About recovery phrases in Yoroi

Every time you create or restore a Yoroi wallet, you will be given or asked for a secret list of words that grants full access to your funds. This list of words can be called a recovery phrase, mnemonic phrase, backup phrase, or simply mnemonic. In Yoroi, this is called your recovery phrase.

What is a recovery phrase?

Your Yoroi recovery phrase is a human-readable backup of your wallet’s private keys, generated when you first create the wallet. Anyone who has this phrase can restore the wallet and control all assets in it.​

The recovery phrase is the only way to restore access to your funds if your device is lost, broken, stolen, or the app is deleted. It is not stored on Yoroi’s servers and cannot be recovered by the Yoroi team.

Supported recovery phrase lengths

Yoroi supports restoring wallets using either 15‑word or 2? recovery phrases.​

Every wallet created directly in Yoroi uses a 15‑word recovery phrase. You can also restore compatible Cardano wallets that use either a 15‑word or 24‑word recovery phrase.​

Please note that Yoroi does not support 12‑word recovery phrases. While it was previously possible to claim 12‑word Byron wallets from Daedalus, this required an already restored wallet in Yoroi, which meant the user needed either a 15‑word or 24‑word wallet

How is the recovery phrase used?

• During wallet creation, Yoroi generates your private keys from the recovery phrase and stores the encrypted keys locally on your device.​
• Your ADA and other supported assets remain on the Cardano blockchain; the recovery phrase is simply the way to recreate the keys that prove ownership of those funds.

When you restore a wallet, Yoroi asks for the recovery phrase to regenerate the same keys and re-sync your balances from the blockchain.​

How to safely store a recovery phrase

• Always keep your recovery phrase encrypted, never as plain text or an unprotected photo. Use a reputable, audited password manager or encryption tool to store it in an encrypted vault.​
• Create at least one offline backup of the encrypted vault (for example, on an external drive or hardware-encrypted USB) and store it in a separate, secure physical location.​
• Avoid writing the phrase on paper without additional protection; if you must write it down, store that copy inside a safe or use a metal backup combined with a strong passphrase or encryption scheme.​
• Regularly verify that you can still unlock your encrypted backup (correct master password, files not corrupted).

What to avoid

• Do not store your recovery phrase in email inboxes, cloud storage, screenshots, or online notes, as these can be compromised by attackers.​
• Never share your recovery phrase with anyone, including support staff or people claiming to be from Yoroi or Cardano. Anyone who knows it can move your funds.​

If any website, app, or person asks you to type your recovery phrase outside the official Yoroi app or hardware wallet flow, treat it as a scam and stop immediately.

Updated on: 21/01/2026