How to Lock/Unlock your Aadhaar temporarily ?

Aadhaar data and biometrics can be safeguarded from misuse by locking the Aadhaar on the official website, according to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). 

Now-a-days Aadhaar is the most important document for every Indians. Individuals' biometric information, such as their thumbprints and iris details, is included in Aadhaar. So the privacy and security should be maintained in these type of documents. In case of Aadhaar, it is now become more safe with an extra layer of security feature.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) recently offered a solution for people to avoid misuse of their Aadhaar cards. You can now lock/unlock your Aadhaar temporarily whenever you want. This can be replaced with a 16-digit Virtual ID (VID) number called Masked Aadhaar and this can be used for all your identification needs. According to UIDAI there is widespread acceptance and validity of the VID. 

You can do this on official website of UIDAI and the mAadhaar mobile application also.

Now let's see how you can do this on the official website of UIDAI. The same can be followed on mobile application also.

IMPORTANT: Before trying out all the steps below make sure your Aadhaar Number is linked with your current mobile number.

1. Go to the official website of UIDAI by clicking here.

2. Click on My Aadhaar Section and go to Aadhaar Lock and Unlock Service under Aadhaar Services.

3. In next page scroll down and click on Lock/Unlock Aadhaar.

4. Now read the steps carefully and make sure to follow those steps only. Once you understand all the steps click on Next.

Note: Again please make sure you understand all these steps. If you don't understand the steps, we strongly recommend you to not proceed further.

5. If you have the VID ready then you can skip this step. But if you don't have a VID then click here to generate your VID. It's very simple. Just enter your aadhaar number and the captcha code. After giving the OTP your VID will be generated and will be ready for use.

6. After successfully generating a VID (16-digit) you're now ready to lock your Aadhaar. Enter the VID, full name and pincode. Fill the captcha and proceed with your OTP and a password of your choice. 

7. After checking the box beside 'Enable Biometric Locking,' click the 'enable' button once more.

Congratulations ! Your Aadhaar is now Locked.

Now, let's take a look at how you can do this by SMS.

1. In your Message section type GETOTP along with your last 4 or 8-digits of Aadhaar Number and send it to 1947 to request an OTP.

Example: Suppose your Aadhaar Number is 1111 2222 3333. So you've to type GETOTP3333 or GETOTP22223333.

2. After the message was sent, a 6 digit OTP will be received from UIDAI.

3. Now using the received OTP you've to send another SMS by typing LOCKUID along with your last 4 or 8-digits of Aadhaar number and the 6-digit OTP.

Example: Suppose you received a OTP that is 123456. So you have to type LOCKUID3333123456 or LOCKUID22223333123456.

4. Following that, you will receive a message confirming the locking of your Aadhaar biometrics on your registered mobile number.

The unlocking process is also quite similar. Instead of using the Aadhaar number's digits, you will need the last 6 or 10-digits of the VID number to unlock your Aadhaar.

Thank you