Wallet recovery: how to regain access to your crypto

Whether you can get your crypto back depends on one thing above all: do you still have the seed phrase (or the account login, for an exchange)? This guide walks through every common situation, shows you how to restore a wallet safely, and explains how to spot the recovery scams that target people at their most stressed.

Start here: breathe, then identify your situation

Losing access to crypto feels urgent, and that feeling is exactly what scammers exploit. Before you search for help or answer any message, take a few minutes to work out which situation you are actually in.

The key question is who holds the keys. With a self-custody wallet (a phone app, browser extension or hardware wallet), you hold the private keys and the seed phrase is your master backup. With a custodial account at an exchange, the company holds the keys and recovery runs through its official support process.

The common scenarios, and what is realistic

Here is an honest overview of what is usually recoverable. Details follow below.

Lost, broken or stolen device, but you have the seed phrase

This is the most fixable situation. Your crypto lives on the blockchain, not on the phone or hardware wallet. The seed phrase recreates the same keys on any compatible wallet, so you can restore on a new device using the steps in the next section.

If the device was stolen and you suspect someone could unlock it, restore to a new wallet promptly and consider moving your funds to a brand-new seed phrase.

Forgotten PIN or password

Wallet PINs and app passwords protect the device, not the funds. Most hardware wallets wipe themselves after several wrong PIN attempts, which sounds alarming but is a safety feature. Once the device is reset, you restore from your seed phrase and set a new PIN.

The exception is an older encrypted wallet file, such as a desktop wallet backup, where the password is needed to decrypt the keys. If you have no seed phrase for it, recovery means trying your likely password variations offline, which is slow and only works if you remember roughly what you used.

Lost seed phrase

If your wallet still opens, you are in luck. Create a brand-new wallet, write down its new seed phrase carefully, and send your funds to it. Some wallets also let you view the existing phrase after entering your PIN.

If both the phrase and every working device are gone, the funds are almost certainly unreachable. No one can work backward from a wallet address to the keys. That is the security design that protects everyone.

Partial or misordered seed phrase

Under the BIP-39 standard most wallets use, each word comes from a fixed list of 2,048 words, and the final word contains a built-in checksum. That checksum means a wallet will often reject a phrase with a typo or a swapped word, which can help you spot mistakes.

Start simple: check spelling against the official word list, look for letters that are easy to misread, and confirm the word count (usually 12 or 24). If one word is truly missing, the number of possibilities is small enough that open-source tools can test them, but only run such software on an offline computer you trust, and never paste your words into a website.

Passphrase or “25th word” confusion

Some wallets let you add an optional passphrase on top of the seed phrase. Each different passphrase, even one character off, opens a completely different, valid-looking wallet. There is no error message for a wrong passphrase. You just see an empty wallet.

If your restored wallet looks empty, ask yourself whether you ever set a passphrase, and try the exact spelling, capitalization and spacing you used.

Wrong derivation path or address type

A single seed phrase can generate many accounts and address formats. The route a wallet uses to find them is called a derivation path. If your new wallet uses a different default than your old one, your funds are still there; the new app simply is not looking in the right place. See the derivation path section below.

Locked out of an exchange account

For custodial accounts, use only the exchange's official website or app, and follow its account recovery flow. Expect to verify your identity with a government ID and possibly a selfie. Type the exchange's address yourself or use a saved bookmark.

Inherited crypto or a deceased holder

For exchange accounts, the executor usually contacts the exchange's estate or executor team with documents such as a death certificate and probate papers. Coinbase, for example, has a dedicated executor services form.

Self-custody is harder. Without the seed phrase or an unlocked device, heirs usually cannot access the funds. Search the person's papers, safe deposit box and password manager for a written phrase or metal backup, and work with the estate's attorney rather than anyone who reaches out offering to “unlock” the wallet.

Hacked or drained wallet

Blockchain transactions are final. Once funds leave your wallet, nobody can press undo. Partial recovery sometimes happens when stolen funds reach a regulated exchange or a stablecoin issuer that can freeze them, usually after a law enforcement request, which is why fast reporting matters.

If your seed phrase was exposed, treat that wallet as permanently unsafe. Create a new wallet on a clean device and move anything that remains. If the theft came through a malicious token approval instead, read our guide to phishing and wallet drainers to revoke it.

How to restore a wallet with your seed phrase, step by step

1. Use a device you trust. A fully updated phone or computer, or a genuine hardware wallet bought directly from the manufacturer or an authorized seller.
2. Get the wallet software from the official source. Use the official app store listing or type the maker's web address yourself. Search ads and lookalike apps are a common trap.
3. Choose “restore” or “import,” never “create.” The wording varies, but you want the option that uses an existing recovery phrase.
4. Enter your words offline and in private. Type them only into the wallet app or hardware device itself. Never into a website, chat, email, form or cloud note.
5. Add the passphrase if you used one. Enter it exactly.
6. Check the balance and history. Compare addresses with an old receipt or a block explorer. If something is missing, check the network, address type and derivation path before panicking.
7. Re-secure everything. Set a new PIN, confirm your backup is stored safely, and if the old device was stolen, consider moving to a fresh seed phrase.

