Recover and Activate EPFO UAN — citizen guide 2026

A Universal Account Number is meant to connect an EPFO member's employment-specific member IDs. If you have forgotten yours, first recover the existing number; do not generate another one. In 2026, EPFO directs activation of existing UANs and generation of new UANs through the UMANG app's Aadhaar face-authentication service. Aadhaar details, the Aadhaar-linked mobile and a face scan must work together. Searches for recover UAN and activate UAN should open UMANG and the official Member Portal — not a WhatsApp “EPFO agent” asking for an OTP.

Do not share an OTP, password, Aadhaar XML, face-authentication screen or bank details with a person offering “instant UAN activation.” Use EPFO's current official website and the official UMANG app. The old Member Portal web “Activate UAN” OTP flow is not the current route.

Try these in order. Stop when you have the 12-digit number. Do not generate a new UAN because lookup failed once.

1. Salary slip and offer / HR papers. The UAN is usually printed near the PF deduction line. Ask payroll for both the UAN and the member ID linked to that employment. They are not the same. One UAN can have multiple member IDs as jobs change.
2. Employer establishment login records. The employer that enrolled you should have the number in its EPFO / payroll file. Ask in writing and keep the reply.
3. Earlier EPFO SMS or email. Search the registered mailbox and phone for UAN allotment messages.
4. Official “Know your UAN”. EPFO's Member Portal provides a recovery route for eligible records. Reach it from EPFO's official website or the official Member Portal at unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in. The identity fields shown can change; enter them as held in the EPFO record, not as you wish them to appear.
5. UMANG member services after you already have some identifier (member ID, establishment). Use only the official UMANG app from the app store.
6. If EPFO currently publishes an SMS or missed-call lookup on its official website, use that published number only. Do not trust a shortcode forwarded on WhatsApp. This page does not reprint a SMS number that may have changed.

If “Know your UAN” returns blank, the employer may not have allotted a UAN yet, the identity fields may not match, or a different mobile may be on the record. Ask HR for the member ID and the date the UAN was (or will be) allotted. Do not create a second number.

A parallel login-focused page is UAN activation and login.

EPFO introduced UAN allotment and activation through Aadhaar-based Face Authentication Technology and made new UAN allotment through this route mandatory from 1 August 2025, except specified exceptional cases such as international workers and citizens of Nepal and Bhutan. The Member Portal currently tells members that activation of existing UANs is also available through UMANG.

You need:

• a valid Aadhaar number;
• access to the mobile number linked with Aadhaar for OTP — not necessarily the number on the employer's file;
• the official UMANG app;
• the Aadhaar Face RD app from the official store (check the publisher);
• a phone camera and adequate light;
• your existing UAN when activating an allotted number.

Check the publisher before installing either app. Do not install an APK sent by an agent or employer chat group. Do not type an OTP into a website that is not UMANG / UIDAI / EPFO.

1. Open UMANG and search for EPFO.
2. Choose UAN Services Through Face Auth.
3. Select the service for UAN Activation rather than new allotment.
4. Give the requested Aadhaar/UAN details and consent on the official screen.
5. Complete the OTP step using the Aadhaar-linked mobile. That OTP is for UIDAI/UMANG authentication on this device — it is not a PIN to read out to a caller.
6. Complete the face scan through Aadhaar Face RD.
7. Save the success acknowledgement. Then use the official Member Portal as directed to set or use credentials.

The service names may be slightly different after an app update. The Ministry's current official EPFO reform update confirms direct UAN allotment and activation, activation for existing UANs and face authentication for already activated UANs through UMANG.

If the system says Aadhaar is already linked to a UAN, stop. Recover that UAN rather than generating another. If face authentication repeatedly fails, verify the Aadhaar-linked mobile and use UMANG/EPFO support; do not repeatedly change identity fields at random.

After success, log in on the official Member Portal. If a temporary password is sent, set a new one on the portal's change-password screen. If login fails, use Forgot Password — do not generate another UAN.

