Recovery
Lost your computer or your browser? Approve the new one from a browser you still use, with no wait. Lost every browser? Sign in, prove it's you with your recovery passkey, Google Drive backup or Recovery Kit, and your wallet comes back after a 72-hour safety wait. No seed phrase needed.
How it works
When you protect your wallet, it is split into three parts. Any two rebuild it, and only on your device.
| Part | Where it is |
|---|---|
| 1 | Each of your browsers, inside your encrypted wallet |
| 2 | OnWallet ID, encrypted. Useless on its own |
| 3 | Your recovery passkey, your Google Drive backup or your Recovery Kit, each locked so that only you can use it |
Part 2 is released to a new browser only after you sign in with every step and a 72-hour wait has passed, or straight away when a browser you already use approves it.
Ways to get your wallet back
| Way | What you need | Wait |
|---|---|---|
| Approve from a browser you already use | That browser, unlocked, and your sign-in. You type a number from the new browser on the old one, then a code from the old one on the new one. | None |
| Recovery passkey | Your sign-in and the passkey, from your password manager | 72 hours |
| Google Drive backup | Your sign-in and the Google account that holds the backup | 72 hours |
| Recovery Kit (advanced) | Your sign-in, the file and its recovery code | 72 hours |
| Your 24 words | Your sign-in, and the wallet restored from its words in this browser (see below) | 72 hours |
On a new browser
- Install OnWallet and choose to recover.
- Sign in with your email code or Google, and your authenticator code, all inside the extension.
- Choose Approve from a browser you already use, if you have one. Otherwise choose your recovery passkey, Google Drive backup or Recovery Kit.
- Without a browser to approve it, wait 72 hours. Every such recovery waits the same 72 hours, and nobody can shorten it. Your email and your other browsers are told when it starts, after 24 hours, and 1 hour before the wallet is released.
- The new browser rebuilds the wallet and sets up its backups again.
Restored your wallet from its 24 words?
A wallet restored from its 24 words is not connected to your OnWallet ID at first. Reconnect it: on Home, choose Protect this wallet, then Reconnect it, and sign in with the same Google account or email and your authenticator app. Then either:
- Approve it from a browser you already use, with no wait. The wallet in this browser, and its password, stay as they are; it only becomes protected again.
- Or let your 24 words reconnect it, after 72 hours with alerts. This works when your wallet has "Recovery with your 24 words" on. It is on by default for a wallet protected with OnWallet ID; you can turn it off in Settings, then OnWallet ID, then Recovery.
Your 24 words never replace a passkey, a Google Drive backup or a Recovery Kit: a wallet always keeps one of those.
If you did not start it
A recovery needs your sign-in and one of your ways to recover, so a surprise one means someone has both. If it was opened with your 24 words, someone has your words: move your funds to a new wallet now. Act at once.
- Protect my funds, on a device where your wallet is set up, moves everything to a new wallet made on that device before the recovery can finish.
- Pause, from the link in the email or from any of your devices, adds 7 days to the wait, once. The email link can only pause: it cannot approve anything, and the page it opens never asks you to sign in.
- Stop needs a device where your wallet is set up and all your sign-in steps. It cancels the recovery, removes the browser that opened it, and blocks new devices from opening another recovery for 7 days. Stopping a recovery protects your OnWallet ID, not funds someone can already reach with your words.
OnWallet never asks for codes on a website. Type email and authenticator codes only inside the extension.
Your 24 words
Your wallet also has 24 recovery words. You do not have to keep them, but you can: go to Settings and enter your password to see them. They restore the wallet in OnWallet or in other wallets that use the standard path, without any wait. Anyone who has them can take the wallet, so keep them private.
A wallet you choose not to protect with OnWallet ID can be restored only with its 24 words.