the unique identification authority of india uidai has introduced a new feature to lock and unlock your aadhaar number the move has been taken to further strengthen the privacy and security of the aadhaar number of an individual once you have locked your aadhaar number then authentication services using any method ie demographic biometric or otp onetime password based cannot be done using aadhaar number therefore you will have to use the 16digit virtual id for aadhaar to undertake any authentication services for kyc purposes you can use your aadhaar number for authentication services only after you have unlocked it before you lock your aadhaar number remember you must first generate your virtual id if the virtual id is not generated by you then you will not be able to lock your aadhaar number you can generate your virtual id from the uidais website or simply by sending an sms remember your mobile number must be registered with the uidais database to generate your virtual id via sms also read how to generate virtual id via uidai website also read aadhaar services that you can avail via smsthere are two ways to lock or unlock your aadhaar either through uidais website or by sending an sms to uidai on 1947 1 lockingunlocking aadhaar number via uidai website if you wish to lockunlock your aadhaar number through uidais website follow the steps below for locking your aadhaar number step 1 visit wwwuidaigovin step 2 click on my aadhaar tab and under the aadhaar services click on aadhaar lockunlock et online step 3 select the option lock uid and enter the details aadhaar number name as per aadhaar records pin code and security code et online step 4 once these details are entered click on send otp an otp will be sent to your mobile number via sms the otp will be valid for 10 mins step 5 enter the otp and click on submit step 6 your aadhaar number will be locked for unlocking your aadhaar number step 1 visit wwwuidaigovin step 2 click on my aadhaar tab and under the aadhaar services click on aadhaar lockunlock step 3 select the option unlock uid and enter the virtual id created by you earlier and security code et online step 4 click on send otp an otp will be sent to your mobile number via sms the otp will be valid for 10 mins step 5 enter the otp and click on submit step 6 your aadhaar number will be unlocked 2 lockingunlocking aadhaar number via sms if you do not have access to the internet or you are unable to access the uidais website then you can also lockunlock your aadhaar number via sms follow the steps below to lockunlock your aadhaar number by sending sms to 1947 for locking aadhaar number step 1 from your registered mobile number send an sms to 1947 to get an otp in the format getotplast four digits of aadhaar number for example if