DigiLocker Complete Guide 2026: How to Store, Share and Verify Documents Online

If you have ever stood in a government office holding a plastic folder of photocopies, DigiLocker is the fix. It is India’s official document wallet, run by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as part of the Digital India programme, and it lets you pull authentic copies of your driving licence, PAN, Aadhaar, vehicle RC, board marksheets and dozens of other records straight from the issuing authority onto your phone.

The part most people miss is that a DigiLocker document is not a scan you made. It is a digitally signed copy fetched from the issuer’s own database, which is why it is accepted where a photocopy would be waved away. This guide from TechLein walks through account setup, the documents you can actually pull, how sharing works, and the mistakes that get people stuck.

Key takeaways

DigiLocker documents pulled from an issuer are legally at par with the original physical document.
You need an Aadhaar-linked mobile number to complete verification, so fix that first if it is outdated.
“Issued documents” and “uploaded documents” are treated very differently by verifiers.
Sharing works through time-limited links and a 6-digit PIN, not by sending the file itself.

What DigiLocker actually is

DigiLocker is a cloud-based document repository tied to your identity. Once you authenticate, partner organisations, the Income Tax Department, the transport authority, CBSE, various state boards and universities, insurance companies, push signed digital copies of records that belong to you into your account.

Two things separate it from Google Drive or a folder of photos. First, the documents carry the issuer’s digital signature, so a verifier can confirm they were not edited. Second, the fetch happens over an API from the source database, meaning the copy in your locker reflects the record the government actually holds, not a photo of a card you may have lost.

Are DigiLocker documents legally valid?

Yes, for issued documents. Under the Information Technology (Preservation and Retention of Information by Intermediaries Providing Digital Locker Facilities) Rules, 2016, documents issued into DigiLocker are treated at par with the original physical documents. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has separately clarified that a driving licence and RC shown from DigiLocker must be accepted by traffic police.

In practice, the friction you will hit is a clerk who has not seen it before rather than a legal problem. Keeping the physical copy of critical documents is still sensible, but you are within your rights presenting the digital one.

How to create a DigiLocker account: step by step

Download the official DigiLocker app from the Play Store or App Store, or open digilocker.gov.in in a browser. Verify the publisher is the National eGovernance Division before installing.
Tap Sign Up and enter your full name, date of birth, gender, the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar, an email address and a 6-digit security PIN.
Verify the mobile number with the OTP that arrives.
Enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number. A second OTP goes to your Aadhaar-registered mobile, this is the step that fails for most people.
Set a username. Your account is now active and the Issued Documents section will begin populating.

If the Aadhaar OTP never arrives, your Aadhaar-linked mobile number is almost certainly wrong or dead. That is a separate fix, and our walkthrough on how to update Aadhaar online covers the mobile number change in detail.

Issued documents vs uploaded documents

This distinction decides whether a document will be accepted, so it is worth understanding properly.

Aspect	Issued documents	Uploaded documents
Source	Fetched directly from the issuing authority	Scanned or photographed by you
Digital signature	Signed by the issuer	Self-signed at best
Legal standing	At par with the original	Same as any photocopy
Can it be edited	No, tampering breaks the signature	Yes, it is just a file
Counts against storage	No	Yes

The takeaway: always try to fetch a document from its issuer before falling back to uploading a scan. An uploaded PAN scan carries none of the authority of a fetched one.

Which documents can you pull

Availability depends on the issuer being onboarded, and state coverage varies. The records most Indians can fetch reliably include:

Transport: driving licence and vehicle registration certificate, via Parivahan.
Tax: PAN verification record from the Income Tax Department. If you do not have the card handy, see our guide on downloading your e-PAN card online.
Identity: your Aadhaar, which you can also carry in the mAadhaar app.
Education: CBSE and several state board marksheets, plus certificates from participating universities and NIOS.
Health: records linked to your ABHA health account, including vaccination certificates.
Insurance and utilities: policies from participating insurers, LPG connection details and some state ration and caste certificates.

