A forgotten number
Know your UAN: find a forgotten Universal Account Number
अपना यूएएन कैसे जानें
Last reviewed: 11 November 2026
A forgotten Universal Account Number is retrieved on the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s own member portal, using the service called Know Your UAN. The portal notice reviewed on 11 November 2026 still lists that service, alongside death-claim filing, even while it tells members that activation and fresh allotment have moved to UMANG. This page explains those official clues. It does not look the number up. The member portal is the place that does.
Where to retrieve it
Open the Unified Member Portal and use Know Your UAN there. The screen will ask for identity details so EPFO can match you to a record it already holds. Those details stay on that site. Copying the same questions onto any other domain, including this one, would just create a place for the number to be stolen. When the portal shows the UAN, save the e-UAN card or write the twelve digits down somewhere private, then go straight to activation if the number has never been activated.
Know Your UAN is a retrieval service. It is not allotment. If the portal says no UAN exists, the next official step is generation on UMANG, described on how to activate a UAN, not a second search on a private site. If it shows a number you do not recognise, check with the employer before generating another one. Two UANs are harder to unwind than one careful check.
Other official clues
| Clue | When it helps |
|---|---|
| Employer records and the electronic challan | The establishment files the monthly contribution against the UAN. Payroll or the HR desk can read it out. |
| SMS sent when the UAN was generated | PIB Release ID 2120326 says a new UAN is sent by SMS after face authentication succeeds. |
| e-UAN card | Downloadable from UMANG or the member portal after the number is activated. |
| Passbook, once you can sign in | The statement is tied to the UAN. This only helps if you already have the password and the number. |
| Old payslips | Some employers print the UAN next to the member ID. The member ID alone is not the UAN. The difference is explained on what a UAN is. |
The missed-call number 9966044425 and the SMS “EPFOHO” plus the UAN to 7738299899 are printed on the passbook login page as balance channels. They assume you already know the UAN and that your mobile is the registered one. They are not a search engine for a lost number.
What this site will not ask you for
There is no box on this website for a UAN, an Aadhaar number, a PAN, a bank account, a phone number, an OTP or a password. There is no “check status” button. The interest calculator asks for wages and dates. The withdrawal checklist asks for an estimated balance and a purpose. Neither one identifies you.
If a message, a search ad or a shop asks you to share the OTP from Know Your UAN, that is the opposite of the warning on the official passbook page: do not share Aadhaar, PAN, bank details or an OTP, and do not believe a caller who says EPFO wants a deposit. PIB Release ID 2136592 adds that the services are free. Retrieving your own number does not have a processing fee.
After you have the number
Three branches follow, and only one of them is right:
| Situation | Next official step |
|---|---|
| The number exists and has never been activated | UMANG, UAN Allotment and Activation, face authentication. Helpdesk 14470. |
| It is activated and you know the password | Sign in on the member portal, confirm KYC, open the passbook. |
| It is activated and the password is forgotten | The forgot-password link on the member portal. Not a new allotment. |
| You now have two numbers | De-link the wrong member ID and transfer the balance onto one UAN. Do not withdraw both. |
Activation and a password reset are different jobs. Generating a brand-new UAN because a password was forgotten creates the duplicate this page is trying to help you avoid. Once a single active UAN is in hand, the passbook is the way to see the balance, and the calculator is only a way to understand the ceiling and the interest. It will not display the passbook figure, because it does not know who you are.
Related pages
How to activate a UAN on the UMANG app
EPFO has stopped UAN activation and direct allotment on the member portal. Generate or activate your UAN on the UMANG app with Aadhaar face authentication.
UAN login on the official EPFO member portal
Log in on the official EPFO Unified Member Portal with your UAN and password. Reset a forgotten password only there. EPFO will not call you for an OTP.
EPF passbook: download it and check your balance
Open your official EPF passbook at passbook.epfindia.gov.in, or use EPFO’s missed-call and SMS channels. This guide never shows a live balance.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official Know Your UAN service?
It is on the Unified Member Portal at unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in. The portal notice reviewed on 11 November 2026 still lists Know Your UAN among portal services, even though activation and direct allotment on that portal have been discontinued. Use the service on that site. This website has no lookup box and will not accept a UAN, Aadhaar or mobile number.
What other official places show the number?
The e-UAN card downloaded from UMANG or the member portal after activation, the SMS that EPFO sends when a UAN is generated, the passbook once you can sign in, and the employer’s statutory records. The passbook page also describes an SMS of EPFOHO followed by the UAN to 7738299899, which is a balance channel for people who already know the number. It is not a way to discover a number you have lost.
What will this site not ask for?
A UAN, Aadhaar, PAN, bank account, phone number, OTP or password. Any page that asks for those in order to “find your UAN” or “check PF status” is not this guide and is not the official portal unless the address is the Unified Member Portal, the passbook host, UMANG or epfindia.gov.in.
I found the number but I cannot log in. What next?
If the UAN was never activated, activate it on UMANG with Aadhaar face authentication. If it was activated and the password is forgotten, use the forgot-password link on the member portal. Do not restart allotment and create a second UAN. Helpdesk 14470 is printed on the portal notice about activation.
Can the employer tell me the UAN?
Yes. The employer files contributions against it and should have it on the electronic challan and on your joining records. Asking the employer is a legitimate official clue. Paying a shop to retrieve the same number is not.