Aadhaar Card Photo Size Requirements 2026 — UIDAI Specifications

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) publishes photo requirements that enrolment operators and the online portal enforce. Here are the current specs as of 2026:

Dimensions — 3.5 × 4.5 cm (35 × 45 mm) for printed photos at enrolment centres. For digital uploads, the portal accepts images between 2 KB and 100 KB in file size. The pixel dimensions should be at least 413 × 531 px (35 × 45 mm at 300 DPI).

Format — JPG/JPEG only. PNG, BMP, TIFF, and other formats are not accepted by the online portal. If your photo is in PNG or HEIC format, you'll need to convert it first using the image converter.

File size — minimum 2 KB, maximum 100 KB for online submissions. This is a tight range. A typical phone camera photo at 4000 × 3000 pixels is 3–5 MB — that's 30–50x over the limit. You'll need to resize the image dimensions down and compress the file significantly.

Background — plain white background. No patterns, no colours, no gradients, no shadows on the backdrop.

Face coverage — face should occupy about 50–80% of the photo area. The full head from chin to crown of head should be visible, along with both ears.

Expression — neutral expression, mouth closed. No smiling. Both eyes open and looking directly at the camera.

Clothing — no head covering except for religious purposes. Dark clothing against a white background creates better contrast, though this isn't a formal requirement.

Start with a well-lit photo against a white wall. Natural daylight works best — stand near a window but not in direct sunlight, which creates harsh shadows. Ask someone to take the photo from about 1.5 metres away, at eye level. Use the rear camera of the phone, not the selfie camera — the rear camera produces less facial distortion.

Once you have the photo, the passport photo tool can crop it to the correct 35 × 45 mm dimensions and centre the face properly. Select India/Aadhaar as the format to get the exact crop template.

Then use the image compressor to bring the file size down below 100 KB. Set the quality slider until the file size readout shows something in the 60–90 KB range. The quality at that file size is more than sufficient for an identity photo.

If the background in your photo isn't perfectly white, the background remover can strip it. After removal, save as JPG — the transparent areas become white automatically. This is faster than retaking the photo.

India uses similar-looking formats for different documents, and it's easy to mix them up. Here's the breakdown:

The Indian passport photo is 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) per the Ministry of External Affairs specification — it's a square format.

The Aadhaar photo is 35 × 45 mm — a rectangular portrait format.

Aadhaar: 35 × 45 mm, white background, JPG only, max 100 KB.
Indian passport: 51 × 51 mm, white background, JPG typically, no strict file size limit for physical submissions.
Indian visa: 35 × 45 mm (same as Aadhaar dimensions but may have different background requirements depending on the destination country).

The face positioning rules are similar — both require a frontal view with both eyes visible — but the dimensions and file size constraints are different enough that a photo prepared for one won't necessarily work for the other. A 51 × 51 mm passport photo cropped to 35 × 45 mm would cut the sides too aggressively.

Aadhaar enrolment is mandatory for children over 5 and optional for infants. For babies, UIDAI is lenient: the eyes don't have to be fully open, and the neutral expression requirement isn't enforced. Lay the baby on a white sheet and shoot from directly above — the sheet serves as the white background.

For elderly family members who can't easily travel to an enrolment centre, UIDAI's doorstep enrolment service ('Aadhaar Mitra') brings the centre to them. Having a properly-sized digital photo ready still saves time — the operator can use it instead of taking one on the spot with a webcam, which often produces low-quality results with poor lighting.

For children between 5 and 15, Aadhaar biometrics (fingerprints and iris) are captured but updated at age 15. The photo, however, should be updated every few years as the child's appearance changes — an outdated photo can cause identification issues.

The UIDAI Self Service Update Portal (ssup.uidai.gov.in) lets you update your Aadhaar photo online. The process:

1. Log in with your Aadhaar number and OTP sent to your registered mobile number.
2. Select 'Update Photo' from the update options.
3. Upload your photo — JPG format, between 2 KB and 100 KB.
4. Pay the ₹50 update fee online (UPI, net banking, or debit card).
5. The updated photo typically reflects within 30–90 days. You'll receive an SMS when the update is processed.

The bottleneck is almost always the photo upload. If the file is too large (the most common issue) or the wrong format (PNG instead of JPG), the portal rejects it without a helpful error message. Prepare the photo properly before starting the update process — once you're in the portal flow, the OTP has a time limit and fumbling with photo sizing can cost you the session.

Photo too compressed. There's a minimum file size of 2 KB for a reason — a 2 KB JPG is extremely low quality and will produce a blurry print on your Aadhaar card. Aim for 60–90 KB to stay within limits while maintaining reasonable quality.

Wrong aspect ratio. A 51 × 51 mm passport photo forced into a 35 × 45 mm template will either stretch or crop incorrectly. Use the right template from the start.

Shadow on the background. Even a faint shadow on the white wall behind you can cause a rejection at the enrolment centre. Stand at least half a metre away from the wall and use diffused lighting.

Wearing white clothing. While not technically prohibited, white clothing against a white background makes it hard for the system to distinguish your outline. Dark clothing creates better contrast.

Can I take the Aadhaar photo with my phone?
Yes. Any phone with a decent camera works — even a budget smartphone shoots at 8+ megapixels, which is far more than needed for an identity photo. Use the rear camera, not the selfie camera. Stand against a white wall in natural light. The photo needs to be cropped to 35 × 45 mm and compressed to under 100 KB before uploading.

What if the background in my photo isn't white?
Use the background remover to strip the existing background, then save the result as a JPG — the transparent area becomes white. Alternatively, retake the photo against a white wall or white sheet.

How do I get my photo below 100 KB?
Resize the image dimensions down first — a 500 × 645 px image at 35 × 45 mm at 300 DPI is more than enough quality for an identity photo. Then compress using the image compressor. Target 80–90 KB to leave some margin. If the image is still too large, reduce quality slightly — at this small size, the difference between quality 85 and 90 is invisible.

Can I wear glasses in an Aadhaar photo?
Yes, as long as there's no glare on the lenses and both eyes are clearly visible. Tinted glasses or sunglasses are not allowed. If your glasses cause glare in photos, tilt your head down very slightly or remove the glasses entirely.

Is the Aadhaar photo size the same as a visa photo?
Indian visa photos and Aadhaar photos share the 35 × 45 mm dimensions, but visa photos often have different background colour requirements depending on the destination country. The US visa photo, for example, is 2 × 2 inches on a white background — a completely different size.