How to Download E-Invoices from the GST Portal

There is no single place to download an e-invoice. The Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) that generated the IRN can show and print it for a short time; the GST portal offers a download of e-invoice data for issued and received invoices; and your billing software holds the signed copy it got back. This guide explains how to download an e-invoice from the GST portal and from the IRP, what format each gives you, and which one to use for suppliers, buyers and auditors.

Where e-invoices can be downloaded

Downloading from the e-invoice portal (IRP)

If you generated the IRN on an IRP — for most businesses the NIC portal at einvoice1.gst.gov.in — you can find and print it there. Menu names change from time to time, so treat these steps as the shape of the process rather than exact labels:

1. Log in to the IRP that generated the IRN. See e-invoice portal login if you have not registered there.
2. Open the e-invoice section and choose the option to search or print an e-invoice.
3. Search by IRN, by acknowledgement number, or by document type, number and date.
4. Check the invoice shown is the right one, then use the print option. The browser's print dialogue can save it as a PDF.

The printed copy carries the IRN, the acknowledgement number and date, and the signed QR code. It is a standard layout, not your own invoice design. Most businesses print their invoices from their billing software instead, which places the IRN and QR code on their own format.

Downloading from the GST portal

The GST portal (gst.gov.in) has a facility to download details of e-invoices reported against your GSTIN, both as supplier and as recipient. It sits under the Services menu after login; the exact sub-menu has moved between versions of the portal, so look for the e-invoice download option there. The general steps:

1. Log in to the GST portal with your GSTIN credentials.
2. Open the e-invoice download facility from the Services menu.
3. Select the financial year and period.
4. Choose whether you want e-invoices issued by you or received by you.
5. Generate the file. Large requests can take a while to prepare; return to the same page to download the file when it is ready.

Because this data comes from the GST system rather than the IRP, it is the better route for older periods and for reconciling your books against what was reported. For the supplier, the same data also appears in the auto-populated tables of GSTR-1; the GSTR-1 guide covers how to review it before filing.

JSON, PDF or Excel: what each source gives you

People searching for an e-invoice PDF download are often surprised that the GST portal does not produce one. The formats serve different purposes:

• Signed JSON — the invoice data as registered, with the IRN and the IRP's digital signature. This is the authoritative record, and what your software receives when the IRN is generated.
• Data file from the GST portal — invoice-level details for a period, suitable for reconciliation and review in a spreadsheet or your accounting system.
• Printable copy — a human-readable invoice with the QR code, from the IRP's print option or your billing software, saved as PDF if you need one.

A PDF is a convenience, not the legal record. What makes it an e-invoice is the IRN and the signed QR code, which anyone can scan to confirm registration; see e-invoice QR code verification.

Downloading e-invoices you received

A buyer cannot print a supplier's invoice from the supplier's IRP account. What the buyer can do is:

• use the GST portal's e-invoice download, choosing invoices received, to get the details of every e-invoice reported against their GSTIN;
• check the same invoices in GSTR-2B and act on them in the Invoice Management System — see GSTR-2B and IMS;
• ask the supplier for the printed invoice or the signed JSON, and verify the QR code on it.

If an invoice from a supplier who should be e-invoicing does not appear, it may never have been registered. Whether the supplier is above the threshold is covered in the e-invoicing threshold. Confirming the supplier's GSTIN is active is the other half of the check.

Downloading at scale

Portal downloads work for a month's review. For daily volumes, or for checking hundreds of IRNs, it is simpler to query the status of each IRN from your own system. The IRN status API returns whether an IRN is active or cancelled, and checking e-invoice status in bulk shows how to run a whole list at once. If an invoice turns out to be wrong within the first 24 hours, see how to cancel an e-invoice.

Frequently asked questions