Use this article if:
- You have your Secret Recovery Phrase
- You want to import that Secret Recovery Phrase / wallet into MetaMask
Restore Secret Recovery Phrase to a new MetaMask install
- During setup from a fresh install of MetaMask, click 'Import Wallet'. On Mobile, this will read 'Import using Secret Recovery Phrase'.
- Enter your Secret Recovery Phrase and follow the prompts.
WARNING: Importing a Secret Recovery Phrase into MetaMask will ERASE all existing MetaMask data. In other words, if you are using one wallet in MetaMask, and you import another one, all data relating to the first wallet will be overwritten and no longer accessible.
In such cases, make sure you have your Secret Recovery Phrase and any private keys (from hardware wallets, external accounts) backed up, and your wallet will be safe.
In an existing MetaMask install, restore from the lock screen:
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Select 'Lock' in the top-right menu
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Click 'Import using Secret Recovery Phrase'
- Enter your 12-word Secret Recovery Phrase (all lower case, with spaces, and in the correct order) and a new password
- Click 'Restore'
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Firstly, you'll need to lock the app. To do this, tap the hamburger icon in the top left of the app, and then 'Lock' at the bottom:
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Look for the 'Reset wallet' link at the bottom of the Unlock screen, and tap it to proceed.
You'll then be presented with a warning message like the below. Make sure you're aware of the implications of resetting your wallet: if you don't have the correct Secret Recovery Phrase available, you won't be able to access your account again.
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Confirm you want to go ahead by typing the word 'delete' into the text field that appears after tapping 'I understand, continue'.
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Now your MetaMask app has essentially returned to the state it was in when you first downloaded it. On the 'Wallet setup' screen, tap 'Import using Secret Recovery Phrase':
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Now input your Secret Recovery Phrase, all lower case, in the correct order, and including spaces between words. Also, choose a new password.
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When you tap 'Import', you should be redirected to the confirmation page shown below, and you'll be able to access your wallet as normal.
What about restoring multiple accounts?
If you have multiple accounts created under one Secret Recovery Phrase, they will only be automatically restored in certain circumstances. Please note this does not apply to imported accounts or hardware wallets, which must always be manually re-added.
MetaMask will attempt to add your additional accounts where possible (assuming they were not imported) by checking your previous accounts in ascending order. Accounts are added if they have a non-zero balance of ETH on Ethereum mainnet. However, when it encounters an account with 0 ETH, this process ends, and any beyond that will not be added.
However, even if they aren't automatically added, you can easily get them back by re-adding accounts until you reach the one you're looking for. For each old account that you had in your original installation, you must add it by "creating" a new account.
If you do not see the addresses you are looking for, you either have the wrong Secret Recovery Phrase or have an external JSON or private key that you still need to reimport.
To restore and view tokens, please see this guide.
