Home / Updates / Back up your seed on paper, then test a restore
Back up your seed on paper, then test a restore
Back up your seed phrase offline on paper and test a restore on a spare device before any serious amount moves into your wallet.
Written by John AlewineReviewed by the Crypto Guidance team
Published ยท Updated
Before any serious amount moves into a wallet you control, two things should already be done. The seed phrase is backed up offline, and you have tested a restore. This is the order I do it in with people, from the Moving Funds Safely checklist.
The steps
- Write the seed phrase on paper. Not a screenshot, not the cloud.
- Keep that paper offline.
- On a spare device, restore the wallet using only the paper copy.
- Move a serious amount only after the restore works.
A restore test tells you the paper backup actually works. Better to find a problem with it now, before a serious amount depends on it.
The rule
Never type your seed phrase into a website, and never read it to anyone who asks. That includes chat windows and AI chatbots. They are websites too.
If someone asks for your seed to "help," that is the red flag. The full checklist lives on the Moving Funds Safely page.