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MetaMask Secret Recovery Phrase: What It Restores
In short
The MetaMask Secret Recovery Phrase backs up the accounts derived from it. It is separate from the local app password and does not include separately imported keys, accounts from another phrase or connected hardware wallets.
- If you can still unlock MetaMask and confirm with its password, reveal the correct account’s phrase through the official interface and record it privately offline.
- After restoring, compare known addresses. Missing derived accounts may need adding again in their original order; check the network and token display separately.
- Without the phrase, a previously linked sign-in account with the original MetaMask password, or surviving encrypted vault data, may provide another route. Preserve the original installation before any reset; the password alone cannot recreate missing wallet data.
The Secret Recovery Phrase (SRP) is the backup for the accounts derived from it. MetaMask’s local password protects an installation; changing that password does not change the phrase or the accounts it generates.
Back up the phrase while you still have access
If you can unlock MetaMask and confirm with its password, use the built-in phrase-backup option before resetting or replacing an installation. With more than one phrase in MetaMask, first select an account belonging to the phrase you want to back up.
In the extension’s current English interface, open the account’s menu, then Account details and Secret Recovery Phrase. Complete the security questions, confirm with the password and use the hold-to-reveal control. The official instructions below also cover mobile.
Write down the words in order and keep them privately offline. Do not photograph the screen or copy the phrase into a shared document. Close the phrase display when finished.
What the phrase restores
Restore through the official MetaMask app or extension. Keep the original installation and its data until you have checked the restored addresses. A separate browser profile lets you test a restore without resetting the original.
Accounts derived from the same phrase may appear automatically. If later accounts are missing, add accounts in their original order and compare addresses. Check the network and token display separately.
The phrase does not include keys imported independently, accounts from another phrase, or a connected hardware wallet. Those need their own backup or device.
If the wallet was linked to a sign-in account
For a wallet already linked to a supported sign-in account, such as Google or Apple, MetaMask offers restoration using that account and the original MetaMask password. This route can also restore associated imported software accounts; hardware wallets still need their device.
An email address alone does not create this link or replace the original password. If you instead restore using an SRP, the phrase’s own coverage still applies: separately imported accounts need their separate backups.
If you have lost the phrase
If the desktop extension will not open but its encrypted vault survives, MetaMask documents an offline decryption method that requires the vault password. This is not a general method for every phone or cloud backup.
An unknown password needs separate assessment; the presence of a vault is not a guarantee that the password can be recovered. Describe the installation and available backups without uploading the vault or credentials through an enquiry form.
Keep the original browser data and existing backups. Neither a public address nor an email address can recreate a missing phrase.
For the broader file-and-password routes, see the MetaMask recovery guide.