Many of the same services also appear inside the government’s all-in-one UMANG app, which is worth installing alongside DigiLocker.

How to share a document safely

DigiLocker sharing does not email the file. It generates a time-limited link protected by a 6-digit PIN that you communicate separately.

Open the document and tap the share icon.
Choose the validity period, keep it as short as the situation allows.
Note the PIN that DigiLocker generates.
Send the link and the PIN through two different channels, never both in the same WhatsApp message.

Splitting the link and PIN matters. If someone gets hold of your phone or a single chat thread, one channel alone gives them nothing.

Common problems and how to fix them

Aadhaar OTP not received

Your Aadhaar-linked mobile is outdated. Visit an Aadhaar Seva Kendra with your Aadhaar to update it. There is no fully online route for a mobile number change.

Documents not showing after fetch

The issuer’s server may be down, or the details you entered do not match their records exactly. Name spelling and date of birth must match the issuer’s database character for character, not your Aadhaar.

Verifier refuses the digital copy

Show the digital signature panel inside the PDF, which displays the issuer’s certificate. For traffic stops, the MoRTH advisory recognising DigiLocker documents is the reference to cite.

Locked out of your account

Use Forgot PIN with your registered mobile. If the number itself is gone, you will need to update Aadhaar first, there is no bypass.

Security practices worth adopting

Your DigiLocker holds identity documents, which makes the account itself a target. Treat it accordingly:

Use a PIN you have not reused anywhere else, and turn on biometric unlock in the app.
Never install DigiLocker from an APK link sent over WhatsApp. If you install apps outside the Play Store at all, read how to check an APK for malware first.
Review active shared links periodically and revoke ones you no longer need.
Harden the phone itself. Our guide to securing your Android phone covers the settings that protect every app, not just this one.
Be alert to fake DigiLocker sites asking for Aadhaar and OTP together, a pattern we cover in our guide to protecting your privacy online.

Frequently asked questions

Is DigiLocker free?

Yes. The account, the document fetches and sharing are all free for citizens.

Can I use DigiLocker without Aadhaar?

You can create a basic account with a mobile number, but issued documents cannot be fetched until Aadhaar verification is complete, which is most of the value.

Does DigiLocker work without internet?

Documents you have already opened are cached for offline viewing, but fetching and sharing need a connection.

Is a DigiLocker driving licence accepted by traffic police?

Yes. MoRTH has instructed enforcement agencies to accept licences and RCs presented through DigiLocker or mParivahan.

What happens to my documents if I lose my phone?

Nothing. The documents live in the cloud, not on the device. Log in on a new phone and they are all there. Do block the lost handset though, our guide to blocking a lost or stolen phone through CEIR explains how.

The bottom line

DigiLocker removes the single most tedious part of dealing with Indian bureaucracy: proving that a document is real. Spend fifteen minutes setting it up properly, make sure your Aadhaar-linked mobile number actually works, and fetch your licence, PAN and marksheets while you are there. The next time someone asks for a document, it will be four taps instead of a trip to the photocopy shop.

More Digital India guides

This guide is the starting point for a wider set of walkthroughs on the same subject:

Need the PAN document itself, see our guide to downloading your e-PAN card online.
To correct your Aadhaar details, see our guide to updating Aadhaar online.
To carry Aadhaar on your phone, see our guide to the mAadhaar app.
To audit connections issued in your name, see our guide to checking how many SIM cards are registered on your Aadhaar.
To report fraud calls or verify a handset, see our guide to the Sanchar Saathi guide.
If a phone holding these documents goes missing, see our guide to blocking a lost or stolen phone through CEIR.
For EPFO, gas booking and state services, see our guide to the UMANG app guide.
For medical records, see our guide to creating an ABHA health account.
For highway travel, see our guide to the FASTag Annual Pass guide.