What Is a Recovery Phrase? How It Works and Where to Keep It

A recovery phrase is a short list of ordinary words, typically 12 to 24, that encodes the secret needed to get back into encrypted data when you forget your password or lose your device. Because the service never holds your key, nobody can reset it for you; the phrase is your backup. Write it down on paper, keep it somewhere private, and never photograph it or paste it into a cloud app.

Why encrypted apps need one

With ordinary accounts, "forgot password" works because the company can verify you by email and then give you access again. That also means the company can read your data, or be compelled to hand it over.

With real encryption, your data is locked with a key derived from something only you know. If the service can't read your data, it also can't restore it. A recovery phrase solves that: it is a second, independent way to recreate access, and it lives with you, not with a company.

You've probably seen versions of this already:

• Crypto wallets call it a seed phrase (12 or 24 words). See how to store a crypto seed phrase safely.
• Apple's Advanced Data Protection asks for a recovery contact or a 28-character recovery key before you can turn it on.
• Password managers and end-to-end encrypted cloud services issue emergency kits or recovery codes.

How the words work

Most recovery phrases use the BIP-39 wordlist: 2,048 common English words, chosen so that the first four letters of each are unique and few are easy to confuse. Each word carries 11 bits of information (because 2¹¹ = 2,048).

Even 128 bits is far beyond guessing range. The words themselves are not secret; the order and selection are. That's why a phrase like "orbit lemon gravity…" is safe to show nobody and safe to type only into the app that generated it.

Order matters. A recovery phrase written down in the wrong order is, for practical purposes, a different phrase.

How to store a recovery phrase

The goal is two things at once: nobody else can find it, and you can find it years from now.

1. Write it on paper by hand, with a pen, numbered 1 to N. Double-check each word against the screen.
2. Verify it if the app offers a confirmation step. Many people skip this and discover a typo only when they need the phrase.
3. Store it somewhere private and durable: a home safe, a locked drawer, a sealed envelope with important documents. Some people keep a second copy at a trusted relative's home.
4. Label it vaguely. "Photo app backup" is fine; the app name plus "recovery phrase" makes it obvious to anyone who finds it.
5. Consider a metal backup for long-term storage. Stamped or engraved steel survives fire and water better than paper.

What not to do:

• No screenshots. They land in your Photos library, which may sync to iCloud, appear in Memories, and show up in search.
• No notes apps or email drafts. These sync and are often searchable.
• No password manager entry labeled for that app, unless you understand that it now protects your vault too. It's a trade-off, not a mistake, but make it on purpose.
• Don't type it into any website or "verification" form. No legitimate service asks for your recovery phrase outside the app itself.

Recovery phrase versus backup

This is the point people confuse most often. A recovery phrase restores access. It does not restore data that no longer exists.

• If you forget your password or pattern but still have the device, the phrase lets you get back in.
• If you lose the device and the data existed only on that device, the phrase can't bring the photos back. You also need an encrypted copy of the data somewhere else.

So a complete plan has two parts: the phrase and a backup. We go through backup options in how to securely back up private photos.

How sigil. uses a recovery phrase

sigil. encrypts each vault with a 256-bit key that only the pattern you draw on a 5×5 dot grid can unlock. When you create a vault, the app shows a 12-word recovery phrase built from the BIP-39 wordlist. If you forget the pattern, those twelve words are the only way back in. There is no account, no email reset, no server copy and no assistance that can reopen a vault, so we cannot recover it for you, and we say so before you start.

sigil. is local-first and has no cloud backup yet, so the phrase protects you against a forgotten pattern, not against a lost phone. Plan a separate backup for anything you can't lose.

Common questions about recovery phrases

Should I give a copy to someone? For data that matters to your family (say, scans of important documents), leaving a sealed copy with someone you trust, or with your estate documents, is reasonable. For private photos, most people keep the only copy themselves.

Can I change my recovery phrase? That depends on the app. Some let you generate a new phrase and invalidate the old one. If you think someone has seen yours, look for that option or move the data to a new vault.

Is a longer phrase better? More words means more bits, but beyond roughly 90–100 bits, length adds safety margin rather than practical protection. What matters more is that the phrase was generated randomly by the app, not chosen by you. Human-chosen word lists are much weaker, as our password strength checker will show.

Is a recovery phrase weaker than my password? Usually it's much stronger, because it's random. The risk is not guessing; it's someone finding the paper. That's why storage matters more than length.

The short version

A recovery phrase is the price of encryption that nobody else can open. Write it down once, check it, store it somewhere boring and safe, and don't digitize it. If you do that, forgetting your password becomes a minor inconvenience rather than a permanent loss.