No, you can't delete your Aadhaar number or UIDAI's record of you, and uninstalling the Aadhaar app doesn't change that record. What you can control: lock your biometrics or your Aadhaar number, check your authentication history, share a masked Aadhaar or only selected details, and ask private companies holding your Aadhaar copy to erase it.
mAadhaar is gone. UIDAI's new Aadhaar app replaced it. Download it only from the links on uidai.gov.in.
Ignore any site that offers to "delete your Aadhaar". UIDAI has no such service. Its helpline is 1947.
When UIDAI moved everyone from mAadhaar to a new app, one question kept coming up: will my data be deleted, and can I delete it myself? This guide gives the plain answer and walks through every control UIDAI actually offers. Everything below comes from UIDAI's own FAQs, its official forms and the government's press releases. Where we couldn't confirm something, we say so.
Why your Aadhaar can't be deleted
Your Aadhaar record sits with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), under the Aadhaar Act, 2016. An app, whether the old mAadhaar or the new Aadhaar app, is just a way to see and use that record. So removing an app, a profile or a phone doesn't touch the record itself.
- No "delete my Aadhaar" service exists. None of UIDAI's online services, in the app or on myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in, offers deletion of an Aadhaar number.
- One narrow exception: turning 18. UIDAI's Form 9 lets someone who got Aadhaar as a child apply to cancel it under section 3A(2) of the Aadhaar Act, but only within six months of turning eighteen. The form goes to a UIDAI regional office for authentication.
- After death, numbers are deactivated, not reused. The government said in November 2025 that UIDAI had deactivated over two crore Aadhaar numbers of people who had died, to prevent misuse, and that no Aadhaar number is ever reassigned to someone else.
How the DPDP Act 2023 applies to UIDAI's own records is a legal question we don't try to answer here. The practical point stands: there's no published route to erase an adult's Aadhaar record on request. A health ID is different: an ABHA number can be deleted or deactivated.
mAadhaar is gone: what the new Aadhaar app is
The Ministry of Electronics and IT dedicated the new Aadhaar app to the nation on 28 January 2026. UIDAI's website now links only to the new app: in.gov.uidai.pehchaan on Google Play and Aadhaar (id6744029871) on the App Store. News reports say mAadhaar was retired at the end of June 2026, and when we checked on 17 September 2026 its Google Play page no longer loaded.
What UIDAI's own FAQ says about the new app:
- Services: mobile number update, address update, biometric lock/unlock, selective sharing of your details, authentication history, e-Aadhaar download, a QR contact card and request tracking.
- Sign-up: you enter your Aadhaar number, choose your SIM, complete face authentication and set a 6-digit PIN. It needs Android 9 or iOS 16 and above.
- Permissions: call and SMS access are for SIM-based device binding, and the camera is for face authentication. UIDAI says the app does not capture your location.
- Profiles: up to five Aadhaar profiles on one app. A minor can be added through the guardian's face authentication.
- Limits: it can't be used outside India, and it won't run with developer options switched on.
We couldn't confirm an official in-app path for removing a profile or de-registering a device, so we won't guess one. Uninstalling removes the app from your phone. It doesn't delete anything at UIDAI.
What you can control, step by step
Lock your biometrics
UIDAI's biometric lock covers your fingerprint, iris and face. While it's on, any entity by any means cannot perform biometric based Aadhaar authentication for you, and anyone who tries gets error code 330. Use the one-tap lock in the Aadhaar app, or the Lock/Unlock Biometrics service linked from uidai.gov.in. You need a mobile number registered with Aadhaar. When you need your fingerprint for something, UIDAI describes unlocking as temporary, or you can disable the lock altogether.
Check your authentication history
The app and UIDAI's online services show where your Aadhaar has been used to authenticate. Look for anything you don't recognise, such as a biometric authentication on a day you didn't use your fingerprint anywhere. If you find one, lock your biometrics and raise a grievance with UIDAI.
Get a Virtual ID, and consider locking your Aadhaar number
A Virtual ID (VID) is a temporary, revocable 16-digit random number that works in place of your Aadhaar number for authentication and e-KYC. UIDAI says the Aadhaar number can't be worked out from it and agencies should not store it. Generate one at myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in, or send GVID followed by the last 4 digits of your Aadhaar to 1947 from your registered mobile.
With a VID you can also lock your Aadhaar number (UID lock). You need the latest VID to unlock it, and you can retrieve that VID by sending RVID and the last 4 digits to 1947. UIDAI's own FAQs describe the lock slightly differently in two places. One says a locked UID blocks authentication by UID, UID token and VID. The SMS instructions say you can still authenticate with your latest VID. Test it before you rely on it.
Share less: masked Aadhaar and selective sharing
A masked Aadhaar replaces the first 8 digits with xxxx-xxxx and shows only the last 4. You can download one free from myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in with an OTP. In the new app, you can share your details in full or in part. UIDAI says you choose what to share, with whom and for what purpose, and that no identity data is shared without your explicit consent. For offline checks, UIDAI's paperless offline e-KYC gives a service provider a digitally signed file without handing over your full Aadhaar number.
Keep your details current
In the app you can update only your mobile number and address. Address updates cost ₹75. Name, gender, date of birth and email updates, and any biometric update, still need an Aadhaar Seva Kendra or enrolment centre. A mobile number you no longer use is a risk, because OTPs keep going to it.
