Keeping your wallet secure is a crucial compotent to crypto and wallet security. Here, we'll go over best practices for ensuring your wallets' are backed up and secure!
To Recap:
We covered in our Get Started with Rainbow article the beginning setup of backing up your wallet. A wallet is permanent, and it's not like a login account to a traditional website like Facebook or Google. If you don't back up your wallet, then there is no way to recover it.
Your keys = Your coins, but that also mean that you need to back it up safely.
📌 It’s highly recommended that you ensure this process is throughly completed and recapped before uninstalling the extension or downloading the extension on a separate device.
Backing Up a Brand New Wallet:
To start, when you initially download the extension and create your new wallet, you'll be shown your secret phrase. You'll want to click "Reveal your Recovery Phrase".
From here, you'll want to securely and safely store your secret phrase.
🌟 We recommend manually writing down your phrase on a piece of paper or other physical object. The number one rule is to make sure your secret phrase is secure in a separate location.
👉 Also ensure that you write down your phrase/words exactly in their specific order with one space in between each word. No additional characters are needed.
Then, after successfully noting your secret, you'll verify that your phrase is accurate before proceeding forward with your wallet. A prompt will appear asking you to verify the 4th, 8th, and 12th words of your phrase.
Once selected, you'll then be prompted to create a secure password to lock your wallet and prompt an easy locking/unlocking function when you use the extension.
👉 Note that there is no way to recover your password. This is crucial to keep track on what your password and secret phrase is! If you forget your password and do not have your secret phrase, there is no way to recover your wallet.
Accessing Your Phrase After Creating a Wallet:
Once you create a wallet, you can access your phrase at any time.
You'll start by clicking the 3 dots in the upper right hand corner and selecting ⚙️ Settings
From here, you'll then select the Wallets & Keys option
Phrases in Wallet Groups:
Next, you'll click on the Wallet Group that holds this wallet and it's phrase where you'll then click the View Recovery Phrase option.
🚨 It's important to note that if you have multiple wallet groups (aka multiple phrases imported), you'll want to ensure that you're following the steps below on each wallet group you have in your extension. Backing up one phrase from one group will not cover any additional wallet groups. So making sure all of your phrases are secure is vital!
Before proceeding forward, it's worth it to go over some of the best safety practices when viewing/accessing your phrase:
⚠️ Never share your Secret Recovery Phrase or enter it into any apps.
❌ Make sure nobody can view your screen when viewing your Secret Recovery Phrase.
🔓 Anyone with your Secret Recovery Phrase can access your entire wallet.
ℹ️ Rainbow Support will never ask you for your Secret Recovery Phrase.
Once that information is reviewed, you'll then be prompted to re-enter your password and view your secret phrase details.
If for some reason you initially did NOT write down your phrase when creating your wallet, now is the time to do so!
And that's it! If you have your phrase secure, your wallet is successfully backed up! It's good practice to consistently ensure you have your wallet's secret phrase written down and secure.
If you have any questions, connect with our support team at [email protected]