e-PAN PDF Password: Format and How to Open It

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To open your e-PAN PDF, type your date of birth as DDMMYYYY, with no slashes, dashes or spaces. If your birthday is 5 June 1998, the password is 05061998.

Why the PDF asks for a password at all

Protean (formerly NSDL) and UTIITSL lock the e-PAN PDF so that only you can open the copy that lands in your inbox or downloads folder. Since the password is generated from data already on your PAN record, you never have to set or remember a separate password yourself.

This applies to the e-PAN you download from the Protean or UTIITSL portal using your PAN number and date of birth. If you generated an Instant e-PAN through the Income Tax e-filing portal with Aadhaar OTP, the download sits behind your e-filing login or DigiLocker. If that PDF does ask for a password, try the same DDMMYYYY date of birth first.

If you have changed your PAN details recently, such as a date of birth correction, download the fresh e-PAN only after the correction request shows as processed on the portal, and use the date now on your PAN record.

Step by step: open the file

1. Open the PDF in any reader on your phone or computer.
2. When the password prompt appears, type your date of birth in DDMMYYYY format.
3. Do not add /, - or spaces between the numbers.
4. Use a leading zero for single digit days or months, for example 03 for the 3rd and 07 for July.
5. Press enter or tap unlock.
6. If it still does not open, check whether the PDF is actually for a company or HUF PAN rather than an individual, since the password logic changes.

Try it here

Unlock PDF

Type your date of birth as 8 digits (DDMMYYYY) to save a copy of the e-PAN without the password.

Files are uploaded over HTTPS, processed and deleted from our server straight after. Open the full Unlock PDF page

Worked examples

These examples show the exact format so you are not guessing at digits:

• Date of birth 15 August 1995: password is 15081995.
• Date of birth 1 January 2001: password is 01012001, with a leading zero for both the day and the "1" in January.
• Date of birth 30 November 1988: password is 30111988.

Company, partnership or HUF PAN

For a non-individual PAN, such as a company, LLP or HUF, the password is commonly the date of incorporation or formation, again as DDMMYYYY, not a person's birth date. If your firm was registered on 16 February 2001, try 16022001. Whoever handles the firm's paperwork should keep this date noted alongside the PAN number, since it is easy for a bookkeeper or new employee to try a director's birth date by mistake and assume the file is broken.

When DDMMYYYY still does not work

If the correct date of birth does not unlock the file, work through these checks before assuming the PDF is corrupted:

• Confirm the date of birth exactly as it appears on your PAN record, not your Aadhaar or school certificate, since a mismatch anywhere means a different date is on file.
• Re-download the PDF. A partially downloaded or corrupted file can look like a wrong password error.
• Check if the file is for a different PAN holder, such as a spouse's or parent's PDF saved with the same file name.

Where the e-PAN password comes from, and why it differs by document

Many Indian government PDFs that carry personal data lock themselves with a password built from a detail already on file, rather than one you set. This keeps a PDF that is emailed to the wrong address, or sits in a shared downloads folder, from being opened by someone who does not already know your date of birth. The trade off is that each document uses its own rule, so a password that works on one government PDF will not work on another.

Document	Password rule	Where you get the file
e-PAN (Protean or UTIITSL)	Date of birth, DDMMYYYY	Protean or UTIITSL PAN portal
Instant e-PAN	If asked, try DOB as DDMMYYYY	Income Tax e-filing portal, Aadhaar OTP
e-Aadhaar	First 4 letters of name in CAPITALS plus year of birth (YYYY)	UIDAI or myAadhaar portal

If you regularly deal with both PAN and Aadhaar PDFs for KYC or job applications, it helps to know both rules side by side. See our guide to the e-Aadhaar PDF password format for the Aadhaar version, including short-name and initials examples.

Common mistakes

• Typing the date with slashes, like 05/06/1998, which most readers reject.
• Using the current year instead of the year of birth.
• Trying an Aadhaar based password format on a PAN file, since the two documents use completely different rules.
• Forgetting the leading zero on days and months below 10.

Once you can open the file, you can flatten and re-save it without the password using the PDF unlocker, so future edits, printing or attaching to a form do not need the password again. Browse more document tools on the government document tools page if you are preparing a full KYC or application bundle.

Tools for this

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Protean, Download your e-PAN card using PAN number (checked 2026-09)
• UTIITSL e-PAN Card download (checked 2026-09)
• Income Tax Department, Instant e-PAN FAQ (checked 2026-09)

Rules and limits change. Always check the latest official notification or portal before you submit a form.