How to check derivation paths

Derivation paths look like m/84'/0'/0'. You do not need to understand the math, just which path your old wallet used. Common defaults include:

• Bitcoin legacy (addresses starting with 1): m/44'/0'/0'
• Bitcoin nested SegWit (addresses starting with 3): m/49'/0'/0'
• Bitcoin native SegWit (addresses starting with bc1q): m/84'/0'/0'
• Bitcoin Taproot (addresses starting with bc1p): m/86'/0'/0'
• Ethereum and most EVM networks: commonly m/44'/60'/0'/0/0, though some wallets count accounts differently

To troubleshoot:

1. Find an old address you received funds to, from an email receipt, exchange withdrawal history or old screenshot.
2. Note its format (1, 3, bc1q, bc1p or 0x) to narrow down the address type.
3. Look up your original wallet on WalletsRecovery.org, a community-maintained table of the paths many wallets use.
4. In your new wallet's advanced settings, choose the matching address type or path, or add more accounts, until that old address appears.

The BIP-44 specification also tells wallets to stop looking after 20 unused addresses in a row, so if you generated many unused addresses, you may need to raise the “gap limit” in advanced settings.

When professional help is legitimate, and how to vet it

Real help does exist, but it is narrower than many ads suggest. Legitimate options include an estate attorney for inheritance, a lawyer pursuing civil action, licensed investigators who trace funds for law enforcement or courts, and technicians who help recover passwords for encrypted wallet files you can prove you own.

Use these rules before you trust anyone:

• Never share your seed phrase or private keys. Not for “verification,” not for “scanning,” not ever.
• You find them, not the other way around. Unsolicited DMs, comments, emails or calls offering recovery are a classic scam pattern.
• No upfront “recovery fees” to strangers. The FTC says that someone who contacts you and asks for an upfront fee to get your money back is a scammer.
• Verify identity and licenses independently. For a lawyer, check the state bar's directory and call the firm using a number you find yourself.
• Get a written agreement. It should explain the work, the fees, what happens if nothing is recovered, and who your contact is.
• Be skeptical of guarantees. No one can promise to reverse blockchain transactions or “hack back” funds.

The recovery scam epidemic

People who have already lost money are prime targets for a second scam. The FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report counted 10,516 recovery scam complaints with about $1.4 billion in reported losses, a figure the FBI notes can include money lost in the original scam. People 60 and older reported the largest share.

The FBI has warned about fake law firms that use real lawyers' names, claim partnerships with government agencies, and know exact details of a victim's earlier losses. The FBI says no law firm is an officially authorized partner of a US government agency. The IC3 has also warned of impersonators posing as IC3 staff; the real IC3 will never contact you directly to ask for money.

The FTC explains that scammers buy and trade lists of people who have already been scammed, then call the upfront payment a “retainer,” “processing fee” or “tax.” Learn the full pattern in our guide to recovery scams.

How to report theft or fraud

Reporting rarely brings money back on its own, but it creates the records that investigators use to trace and sometimes freeze funds. Report even if you feel embarrassed.

• FBI IC3: file at ic3.gov with transaction IDs, wallet addresses, dates, amounts and how you were contacted.
• FTC: report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• Local police: a police report number can help with banks, exchanges and taxes.
• Exchanges involved: contact the official support of any exchange you sent from or where the funds landed, and ask about freezing them.
• Chainabuse: add the scam address at Chainabuse, a public scam reporting database run by TRM Labs, to warn others.

If you are 60 or older and need help filing an IC3 complaint, the DOJ Elder Justice Hotline is 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).

Prevention checklist

• Write your seed phrase on paper or metal, in order, and check the spelling against the BIP-39 word list.
• Store at least one backup in a separate safe location. Our seed storage comparisons cover the options.
• Never photograph your phrase or store it in email, cloud notes or a chat app.
• If you use a passphrase, back it up separately from the seed phrase.
• Record which wallet app, address type and derivation path you use.
• Do a practice restore with a small amount so you know the process works.
• Turn on app-based two-factor authentication for exchange accounts.
• Leave clear instructions for your estate about where backups are, without writing the phrase into a will that becomes public.
• Read our seed phrase guide and wallets explainer to understand what you are protecting.

Updated October 4, 2026 by The Crypto Guide editorial team. Educational content, not financial, legal or tax advice. Spot an error? Request a correction.