar PDF

The first four letters of your name as printed on the Aadhaar, in capital letters, followed by your year of birth in four digits. RAVI KUMAR born in 1992 → RAVI1992. If your name has fewer than four letters, use the whole name: RAJ born in 1992 → RAJ1992. UIDAI's e-Aadhaar download adds this password so the file can't be read by someone who only gets hold of the file.

Check that the letters are capitals, that there's no space, and that you use the name exactly as it's spelled on the Aadhaar — not a nickname or the spelling you usually write. Use only the four-digit year of birth, not the full date of birth.

Your e-Aadhaar is unlocked in your browser and is not uploaded. Only if your browser can't read a file's encryption would it be sent, encrypted, to Mergevanta's server, processed in memory and deleted at once — and the page tells you if that happens.

Yes, any password-protected PDF you can open. PAN card PDFs usually use your date of birth as DDMMYYYY, and many bank statements and tax documents use a mix of your name, PAN, customer ID or date of birth — the password is given in the email or on the download page. For other PDFs, use Unlock PDF.

Yes. The downloaded copy has no password at all, so it opens anywhere. Keep it somewhere private, since anyone with the file can now read it, or add your own password with Protect PDF.

The pages are unchanged, but saving a copy without the password rewrites the file, so PDF viewers may no longer show the e-Aadhaar's digital signature as valid. Where a portal or office checks that signature, give them the original password-protected PDF instead.

Removing the password from your own e-Aadhaar, which you downloaded with your own details, is simply making a copy of your document easier to open. Only unlock documents that belong to you or that you have permission to use.