How to Find, Save and Share Issued Documents in DigiLocker

What made me look this up

I wanted to understand what DigiLocker actually means when it says a document is “issued”. I was also curious about what happens when I upload a scanned file myself, and whether both kinds of documents have the same standing.

I have not treated this as a record of personal use. This is my note from reading DigiLocker’s current official material, particularly its Ask Our Experts PDF and FAQ.

Key takeaway: issued and uploaded are different

DigiLocker describes an Issued Document as an electronic document made available by a government department or another issuer connected to the system. It comes from the original data source, and DigiLocker stores its URI, or link, under Issued Documents.

An Uploaded Document is a file that the account holder has placed in DigiLocker Drive. It may be assigned a document type and shared, but that does not turn an ordinary uploaded copy into an issuer-provided document.

What I am checking	Issued Document	Self-uploaded file
Where it comes from	An issuer’s original data source	The account holder
Where DigiLocker identifies it	Issued Documents	DigiLocker Drive or uploaded documents
What is saved	The issuer-generated URI or link	The uploaded file
How I would describe it	A document supplied through the issuer connection	A personal copy stored by the user

DigiLocker’s About page says documents issued through DigiLocker are deemed at par with original physical documents under Rule 9A of the applicable Digital Locker rules. I would not extend that statement to a self-uploaded scan merely because it is stored in the same account.

My decision order for finding an issued document

Rather than assuming that every certificate or record must be available, I would check these conditions in order:

1. Has the issuer made the record available? The FAQ says Browse Documents lists departments and agencies registered as issuers. For educational records, the official PDF repeatedly notes that availability depends on the authorised board, university or institution providing its data. A physical document can therefore exist even when its issued version is unavailable in DigiLocker.
2. Is Aadhaar eKYC complete? The Ask Our Experts PDF states that Aadhaar eKYC is mandatory for fetching documents into a DigiLocker account.
3. Does the name match? The same PDF says the name on the document must match the name on Aadhaar. If the names do not match, the document cannot be fetched.
4. Which record needs correction? DigiLocker’s guidance is to update Aadhaar when that record needs correction, or contact the issuing board, university or institution when its record needs to be aligned with Aadhaar.
5. Can the document now be fetched from the issuer? When an available record is fetched, its issuer-generated URI is saved under Issued Documents. That is the point at which I would regard it as an issued DigiLocker record rather than an uploaded copy.

This order matters because uploading a scan does not solve an issuer-availability, eKYC or name-matching problem. It only stores a user-provided file.

How saving works in this context

“Save” can be slightly misleading here. According to the FAQ, an issued e-document has a URI generated by the issuing department. That URI points to the document held in the relevant repository and appears in the account’s Issued Documents section after fetching.

I would therefore distinguish between:

• saving an issued record in DigiLocker, where its issuer-generated URI is placed in Issued Documents; and
• uploading a file to DigiLocker Drive, where I supply the file myself.

They may both be accessible through DigiLocker, but their origin is not the same.

How I would approach sharing

DigiLocker’s policy says an account holder may share uploaded documents or document URIs with individuals or organisations at their own accord and with express consent. DigiLocker also describes its service as enabling consent-based digital document exchange.

Before sharing, my checklist would be:

• confirm whether the item is under Issued Documents or is a self-uploaded file;
• verify that I selected the intended record;
• check who is requesting it and for what stated purpose; and
• provide consent only for the document I mean to share.

The important wording is still “issued” versus “uploaded”. Sharing an uploaded copy does not give it the same provenance as a digitally issued record.

What I looked up next

The point I found most useful was why an apparently valid document might not appear. DigiLocker’s official answers do not promise universal availability. The issuer must have supplied the relevant data, Aadhaar eKYC must be completed for fetching, and the document name must match the Aadhaar name.

So my short version is: check the issuer first, then eKYC, then the exact name match, and only then try to fetch the issued record. If the issuer has not supplied it, uploading my own copy may help me store that file, but it does not create an issuer-generated DigiLocker document.