Do not post a UAN, passbook or Aadhaar screenshot on social media. These are account identifiers.

Before filing a claim or transfer, compare:

• name, date of birth and gender;
• Aadhaar linkage;
• bank account and IFSC shown for KYC;
• present and previous member IDs;
• date of joining and date of exit for each employment;
• passbook contributions against payslips;
• nomination status.

Activation only enables access. It does not prove that the employer remitted every contribution, that KYC has been verified, or that all past service is linked.

Then, on the current Member Portal menus (labels can move):

• complete KYC (Aadhaar, PAN, bank) as the live screen requires — employer digital approval may still be needed for some fields;
• file or update e-nomination when the portal allows it — e-nomination guide;
• open the passbook for each member ID — PF balance and withdrawal / EPF balance check.

Download records from official portals for your own file.

For a member-profile mismatch, use the correction facility described on the current EPFO portal and FAQ. The workflow may require the member to submit a profile-updation or joint-declaration request and may involve employer or field-office verification depending on the field, documents and service history. See UAN name / DOB / joining-date mismatch.

Prepare the record that supports the correction—Aadhaar and, where requested, a birth, school, passport, service or other accepted document. Do not claim that Form 11 alone is a universal name-correction form. Form 11 is primarily the employee's declaration of previous membership; profile correction follows EPFO's current prescribed process.

If an employer has closed, refuses to act, or entered service data incorrectly, lodge an EPFiGMS grievance with the evidence and the correct EPFO office. Ask for the exact deficiency and the official alternative procedure. A rejected claim with pending KYC is a different file: EPFO claim rejected pending UAN KYC.

EPFO's FAQ says a member with two or more UANs should transfer earlier services and balances to the present UAN through the “One Member One EPF Account”/transfer process. Keep the newest current-employment UAN as the working account unless EPFO directs otherwise. The Ministry has described simplified transfer that can, in eligible cases, move accounts without the older blanket requirement for employer intervention in every case — see the current transfer-process update. It is not verified that a missing date of exit always becomes employee-editable after a fixed number of days, or that every duplicate requires a paper Form 13.

Before transfer, align the member details and make sure the previous employment's date of exit is recorded. If it is missing, use the live Member Portal or employer/EPFiGMS correction route shown for your record.

If the online transfer cannot be filed because the UANs or member details do not match, ask EPFO for the current transfer/correction route and a written deficiency. Do not withdraw one account merely to “merge” it. Stuck withdrawal: RTI for stuck PF withdrawal.

Send one written request with UAN/member ID, the exact error, supporting documents and a request for the transaction or acknowledgement number. Do not send full Aadhaar or bank details in an insecure group chat.

Use EPFiGMS. EPFO's FAQ says a complainant with a UAN, establishment or PPO can enter that identifier, select the grievance category and upload documents. A unique registration number is generated and the grievance routes to the linked office. A person without one of those identifiers can use the “Others” category and identify the relevant PF office.

UAN: [masked in the narrative; enter in the portal field]
Member ID / establishment: [details]
Error shown: [exact wording and date]
Requested action: identify the mismatched field or missing transaction,
state the prescribed correction route, and process the attached request.
Attachments: [list]

If the disposal does not answer the issue, use the feedback/escalation facility displayed on the current EPFiGMS record and approach the responsible EPFO office with the grievance reference. This page does not treat a “30-day SLA” as a guaranteed clock; use the timeline the live portal or office actually states.

Locate the responsible office through EPFO's current official website. Visit or write where identity verification or original documents are required. A higher administrative grievance can go through CPGRAMS to the Ministry of Labour and Employment / EPFO when the office record is already stuck.

RTI is useful for existing public records when a case remains opaque: the dated movement sheet, deficiency note, officer-wise pendency, action recorded on a grievance, or the current circular applied. It cannot activate an account by itself or require a private employer to create a document. File to the CPIO of the office holding the record. How to file: file an RTI online. Use the AI RTI Drafter to organise a record request.

