A recovery phrase is a series of words that serve as a key to access your crypto wallet and the tokens within. These phrases are generated when you create your wallet and cannot be reset.
Recovery Phrase Definition
Recovery phrases – also known as seed phrases or secret keys – are an automatically generated code of between 12-24 English words that provide access to a crypto wallet. When input correctly, a recovery phrase will allow you to access your wallet and the private keys within. They can also be used to restore access.
How Does A Recovery Phrase Work?
Recovery phrases work as a master key. When you have yours, you are able to access any assets you hold inside that wallet, even if you were to accidentally delete it. The phrases are generated and provided to users at the time they sign up for a wallet, and they are pulled together from a list of 2,048 common English words.
Why Do Crypto Wallets Use Recovery Phrases?
If you were to lose the phone or computer your wallet is installed on – or if you should have a device stolen – you still want to be able to access your crypto. Using your recovery phrase, you can restore the contents of that wallet on a new device. They also help to foster interoperability between wallets. If someone wants to switch to a new wallet, you can simply enter the phrase and your existing crypto will be accessible.
Where Can I Find My Recovery Phrase?
On most crypto wallets, your recovery phrase will be shown to you when you first make your account. You can also view it by going to your settings and selecting the recovery phrase option. On Leather, seed phrases are known as Secret Keys and are 24 words. You can view your Secret Key from within the Leather extension, but it’s important to note that you need to have existing access to your wallet in order to do so.
To find your Key on Leather, click on the menu button in the top-right corner of the extension tab and select “View Secret Key.” You will be prompted for your password. After entering it and clicking “Continue,” your key should appear.
Where To Store Your Recovery Phrase Safely?
It’s important to store your recovery phrase in a different location than where you access your wallet. For example, if you access your crypto wallet from the browser on your laptop, you should have a copy of your Secret Key elsewhere. This prevents you from losing your phrase should your laptop be stolen.
It’s also a good idea to store your key in a location that is hard for others to access, such as a safe. This cuts down on the number of unauthorized others who may come into contact with your recovery phrase. Ideally, each of your recovery phrases would be stored separately and would have redundancies in place to ensure access if something were to happen to any of the locations.
Many people choose to keep a physical copy of their seed phrase. This can be anything from a piece of paper to engraved objects. Others like to utilize third-party password managers, though it’s considered risky to store your passwords and phrases digitally. The Cryptocurrency Security Standard, or CCSS, provides guidelines for secure key storage that users can review.
What Happens If You Lose Your Recovery Phrase?
If you lose your recovery phrase, you may lose access to your crypto. When you do not have access to your Secret Key, any deleted or lost wallet is gone for good. Similarly, if someone steals your recovery phrase, they will be able to transfer your assets to a wallet you do not control.
As a self-custodied wallet, Leather does not store a record of its users’ Secret Keys. Users are responsible for recording and keeping track of their recovery phrases, and Leather cannot help you recover yours if it is lost. For this reason, it’s very important for users to think carefully about where and how they share their Secret Key. We do not recommend entering your seed phrase in any application beside Leather.
How To Recover Your Leather Wallet
If you do have access to your Secret Key, you will be able to restore access to your crypto even if you lose or delete your Leather wallet. You can sign into Leather and use your seed phrase to recover your assets. However, if you believe your recovery phrase has been compromised, you should migrate your crypto to a new wallet with a new seed phrase in order to protect it.
Difference Between a Recovery Phrase and a Private Key
In short, a private key controls one account within your crypto wallet, while your recovery phrase controls access to your wallet and all the keys within it. When you sign up for an account, a key pair – known as public and private keys – will be generated. These pairs work in tandem to operate your account, signing and executing transactions, among other things.
Recovery phrases are a little different. They work as a master key to the wallet that contains your various private keys. For example, imagine you have a house key and car key, and you keep them locked together in a safe. The house key is equivalent to a private key, granting you access to your house. Similarly, the car key is another private key, which grants access to your car. The password that unlocks the safe where you keep them is your recovery phrase. If someone has the password to open your safe, they would be able to take your keys and access both your house and car.
What is an Example of a 12-Word Seed Phrase?
Seed phrases may look like these:
guard hawk cushion print medal lizard lens elbow hollow frame visa zero
blame acid lady forum rice skill wagon pumpkin plate silly goat dial
garden latin diary rifle mango spy hawk flip wasp pudding chimney echo
Inputting these 12 words in any other order would fail to access the account.