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How do I restore my Bitaroo Wallet on a new phone?

  • Updated

Yes, your recovery phrase is enough. Your recovery phrase is your Wallet. The bitcoin itself is recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain, not on your phone, and the 12 words re-create the keys that prove that bitcoin is yours. A phone that is lost, stolen, broken or wiped does not put your bitcoin at risk, as long as you still have the phrase.

What you need

  • Your recovery phrase, with every word in the right order.
  • Your Bitaroo sign-in details.
  • A passcode, Face ID or fingerprint set up on the new phone. The app will not bring your keys onto a device that has no lock on it.

That is the whole list. There is no backup file to track down, no code for Bitaroo to send you, and no ticket to raise. Bitaroo does not hold a copy of your keys, which means Bitaroo cannot restore your Wallet for you, and equally cannot stop you from restoring it yourself.

How to restore your Wallet

  1. Install the Bitaroo app on the new phone and sign in to your Bitaroo account.
  2. Go to the Wallet tab. The app finds no Wallet on this phone, so it offers to set one up. Choose "I already have a wallet".
  3. Type your recovery phrase into the field, with a space between each word. The app suggests matching words as you type, so you can tap a suggestion instead of typing each word in full. It counts the words as you go, and it blocks screenshots while the screen is open.
  4. Once the phrase is complete and correct, the count reads "12 words - looks valid" and the "Import wallet" button becomes available. Select it.

The app then scans the Bitcoin blockchain for your Wallet's addresses. Your balance, your addresses and your transaction history all come back, because every one of them lives on the blockchain rather than on the phone you lost.

One small difference: a restored Wallet comes back under the default name, "My Bitaroo Wallet". If you had renamed yours, you can rename it again from Settings, under "Wallet Name".

wallet-import-screen.png

Your Wallet verifies itself again

Before you can send bitcoin from your Bitaroo Account to a wallet, Bitaroo has to know that the wallet is one you control. When you restore your Wallet, the app proves that automatically on the screen that follows the import. There is nothing to sign and no address to check by hand, and moving bitcoin between your Account and your Wallet works exactly as it did before.

You are not locked into the Bitaroo app

Your recovery phrase is a standard BIP39 phrase, and your Wallet uses the standard native SegWit derivation path, m/84'/0'/0', with no extra passphrase. You can restore the same Wallet in any wallet app that supports that standard, including Electrum, Sparrow and BlueWallet, and your bitcoin will be there. In Electrum, choose the BIP39 option when you enter the phrase.

It works in the other direction too. The import screen accepts a 12 or 24 word phrase, so a wallet you created in another app can be brought into the Bitaroo app the same way.

Three things worth knowing

  • A phone backup does not carry your Wallet keys. An iCloud or Google backup, including an encrypted one restored onto a new phone, will not bring your Wallet back. Only the recovery phrase does that.
  • Your passcode, Face ID or fingerprint is not a backup. It controls who can use the app on that phone. It restores nothing, and it does not protect your bitcoin from anyone who has your recovery phrase.
  • The recovery phrase is shown once, during setup, and cannot be viewed again in the app. If you never wrote it down, treat that as urgent. Create a new Wallet, back up its phrase properly, send your bitcoin from the old Wallet to the new one, then remove the old Wallet.

The import screen is only offered when the app has no Wallet on that phone. If you already have a Wallet in the app and want to restore a different one, contact our support team first, because removing a Wallet whose phrase you have not backed up cannot be undone.

Keep the phrase to yourself

Anyone who has your recovery phrase can take your bitcoin, from anywhere, without your phone and without your Bitaroo sign-in. Never type it into a website, never send it in an email or a message, and never give it to anyone who contacts you claiming to be from Bitaroo. Nobody from Bitaroo will ever ask you for it.

Your Bitaroo Account is separate

This article covers the Bitaroo Wallet, which is self-custodial. Bitcoin and Australian dollars held in your Bitaroo Account are not affected by a lost phone. Sign in from any device as usual.

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If you are not sure which situation you are in, contact our support team before doing anything else.

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