Watch for fake Aadhaar sites and apps. Search results for Aadhaar services are crowded with lookalike sites, some of which admit in their own small print that they aren't UIDAI. UIDAI's official sites are uidai.gov.in and myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in. Its helpline is 1947, and grievances go through myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in. Get the app only through the store links UIDAI publishes. Never type your Aadhaar number, OTP or VID into a site that promises to delete your Aadhaar. That service doesn't exist.
The Aadhaar copies you can ask to be deleted
UIDAI's record stays, but the photocopies and scans you handed to a hotel, a gaming app, a lender or a SIM seller are held by those companies. You can ask them to erase those.
List who has a copy
Think of KYC you've done in the last few years: loan and fintech apps (if one is harassing you, see what to do about loan app harassment), brokers, real-money gaming apps, telecom operators, co-working spaces, housing societies, hotels. Accounts you've closed are the best candidates, because the company has the least reason to keep your copy.
Write to the grievance officer
Say which document the company holds and when you gave it, and ask it to erase the copy and any Aadhaar details it no longer needs. Ask it to confirm in writing what it has deleted and what it keeps by law, and why. Our free DPDP notice generator drafts the letter. You send it from your own email.
Know what the law gives you, and when
Section 12 of the DPDP Act 2023 gives you a right to have your personal data erased. The DPDP Rules 2025 bring the Act in over eighteen months, and that right becomes enforceable in May 2027. Until then there's no legal deadline, and even afterwards a company can keep what another law requires. Separately, UIDAI says that where a registered verifier passed your offline Aadhaar data to another entity with your consent, revoking that consent requires end-to-end deletion of that data, with an acknowledgement to you.
Your Aadhaar is locked. What about your phone number and email?
An Aadhaar copy leaks along with the details tied to it. Saaph checks your email and phone number against known data breaches and online accounts, and keeps a registry of published privacy contacts for 280+ Indian companies, so you know who to write to.
The check, the exposure report and self-serve DPDP emails are free, and you send those yourself. Pro (₹99 for 3 months or ₹390 for 1 year) is for when you'd rather Saaph send erasure requests for you. Family covers 4 profiles at ₹199 for 3 months or ₹790 for 1 year.
Run a free check →FAQ
Can I delete my Aadhaar data?
No. You cannot delete your Aadhaar number or the record UIDAI holds, and uninstalling the Aadhaar app does not change that record. The one cancellation route UIDAI publishes is for a child enrolled as a minor, who can apply within six months of turning 18. What you can do is lock your biometrics or your Aadhaar number, check your authentication history, and share only masked or selected details.
Aadhaar data delete kaise kare?
Aadhaar number aur UIDAI ka record delete nahi hota, aur app uninstall karne se bhi record nahi hat-ta. Aap Aadhaar app ya myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in se biometric lock kar sakte hain, authentication history dekh sakte hain aur masked Aadhaar share kar sakte hain. Kisi private company ke paas aapki Aadhaar copy hai to use likhkar delete karne ko kahiye.
Has the new Aadhaar app replaced mAadhaar?
Yes. UIDAI's new Aadhaar app was dedicated to the nation on 28 January 2026 and is the app UIDAI now links to. News reports say mAadhaar was retired at the end of June 2026, and its Google Play listing no longer loads. Download the new app only from the links on uidai.gov.in.
How do I lock my Aadhaar biometrics?
Use the one-tap biometric lock in UIDAI's Aadhaar app, or the Lock/Unlock Biometrics service linked from uidai.gov.in. You need a mobile number registered with Aadhaar. Once locked, nobody can authenticate with your fingerprint, iris or face until you unlock, which UIDAI says is temporary, or disable the lock.
What is the difference between biometric lock and Aadhaar lock?
Biometric lock stops authentication with your fingerprint, iris and face. Aadhaar (UID) lock restricts use of the Aadhaar number itself for authentication. You need a 16-digit Virtual ID before you can lock your Aadhaar number, and your latest Virtual ID to unlock it, so save that VID somewhere safe.
Can I remove my Aadhaar copy from a company that stored it?
You can ask in writing. Write to the company's grievance officer, say which document it holds, and ask it to erase the copy and anything it no longer needs. Section 12 of the DPDP Act 2023 gives you a right to erasure, enforceable from May 2027, and a company may still keep records the law requires. Where you shared Aadhaar data offline and consented to onward sharing, UIDAI says revoking that consent requires verifiable deletion.
Is there an official website to delete Aadhaar?
No. UIDAI offers no service to delete an Aadhaar number, so any site promising to do it is not telling the truth. UIDAI's official sites are uidai.gov.in and myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in, its helpline is 1947, and grievances go through myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in.
General information, last reviewed 17 September 2026. It is not legal advice. UIDAI's app, services and fees change, so check uidai.gov.in before you rely on the steps above, and consult a qualified professional about your own case. Saaph.in is not affiliated with UIDAI, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology or any government body, and cannot access, change or delete Aadhaar records. Saaph is a communication facilitator, not your legal representative or agent. Saaph.in is operated by Ronin Works Private Limited, Hyderabad, Telangana. Grievance contact: data@saaph.in.