Under section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, please provide the following records
concerning UAN [number] / member ID [id] / EPFiGMS [number]:

1. Copy of the current member profile fields (name, DOB, gender, mobile,
   Aadhaar-seed status) as held, with personal numbers masked as required.
2. Date-wise movement of the KYC / joint-declaration / transfer request
   no. [number] and any recorded deficiency.
3. Copy of the circular or FAQ presently applied to this type of correction.
4. Action recorded on EPFiGMS registration no. [number].
5. Name and designation of the dealing section.

Please transfer any part held by another public authority under section 6(3).

• Do not read a UMANG, Aadhaar or bank OTP to a caller, chat agent or “EPFO recovery desk”.
• Do not type an OTP on a site reached from an SMS link or a search advertisement.
• Do not send the OTP, Face RD screenshot or Aadhaar XML to an employer WhatsApp group.
• Do not install a remote-access app so someone else can “complete face authentication”.
• If you already shared an OTP, change portal passwords from a trusted device, check KYC/bank fields, and use EPFiGMS / the employer to record the incident. Activation itself is not a money movement, but a captured login can become one.

• Creating a new UAN because the old password is forgotten.
• Confusing a UAN with an employment-specific member ID.
• Using the discontinued direct-UAN-allotment route on the Member Portal.
• Treating the old web activation workflow as current after EPFO moved activation to UMANG face authentication.
• Sending OTPs or installing a remote-control app for an “EPFO agent.”
• Reading a UMANG/Aadhaar OTP to a caller who claims to be EPFO.
• Filing a claim before checking bank KYC, exit date and member details.
• Requesting an RTI “to merge UAN” instead of first filing the prescribed transfer/correction.
• Assuming an activated UAN proves that the passbook is complete.

EPFO's current Member Portal directs activation of existing UANs through the UMANG app using Aadhaar face authentication. Use the live EPFO notice rather than an old video.

Yes. The employer that enrolled you should have the UAN and employment member ID in its EPFO/payroll records.

Recovery and password-reset options depend on the identity and mobile available to the record. For UMANG activation the OTP goes to the Aadhaar-linked mobile. Use the official recovery screen and EPFO grievance/support route; do not create a second UAN.

No. Recovery only identifies the existing number. Activation is a separate current UMANG face-authentication service.

EPFO's 30 July 2025 circular says new UAN allotment/generation is through Aadhaar face authentication in UMANG from 1 August 2025, with stated exceptional categories.

Duplicate UANs should not be treated as two independent retirement accounts. Follow EPFO's transfer process to bring earlier service into the current UAN.

No. Nomination is a later member service. First activate and sign in, then follow the current nomination workflow.

RTI gives access to records held by a covered public authority. It does not issue a correction command to a private employer. Use employer/EPFO processes and ask RTI only for EPFO-held records.

Contributions are credited to the member ID whether or not you have online access. Activation gives visibility and control; it does not create the money. Confirm the passbook after you can log in.

UAN; every member ID; payslips; Aadhaar-linked mobile status; UMANG acknowledgement; profile screenshot; KYC status; exit dates; passbooks; transfer claim; employer ticket; EPFiGMS number; and every written deficiency.

• UAN activation and login
• Check PF balance and claim withdrawal
• EPF balance check
• RTI for stuck PF withdrawal
• UAN name / DOB mismatch
• Claim rejected pending KYC
• EPF e-nomination
• Form 31 advance
• OPS vs NPS
• CPGRAMS
• How to file an RTI
• Citizen RTI playbook
• AI RTI Drafter
• First Appeal Builder

• EPFO Member Portal — current UAN activation notice
• Ministry of Labour and Employment — current UAN/UMANG face-authentication services
• Ministry of Labour and Employment — simplified EPF transfer process
• Employees' Provident Fund Organisation — official website
• EPFiGMS — official grievance portal