How to back up a seed phrase: paper vs metal
If your hardware wallet dies, a new one restores everything from your seed phrase backup, which makes that backup the one part you cannot replace.
Write the seed phrase on the paper card from the box, check it twice, then copy it onto a stainless steel or titanium plate, because paper burns and soaks through. Keep the metal copy somewhere hidden and offline, keep a second copy at another location if you can, and never photograph it or type it into anything connected to the internet. Finish with a recovery test so you know the backup restores your wallet.
Paper vs metal: what each one survives
Paper is fine for the first ten minutes, while the wallet shows you the words. As a long-term backup it loses to a house fire, a burst pipe, a flooded basement, or a pen that fades. A metal backup costs more and takes longer to make, and it is still readable after the house is gone.
The best public data on metal backups comes from Jameson Lopp, who has stress-tested dozens of products. His heat test puts each device in a 2,000°F flame for 10 minutes, which he describes as slightly hotter than a house fire. He also crushes them in a 20-ton hydraulic press and soaks them in acid for 12 hours. He concludes that simpler is better, because more pieces mean more ways to fail.
| Paper card | Metal plate or capsule | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, in the box | Roughly $50 to $250 (see seed storage) |
| Time to make | Five minutes | Longer: every letter goes on by hand |
| House fire | Gone | Survives if the design holds together |
| Water and flood | Ink runs, paper rots | Unaffected |
| Best use | First draft during setup | The backup you keep |
How to back up a seed phrase, step by step
- 1Set up the hardware wallet somewhere private, away from cameras, recording phones, and anyone looking over your shoulder.
- 2Write each word clearly in pen on the paper card, in order, with its number. Check every word against the screen twice and pass the wallet's word quiz.
- 3Copy the words onto your metal backup. You only need the first four letters of each word: BIP39, the seed phrase standard, built its 2,048-word list so the first four letters identify every word. Short words like "act" have three letters, and no word is longer than eight.
- 4Compare the metal copy to the paper card letter by letter. A single wrong letter can turn a good backup into a useless one.
- 5Run a recovery test before you send real money. Restore the wallet from the metal copy on a wiped device or a second device, and check that it shows the same first receive address. Then send a small amount, and only after that the rest.
- 6Decide what happens to the paper card: store it as a second copy in a separate location, or destroy it by burning it or shredding it into confetti. Do not throw it away intact.
- 7Put the metal backup in its storage spot. Tell no one where it is except the person who would need it if something happened to you.
Types of metal seed phrase storage
Every metal backup holds 12 or 24 words in a form fire and water cannot erase. The types differ in how you get the letters onto the metal.
| Method | How it works | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Letter tiles | Slide stamped letter tiles into a frame or capsule | No tools, but loose parts can fall out or scramble if the case opens |
| Stamped plate | Hammer letters into a solid plate with a punch set | Permanent and simple, but takes practice and a steady hand |
| Punched dot grid | Mark dots in a grid with a center punch to encode each word | One solid plate, fast to make, and you must learn the grid |
| SeedQR plate | Punch the seed as a QR code that a camera wallet scans | Fastest recovery, but you need a wallet with a camera that reads SeedQR |
SeedQR comes from the SeedSigner project. A Standard SeedQR is a 25 by 25 grid for 12 words and 29 by 29 for 24 words. The Compact format is smaller (21 by 21 and 25 by 25), which matters when you punch every dot by hand. I rank the specific products, prices included, on my seed storage page.
Where to store a seed phrase
Good storage is offline, hidden, protected from fire and water, and reachable by you or your heir without a lot of drama.
- Hide one copy at home, somewhere a burglar would not search first. The safe in the bedroom closet is the obvious target.
- Keep a second copy at a location you control or trust: a family member's house, a second property, or a safe deposit box. A second copy covers the fire that takes the first.
- Never store it online. That rules out cloud notes, email drafts, password managers, and phone photos.
More copies make loss less likely and theft more likely. Two copies in two locations is the common middle ground. If you want backups that need more than one location to spend, use multisig instead of copying the same seed phrase around.
If you use a passphrase, back that up too
A passphrase (sometimes called the 25th word) turns your seed phrase into a different wallet. Lose the passphrase and the seed phrase alone will open a different wallet, usually an empty one, with no error message. Back the passphrase up with the same care as the words, but never in the same place as the seed phrase, or it protects nothing. Test both together in the recovery test. My passphrase guide covers how it works.
Backup mistakes that lose bitcoin
- Taking a photo of the words "just for now." Phone photos often back up to the cloud, and that copy outlives your memory of it.
- Never testing the backup. A misspelled word or swapped order is invisible until the day you need it.
- Splitting the words between two places as a security trick. Whoever finds one half has far less to guess, and if one half is lost, the wallet is gone.
- Storing the only copy in a place you might lose access to, such as a rental, an office, or a box only you can open.
- Forgetting the people who would need it. Your heirs need to know a backup exists and how to reach it. See my inheritance page.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to back up a seed phrase on paper or metal?
Metal. Paper is fine for the first draft during setup, but it burns, rots, and fades. A stainless steel or titanium plate survives the fire and flood that destroy paper. Keep paper only as a second copy, stored separately.
Where is the safest place to store a seed phrase?
Offline, hidden, and protected from fire and water. Most people keep one metal copy hidden at home and a second copy at another location they trust, such as a relative's house or a safe deposit box. Never store it in the cloud or on a phone.
Can I store my seed phrase in a password manager?
No. Most password managers sync through the cloud, and a breach or a malware infection on your computer can expose the seed phrase. A hardware wallet exists so the seed phrase never touches an internet-connected device.
How many copies of my seed phrase should I have?
Two, in two different locations, is the common answer: one copy is a single point of failure, and each extra copy is another place someone could find it.
Do I need to write the whole word, or just the first four letters?
The first four letters are enough. The BIP39 word list was designed so the first four letters identify each word, which is why many metal backups only have room for four characters per word.
Is metal seed phrase storage fireproof?
Good designs survive house-fire temperatures. Jameson Lopp tests products in a 2,000°F flame for 10 minutes, and most of the 75 products he has graded earn an A or A-. He notes that more pieces mean more potential points of failure, so a solid plate is the safer pick.