What is the password for the e-PAN PDF?
The e-PAN PDF is usually locked with your date of birth written as eight digits: day, month and year. Born on 5 August 1990, you type 05081990. Any PDF reader opens it with that, and Remove a password saves a copy that opens without it.
Remove a passwordFree. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Open Remove a password and add the e-PAN PDF.
- Type your date of birth as DDMMYYYY in the box under the file and tap Unlock.
- Press Unlock it to save a copy that needs no password.
- Save the unlocked copy, and keep the original as it came.
Where the password comes from
An e-PAN is your PAN card as a PDF, sent by email or downloaded after you apply. Whether it came from Protean (formerly NSDL e-Gov), from UTIITSL or from the income tax site’s instant e-PAN, the PDF is usually locked with the date of birth on your PAN record, written as DDMMYYYY with no spaces or slashes. For a company, firm or trust it is usually the date of incorporation or formation, in the same form.
The email that came with the e-PAN, or the page you downloaded it from, states the format. Check there first: it takes a moment, and it settles the question for your file.
If the password does not work
Most failed tries are the format, not the date. Use two digits for the day and two for the month, with a leading zero: 5 August 1990 is 05081990, not 581990. Leave out slashes, dashes and spaces. Use the date as your PAN record has it, which is the date printed on your PAN card; if it differs from the date on your other documents, the PAN one is the one to try. A firm or company uses its own date, never a partner’s or director’s birthday.
If it still fails, download the e-PAN again from the site that issued it and try the fresh file, in case the first download was cut short.
Think before you unlock it
An unlocked copy opens for anyone who gets hold of it, and a PAN is used for bank accounts, loans, investments and tax. You do not need to unlock the file to read or print it: any PDF reader asks for the password and opens it. Unlock it when a portal refuses locked PDFs, or when someone needs a copy without the password.
The e-PAN is issued digitally signed. Any changed copy, an unlocked one included, no longer passes that signature check in a PDF reader, and the result line here says so. Where an office checks the signature, give them the original file and the password instead.
Before you send a copy
When you hand a copy to a landlord, a broker or a new bank, a light watermark saying what it is for, such as FOR SAVINGS ACCOUNT KYC ONLY, makes it harder to reuse for anything else. If a portal sets a size limit, Compress brings the file under 100 KB or 200 KB. If a form wants your PAN and Aadhaar in one file, join them with Merge; the e-Aadhaar has a password of its own, explained in Aadhaar PDF password.
A worked example
Meera, born on 3 January 1995, needs her e-PAN for a mutual fund account, and the upload page refuses locked files. She opens Remove a password, adds the e-PAN, types 03011995 in the box under it and taps Unlock. She presses Unlock it and saves the copy. Then she taps Then, chooses Watermark, types FOR MUTUAL FUND KYC ONLY, chooses Light and Repeated all over, and uploads that copy. The original, still locked and still signed, stays in her phone’s files.
Questions people ask
Can this find the password for me?
No. It opens a file only with the password you type. It does not guess or break passwords.
Is my e-PAN uploaded when I unlock it?
No. It is unlocked in your browser, on your device, and the password is forgotten as soon as it has been used. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Why does the result say the digital signature no longer checks out?
Because the unlocked copy is a new file. The original keeps its signature: send that one, with the password, wherever the signature is verified.
Can I put a password of my own on it?
Yes. Unlock it here, then lock the copy with Add a password, using a password you choose and share separately.
Can I hide my PAN on a copy?
Yes, with Remove areas. Its Find and remove can mark PAN numbers for you, and the marked digits are taken out of the file, not just covered.
Is the password the same as for the e-Aadhaar?
No. The e-Aadhaar uses four letters of your name in capitals and your year of birth. See Aadhaar PDF password.
Your file stays on your device. Foolscap does the work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing for anyone to keep. How you can check