Keys and seed phrases: how to back up your crypto wallet

Last updated November 11, 2026

Crypto doesn’t live in your wallet app. It lives on a blockchain, and your wallet holds the key that proves it’s yours. Lose the key and the coins are stuck forever. Leak the key and someone else can take them.

What a seed phrase is

When you create a wallet, it shows you 12 or 24 words picked from a standard list of 2,048 (called BIP-39). Those words, in order, can regenerate every private key in the wallet. If your phone breaks, you type them into a new wallet and everything comes back.

How to back it up

1. Write the words on paper, numbered, in order. Check each one twice.
2. Store it somewhere private, safe from fire and water. Many people keep a second copy in a different location.
3. For larger amounts, consider a steel backup plate, which survives fire and floods.
4. Test your backup: restore the wallet on a second device with a small amount before relying on it.

What not to do

• Don’t screenshot it or store it in notes, email or cloud drives.
• Don’t type it into any website, ever.
• Don’t split it into halves “for safety.” That makes it easier to guess.

Seed phrase vs. password

A password logs you into an account that someone else runs, and they can reset it. A seed phrase is the account. There’s no reset button and no company to call.