Recovery Phrase

A recovery phrase is the sequence of words a wallet gives you at setup that can restore full access to your funds on any compatible device; it is another name for a seed phrase. The words encode the master secret from which all of the wallet's private keys are mathematically derived, so the phrase alone is sufficient to rebuild the wallet from nothing.

Suppose your phone with a mobile wallet is stolen. Because your coins exist on the blockchain rather than on the phone, you can install a wallet app on a new phone, choose the restore option, and enter your 12 or 24 words; your balances and addresses reappear exactly as before. The thief, meanwhile, cannot reach the funds if the app was protected and the phrase was not stored on the phone.

The security implication cuts both ways: whoever holds the phrase holds the money. Legitimate wallets and support staff never ask for it, so any website, pop-up, or direct message requesting your recovery phrase is an attempted theft. A common misconception is that storing the phrase in a cloud note or email is a reasonable backup; those accounts are routinely compromised, and a plain-text phrase there converts an email breach into a total loss. Paper or metal, stored securely offline, remains the standard advice.