# Back up your mnemonic phrase

> Write your mnemonic phrase on paper as soon as you create a wallet, check it, and keep it offline. FxWallet can't recover it for you.

URL: https://docs.fxwallet.com/get-started/back-up-your-mnemonic
Last reviewed: 25 September 2026

Write your mnemonic phrase on paper as soon as you create a wallet, and keep it somewhere safe and offline. It's the only way to get your wallet back on a new phone or after a reset, and FxWallet can't recover it for you. [Mnemonic phrase vs private key](https://docs.fxwallet.com/security-and-scams/mnemonic-vs-private-key) explains what it is.

> **Danger**
>
> Anyone who sees your mnemonic phrase can take everything in the wallet. Back it up where no one can watch, and never type it into a website or a chat, or give it to anyone, including someone who says they're from FxWallet support.

## Back up a wallet

1. Go to **Me** → **Wallet Management** and select the wallet. A wallet you haven't backed up yet is marked **Not Backed Up**.
2. Tap **Mnemonic Back up**, and confirm it's you with Face ID, your fingerprint or your passcode.
3. Tap the eye icon to show the words, and write them down on paper, in order. The words and the check that follows close after 2 minutes: if that happens, tap **Mnemonic Back up** again.
4. Confirm the backup: on **Verify Mnemonic**, FxWallet asks for a few of the words by their number. For each one, tap the word at that number in your list, then tap **Confirm**.

## Store it safely

- Keep it on paper, or on a metal backup plate that survives fire and water, somewhere only you can reach. A second copy in another safe place protects you if one is lost.
- Never keep it as a screenshot, a photo, or a note or file on your phone or computer, in cloud storage, in an email or in a chat.
- Check every word and its order against the app. With one wrong or missing word, the backup won't restore the wallet.

## If you lose your written phrase

Back it up again now, while FxWallet still opens: follow [Back up a wallet](https://docs.fxwallet.com/get-started/back-up-your-mnemonic#back-up-a-wallet) to show the words, and write them down again. If someone could have found or seen the lost copy, that isn't enough: create a new wallet, back up its phrase, and move your assets to it. See [What to do if your wallet is compromised](https://docs.fxwallet.com/security-and-scams/if-your-wallet-is-compromised). Don't wait: once the phone is lost or FxWallet is reset, the phrase can't be shown again.

## Back up a private key

A wallet you imported with a private key has no mnemonic phrase: back up its private key instead. Go to **Me** → **Wallet Management**, select the wallet, tap the account, then tap **View Private Key**. Keep it as carefully as a mnemonic phrase. Some networks don't let you view the private key.

A private key controls one account's address only, so it can't restore the wallet's other accounts. For a wallet that has a mnemonic phrase, back up the phrase.

## Plan for your family

Nobody, including FxWallet, can restore your wallet without its mnemonic phrase or private key. If you want your family to reach your crypto one day, plan it now, and keep the phrase private meanwhile:

- Keep a list of your wallets, and of the networks and assets in them, without the phrase.
- Keep the phrase backup somewhere safe, and say how to reach it in your will or through a lawyer you trust. Don't write the phrase itself in the will.
- Tell your family that FxWallet support can't get them into the wallet, and that anyone who asks them for the phrase in order to "help" is a scammer.