Your Aadhaar number is requested everywhere — hotels, gas connections, coaching centres, rental agreements. But handing over the full 12-digit number (and a clear copy of the card) is a real identity-theft risk. UIDAI's own guidance is to share a masked Aadhaar wherever a full one isn't strictly required.
What is a masked Aadhaar?
A masked Aadhaar hides the first 8 digits of your Aadhaar number and shows only the last 4 — enough to identify the document to you, without exposing the full number. UIDAI offers a masked download on its site, and many verification flows now accept the masked version.
When you can share a masked Aadhaar
- Address or identity proof where the full number isn't legally mandated.
- Hotels, private offices, coaching/admission desks, landlords.
- Any time you're emailing or messaging a copy of the card.
Some government and banking (KYC) processes still require the full number — follow the specific instruction there. When in doubt, mask it; you can always share the full one if explicitly required.
How to mask your Aadhaar yourself (free, private)
You don't need to wait for the UIDAI download — you can mask any copy you already have in seconds:
- Open the Aadhaar masking tool and upload your Aadhaar image.
- Drag a black box over the first 8 digits of the number (and anything else you want hidden).
- Download the masked copy.
Two things make this safe: the black box is burned into the image pixels — it can't be peeled off or recovered — and the whole thing runs in your browser, so your Aadhaar is never uploaded to any server. That matters for a document this sensitive.
A few extra precautions
- Mask the QR code too if you don't want it scanned — it encodes your details.
- Share over secure channels; avoid public/unknown upload sites.
- If a PDF is password-protected (like e-Aadhaar), open it with the e-Aadhaar password first, then mask a screenshot.