Many places only need to see your name, photo and the last four digits of your Aadhaar. Add a photo, scan or PDF of the card: the first eight digits of the number and the QR code are covered for you, and you can check the boxes and cover anything else, such as the address. It all happens in your browser, so the card never leaves your device.
Files stay on your device. Free, with no sign-up.
Opening the PDF…
Everything under a box is removed from the file, not just hidden. A page with boxes is saved as a picture, so its text can no longer be selected; pages without boxes are not touched.
Nothing left your device.
An Aadhaar number is used to verify who you are and to link many services, so a copy that ends up in the wrong place can be misused. Hotels, shops and forms often keep a photocopy for years. Giving them a masked copy, with a note of what it is for ("for admission only, date"), limits what they can do with it. Keep the full card to yourself, and only show it where the full number is really needed.
No. The picture or PDF is opened, read and covered inside your browser, on your own device. Nothing is sent to a server, so the Aadhaar, PAN or other document you work on never leaves your phone or computer.
The first eight digits of the 12-digit number are hidden and the last four stay visible, like XXXX XXXX 1234. That is enough to identify the card to the person who sees it, without giving away the whole number. UIDAI's own website also lets you download a masked Aadhaar.
The QR code on an Aadhaar card holds the details printed on it, and the e-Aadhaar QR code carries more, including the photo. Anyone can read it with a free app, so a card with a hidden number but a visible QR code has not really been masked. Untick the option in "Find text to black out" if you want to keep it.
No. The covered part of the picture is replaced with solid colour before the picture is saved, so there is nothing left under the box to bring back, in the file or in its details. Keep your original somewhere safe and send only the masked copy.
The number is found by reading the picture, which works best on a sharp, straight, evenly lit photo. On a blurred, dark or angled photo it can miss digits or find the wrong ones. Check every box, move or delete the wrong ones, and draw a box by hand over anything it missed. Choose another language in the options if the card is in a regional script.
Yes. Drag on the picture to draw a box over anything. You can also use "Find text to black out" to look for a phone number, a PAN number or any word, on every picture.
No. A bank, a SIM shop or a government office doing e-KYC may need the full number or the original card, and will say so. For a hotel, a hostel, a gym, a college form or an online upload that only asks for proof of identity, a masked copy is what UIDAI recommends. This page is not legal advice: if you are not sure what is needed, ask the person asking for it.
Use Unlock PDF first. The password of an e-Aadhaar PDF from UIDAI is the first four letters of your name in capitals followed by your year of birth, for example RAHU1990. Then add the unlocked copy here.
Not directly. Use Unlock PDF on this site to remove the password (you need to know it), then add the unlocked copy here.
Each file can be up to 100 MB, and up to 300 MB in total. Because the work happens on your device, very large files depend on your available memory. A desktop browser handles them best.