Seed phrase backups: the restore test most people skip

A backup you have never restored from is a hope, not a backup. Here is a procedure that proves yours works before there is money on it. What the words are A BIP39 seed is 12 or 24 words from a fixed list of 2,048. The last word carries a checksum, so a wallet will usually reject a phrase with one wrong word. Usually is not always: a swapped word can occasionally pass the checksum and restore a different, empty wallet. The spec: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki The procedure 1. Set up the wallet and write the words down by hand. No photo, no cloud note, no password manager on a networked machine. 2. Before funding it, write down the first receive address and the wallet fingerprint (most hardware wallets show a master key fingerprint). 3. Wipe the device, or use a second wallet, and restore from your written words alone. 4. Compare: the first receive address and the fingerprint must match exactly. If they do, the backup is good. 5. Only now send funds, and start with a small amount you then spend back out. Storage - Paper burns and floods. Stamped or engraved steel survives both. - Two copies in two places protect against a single fire or theft. More copies mean more places it can be found. - Write which wallet, which derivation (most modern wallets use BIP84 native segwit for Bitcoin), and whether there is a passphrase, but never the passphrase itself on the same sheet. The common failure modes - Words written out of order. - Ambiguous handwriting: the first four letters of every BIP39 word are unique, so writing the first four in block capitals is enough and less error-prone. - A passphrase that was set and forgotten. See the passphrase thread on this board. https://bitcoin.org/en/secure-your-wallet