You can use a digital ID at TSA airport checkpoints in more than 250 locations across the United States, provided your state issues a compatible mobile driver’s license or digital ID and you still bring your physical REAL ID as a backup.1Transportation Security Administration. Digital Identity and Facial Comparison Technology The digital version lives in an app like Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet, or a state-issued app, and you present it by scanning a QR code or tapping your phone on a reader at the podium.
States With a Compatible Digital ID
Your state has to offer one before you can use it, and the mobile credential has to be based on a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card. As of mid-2026, 21 states and territories qualify:2Transportation Security Administration. Participating States and Eligible Digital IDs
- Alaska: Alaska Mobile ID
- Arizona: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet
- Arkansas: Arkansas Mobile ID, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet
- California: California DMV Wallet App, Apple Wallet, Google Wallet
- Colorado: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet
- Georgia: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet
- Hawaii: Apple Wallet
- Illinois: Apple Wallet
- Iowa: Iowa Mobile ID, Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet
- Kentucky: KY Mobile ID
- Louisiana: LA Wallet
- Maryland: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet
- Montana: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet
- New Mexico: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet
- New York: NY MiD app
- North Dakota: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet
- Ohio: Apple Wallet
- Puerto Rico: PR Móvil, Apple Wallet, Google Wallet
- Utah: GET Mobile App
- Virginia: VA MiD app
- West Virginia: WV MiD app, Apple Wallet, Samsung Wallet
If your state isn’t on the list, there’s a workaround for domestic flights: a U.S. passport stored in Apple Wallet as an ID pass, or in Google Wallet as a Clear ID.2Transportation Security Administration. Participating States and Eligible Digital IDs
Adding a Digital ID to Your Phone
You need a recent smartphone and your physical REAL ID-compliant license or identification card. In Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, or Samsung Wallet, open the app and choose to add an ID. The app walks you through scanning the front and back of your card with the phone’s camera, capturing security features like holograms and barcodes. Then it runs a facial scan, usually a short series of head movements, to confirm you’re a live person rather than a photo held up to the lens. The app compares that selfie against the picture on your license and verifies the document against government records.1Transportation Security Administration. Digital Identity and Facial Comparison Technology
State-run apps such as LA Wallet or the California DMV Wallet App follow similar steps, though some pull your data directly from DMV records rather than asking you to scan the card. Most states don’t charge anything to add a digital version of a license you already have.
One detail matters: the name, date of birth, and other fields in the digital credential have to match your physical ID exactly. A mismatch will fail at the checkpoint.
Using It at the Checkpoint
At a supported airport, walk up to the TSA podium and either scan the QR code shown by the reader with your wallet app or tap your phone on the digital ID reader. You keep hold of your phone the whole time. The system reads your encrypted credential, authenticates the document, and checks your flight reservation in near real-time.3Transportation Security Administration. Credential Authentication Technology The verification can complete even without an active internet connection on your phone.4Department of Homeland Security. Next Generation Identity Mobile Drivers License
TSA sees only the fields needed to verify you, not everything sitting in your wallet app. For the standard one-to-one match used in the Digital ID program, TSA does not retain your live photo or the reference photo after the check is complete.5National Archives. Records Schedule DAA-0560-2021-0001 Biometric and Biographic Passenger Screening Records
Bring Your Physical ID Anyway
This is the part travelers get wrong. TSA still requires every passenger to carry an acceptable physical ID even when using a digital one. If the digital credential can’t be verified for any reason, you have to present the physical card to get through.6Transportation Security Administration. Do I Need to Bring My Physical ID With Me to the Airport A dead battery, a glitchy app, or a reader that’s down all send you back to standard verification, and federal aviation security regulations require you to produce an identity document on request.7eCFR. 49 CFR Part 1540 – Civil Aviation Security General Rules
Since May 7, 2025, that physical ID must also be REAL ID-compliant for domestic flights. An older standard license won’t get you through a TSA checkpoint, regardless of whether you also have a digital version.8Transportation Security Administration. REAL ID
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID Is a Separate Program
The general Digital ID program is open to anyone whose state supports it. A different program, TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, uses facial comparison to verify you without pulling out any ID at all. It requires an active PreCheck membership and only works with six airlines: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. It’s rolling out to 65 airports by spring 2026.9Transportation Security Administration. TSA PreCheck Touchless ID
To use it, add your Known Traveler Number and a valid passport number to your profile with a participating airline, opt in through the profile settings or during check-in, and confirm the Touchless ID indicator shows on your mobile boarding pass. TSA recommends checking in and verifying that indicator at least 24 hours before your flight. If the indicator isn’t there, you can’t use the dedicated Touchless ID lane and will fall back to Digital ID scanning or a physical ID check.9Transportation Security Administration. TSA PreCheck Touchless ID
PreCheck membership itself costs between $76.75 and $85 depending on the enrollment provider and lasts five years.10Transportation Security Administration. TSA PreCheck
Opting Out of the Camera
Facial identification at TSA checkpoints is voluntary. If you don’t want a camera capturing your image, tell the officer you’re opting out, and you’ll go through standard manual identity verification instead, without penalty. You can also consent and then change your mind partway through the process. The opt-out right applies every time you travel, not just once.11Transportation Security Administration. Biometrics Technology