Check Your Backup
A recovery phrase you have never checked is a piece of paper you only believe is a backup. A word written as flat instead of float, two words swapped, or a letter you can’t read later: mistakes like these stay hidden until the day you need the backup.
Your KeepKey can check the paper against the wallet on the device, without wiping anything. Do it before you send any meaningful amount, and again whenever you’re unsure.
Never test a backup by wiping
Don’t wipe a funded device to see if the words restore it. If the paper is wrong, the wipe has deleted the only working copy of your wallet. The check below compares the paper with the wallet while the wallet stays on the device.
How to check it
- Connect your KeepKey and open KeepKey Desktop.
- Open Settings and choose Verify Seed.
- Pick your word count (12, 18 or 24) and click Verify.
- Enter each word from your paper, not from memory, using the scrambled entry on the device. Your computer only ever sees scrambled letters.
- The device compares your words with the wallet and shows the result on its own screen.
What the result means
| Device says | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The seed is valid and MATCHES the one in the device | Your paper is correct. It will restore this wallet. |
| The seed is valid, but DOES NOT MATCH the one in the device | The words form a real phrase, but for a different wallet. Check you have the right paper. |
| The seed is INVALID, and DOES NOT MATCH the one in the device | A word is wrong, misspelled or out of order. Every word can be a real word and the phrase can still fail: the last word is a checksum. |
If it doesn’t match, nothing is lost: the wallet is still on the device, so you can try again. Check the word order (swapped neighbours are the most common mistake) and unclear handwriting (l/1, rn/m), and look each word up in the Recovery Word List.
If your paper still won’t match, the backup is wrong, and the device holds the only working copy of your wallet.
- The wallet holds funds: don’t wipe the device. Contact KeepKey support before you change anything.
- The wallet has no funds yet: create a new wallet with new words, and check them. See Verify Your Recovery Phrase.
Keep it offline
The check happens on the KeepKey. Never type your recovery words into a website, an app, a text field or an emulator to “test” them. Anything that asks for your words that way is trying to steal them. See Staying Safe.
Related
- Your Recovery Phrase: what the words are, and how to store them
- Verify Your Recovery Phrase: the check during setup, with every screen
- Recovery Phrase: storing the words and restoring a wallet