Beyond Backups: How to Use Your 12-Word Recovery Phrase

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Your 12-word recovery phrase is, without a doubt, one of the most important wallet tools at your disposal. Knowing that, it’s no surprise we strongly recommend users write it down and store it safely before adding any funds to a new wallet. If you’ve already completed these backup steps, it’s equally important to have a solid understanding of how to use your 12-word phrase if you ever need to. Here, we’ll explain exactly that!

Understanding the recovery process

It’s incredibly important to complete the backup process before sending any funds to a newly created wallet but making a backup will only get you so far if you’re unsure of how to use it. To master the simple art of wallet recovery, give the process a test run to get the hang of it.

Why go through all of this? If you ever forget your password, your 12-word recovery phrase is the only way to restore your wallet. Without it, you will be permanently unable to access your funds.

My recovery phrase was exposed; what do I do now?

Your recovery phrase never changes, and under no circumstances should you ever share it with anyone. Your recovery phrase should be considered compromised in unfortunate situations including:

  • If you share it (with anyone)
  • When you notice unauthorized transaction activity in your wallet

Any situation that results in a high probability that your recovery phrase was visible to others warrants the urgent creation of an entirely new wallet. Your new wallet will also come with a brand new recovery phrase. Once you’ve completed the backup and security process, your new wallet is ready for takeoff! If you have any remaining funds in your compromised wallet, you’ll need to send them to your new wallet to keep them safe. If you need help with transitioning from a compromised wallet, reach out and we’ll be happy to guide you through it.

Bookmark your Blockchain wallet tools and resources

Now you’ve got your recovery phrase in tow and understand how the process works, but maybe you can’t quite remember where you need to go to use it. Our Login Help page has three tools that come in handy if you’re unable to access your wallet. In this case, you’ll want to click on the second option, Recover Funds.

Make sure your wallet and login help tools are an easy click away by adding them to your browser’s bookmarks or favorites. In Chrome, you can save these links to your Bookmarks Bar and rename them so you can always quickly identify which Blockchain landing page you’re looking for.

We hope this helps you put a wallet backup plan of action together. If you have other questions about backups, the recovery process, or any other login help tools, give us a shout @AskBlockchain or send your feedback and questions here.

Originally published at https://blockchain-blog.ghost.io on November 7, 2017.

Beyond Backups: How to Use Your 12-Word Recovery Phrase was originally published in @blockchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.