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What is the PAN card PDF password?

The PAN card PDF password is your date of birth written as eight digits: day, month, then year, with no spaces or slashes. Protean, which runs the e-PAN service for PAN applications it processed, gives the example of someone born on 15 August 1990, whose e-PAN opens with 15081990. If yours will not open, the cause is usually a missing zero, the month typed first, or a two-digit year. To keep a copy that opens without the password, use RealScaner Unlock PDF, which works in your browser and never uploads the file.

The password rule comes from Protean (previously NSDL). Download details come from Protean, UTIITSL, and the Income Tax Department. Each source is linked at the end. Facts are current as of October 24, 2026.

What is the e-PAN card password format?

Protean’s guide to downloading an e-PAN says it in one line: “The password to open your e-PAN card is your date of birth in the DDMMYYYY format.” Its guides give these examples:

The 5 January example is the one that matters. A single-digit day or month gets a leading zero, so the password is always eight digits. Protean puts it as “This 8-digit number will be the password to open your e-PAN card PDF file.” One of Protean’s example lists has a typo: it prints 10011985 for a birthday of 10 January 1965. The rule gives 10011965.

How do I work out my own PAN card password?

  1. Take the date of birth printed on your PAN card. For a company, firm, or trust, see the section on those PANs below.
  2. Write the day as two digits: 05, not 5.
  3. Write the month as two digits: 08 for August.
  4. Write the year as four digits: 1990, not 90.
  5. Join them with nothing in between: 05081990.

Type the result into the password box that appears when you open the file. It is all digits, so there is no capital letter to get wrong.

Why is my PAN card PDF password not working?

Work through this list in order. Most failures are one of the first three.

If nothing works, download a fresh copy from the service that issued your PAN, as described below, and try again.

What is the e-PAN password for a company, firm, or trust?

A company, firm, trust, or other non-individual PAN holder has no date of birth, so the e-PAN request forms ask for another date. Protean’s form asks for the “Date of Birth / Incorporation / Formation.” UTIITSL’s asks for the date of birth, incorporation, agreement, partnership or trust deed, or formation of the body or association. Neither page states the password for these PANs. The date you give on that form, written as DDMMYYYY, is the one to try. The Income Tax Department does the same for its AIS PDFs, where non-individual taxpayers use the date of incorporation or formation in place of a date of birth.

Is the password different for UTIITSL or Instant e-PAN?

Protean, UTIITSL, and the Income Tax e-filing portal each run their own e-PAN service:

For a UTIITSL or Instant e-PAN file, start with your date of birth as DDMMYYYY. If it still fails after the checks above, get a fresh copy from the same service.

How do I download my e-PAN again?

Protean’s guide says to use the same website where you applied. Each service asks for different details:

Is the e-PAN password the same as the AIS or Aadhaar password?

No. Each document has its own rule, set by whoever issues it:

How do I remove the password from a PAN card PDF?

You need the password first. Adobe says, “You can only remove a password from a PDF if you know the current password.” Removing it then saves a second copy that opens without one, which helps when a form or a PDF tool will not take a protected file. RealScaner’s Compress PDF, Merge PDF, and Organize PDF then work on the unlocked copy.

With RealScaner Unlock PDF

  1. Open Unlock PDF on your phone or computer and choose the e-PAN PDF.
  2. The tool checks the file’s protection and asks for a password only if one is needed.
  3. Type your date of birth as DDMMYYYY, such as 15081990. Use the eye button to check what you typed.
  4. Press Unlock PDF. If the password is wrong, the tool says so and asks you to check the date format, then lets you try again.
  5. When the result reads “Checked: the copy opens without a password,” press Download PDF.

The file is decrypted, not turned into pictures, so the text, photo, and layout stay as they were. The copy gets “unlocked” in its file name, and your original is not changed. If a form caps the upload size, the result screen links straight to Compress PDF, and how to compress a PDF to 200KB covers hard limits.

With Adobe Acrobat

Adobe’s guide begins, “Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro on Windows or Mac.” Its help page, updated October 22, 2026, gives these steps: select All tools > Protect a PDF, choose Set security properties under Advanced Properties, open the Security tab, select Change Settings, deselect Require a password to open the document, select OK twice, and save the PDF.

Does removing the password break the e-PAN digital signature?

Yes, on the unlocked copy. The Income Tax Department describes Instant e-PAN as “a digitally signed PAN in electronic form,” and Protean says an e-PAN includes “a QR code and a digital signature for authenticity.”

A PDF digital signature is tied to the exact bytes of the file. The PDF standard, ISO 32000-1, says a signature’s ByteRange describes “the exact byte range for the digest calculation.” Adobe’s technical note on PDF signatures adds that “any attempt to alter the document by modifying the file (such as signing it again) will invalidate the existing digital signature.” Removing the password rewrites the file, so the copy can no longer show that it is unchanged. When Unlock PDF finds a signature in the file, it shows a warning next to the download button.

Keep the original e-PAN exactly as you downloaded it, and send that file to anyone who asks for your e-PAN. Use the unlocked copy only where a form or tool cannot take a password-protected PDF.

Is it safe to unlock a PAN card PDF online?

Protean says an e-PAN contains your name, date of birth, photograph, signature, and PAN. Its password is that same date of birth. An upload site that unlocks it receives the file and the date that opens it. Adobe’s advice on unlocking PDFs is to “avoid uploading any documents containing private, financial, or legal information unless you’re sure the site is secure and trustworthy.”

The flip side is that the password only stops people who do not know your birthday. Anyone who does can open the file, so treat the e-PAN itself as the thing to protect, and share it only where it is asked for.

RealScaner Unlock PDF does the work inside the browser tab. It runs qpdf, an open-source PDF program, compiled to WebAssembly in a separate worker. The file and the password are never sent to a server. The password is used once, cleared from the field, and never stored or logged. If you accept analytics in the consent banner, the tool records only coarse details such as a file size range, never the file name, its contents, or the password. For more on what stays local, read what stays on your device with browser document tools.

What RealScaner Unlock PDF does

Sources

Key takeaways

Common questions

What is the password to open a PAN card PDF?

Your date of birth as eight digits in DDMMYYYY order, with no spaces or slashes. In Protean’s example, someone born on 15 August 1990 opens their e-PAN with 15081990.

Why is my e-PAN password not working?

Check that the day and the month each have two digits (05, not 5), that the day comes before the month, that the year has all four digits, and that you typed no slashes, dashes, or spaces. If the PAN belongs to a company, firm, or trust, it has no date of birth, so use the date of incorporation or formation instead.

What is the e-PAN password for a company or firm?

Protean and UTIITSL ask for the date of incorporation, formation, or the deed date in place of a date of birth when a non-individual requests an e-PAN. Neither states the password on its download page, so try that date as DDMMYYYY.

Is the password different for a UTIITSL or Instant e-PAN?

UTIITSL’s e-PAN page and the Income Tax Department’s Instant e-PAN FAQ do not publish a password rule. Protean publishes the date of birth rule, so start with your date of birth as DDMMYYYY. If it fails, get a fresh copy from the service that issued your PAN.

Can I change or reset the e-PAN password?

The password comes from your date of birth, so you work it out rather than reset it. The password you use on the Income Tax e-filing portal is your account login, not the password of the PDF. If you want a copy that opens without a password, save one with Unlock PDF.

Can I remove the password from my PAN card PDF?

Yes. RealScaner Unlock PDF removes the password once you enter it and saves an unlocked copy in your browser, without uploading the file or the password. The copy’s digital signature no longer validates, so keep the original e-PAN for anyone who checks it.

Published October 24, 2026. Updated October 24, 2026.

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