How do you keep your mnemonic phrases?

[merchantofzeny]

OK, this would sound noobish but I'm interested to know how other people keep the mnemonic phrase generated by the wallet. I do have the wallets secured with a pw and backed up (still not enough to warrant a hardware wallet) but I also have the passphrases handwritten in paper (someone said be wary of printers) and stashed somewhere but I'm wondering if there's a better way to keep them.

I don't know any cryptography but I'm thinking of shuffling the words rather than writing them down in order. Like a 12x12 grid where I'd spread them out in certain patterns and then finished with filler words. Since it's no longer as straight-forward should anyone get their hands on it, I think it would finally be safer to keep digital copies of it. Any suggestions?

[jerwinn6]

To safely secured my personal data like mnemonic phrase, login username and password, 2fa secret code, I always created a google docs. And i compressed it through winrar with a strong password and saved to my usd flash drive. Thats how i safely secured my personal data. I hope it will help you Sir.

[mk4]

You could make your own sort of "encryption algorithm" just so if ever someone gets a glimpse over your seed, they wouldn't be able to steal your coins. Like, probably instead of writing your seed straight on, probably take a look at the word list and list the words above or under your seed words instead. This example is definitely not a good way to do it, but I hope you get the idea.

To safely secured my personal data like mnemonic phrase etc. I created a google docs. And i compressed it through winrar with a strong password and saved to my usd flash drive. Thats how i safely secured my personal data.

This is definitely a bad bad way of doing it.

[hutchdavidson]

Ledger Nano 24 word phrase written on paper, laminated, stored in a safe in a secret closet in my house.

[franky1]

OK, this would sound noobish but I'm interested to know how other people keep the mnemonic phrase generated by the wallet. I do have the wallets secured with a pw and backed up (still not enough to warrant a hardware wallet) but I also have the passphrases handwritten in paper (someone said be wary of printers) and stashed somewhere but I'm wondering if there's a better way to keep them.

I don't know any cryptography but I'm thinking of shuffling the words rather than writing them down in order. Like a 12x12 grid where I'd spread them out in certain patterns and then finished with filler words. Since it's no longer as straight-forward should anyone get their hands on it, I think it would finally be safer to keep digital copies of it. Any suggestions?

some people keep 11 of the 12(23 of the 24 dpending on which format of seed you use) as digital.. and the last word remains in your head/offline as the final access password

they also set up a completely different 12th(24th) word(as a surrogate) with just a few satoshi's on that seed phrase incase ever physically aproached by someone with a hammer or gun demanding the whole 12(24) words... you simply give the 11(23) normal words. plus the surrogate 12th(24th) word to get them to leave you alone saying its all you have... knowing it would only cost you a few lost sats to be left alone

then you can use the 11(23) words plus the main 12th(24th) word later to get to your real hoard

[cryptosec.info]

Since other posters already suggested good ideas, I'd like to share one sort of "unorthodox" way of storing your mnemonic phrases.

Memorize it. Yes, you heard that right. A 12-word recovery seed is a lot easier to memorize that most people thought(though memorizing 24-word seed is still possible, just significantly harder). But I understand that this is definitely not for everyone.

[jerwinn6]

You could make your own sort of "encryption algorithm" just so if ever someone gets a glimpse over your seed, they wouldn't be able to steal your coins. Like, probably instead of writing your seed straight on, probably take a look at the word list and list the words above or under your seed words instead. This example is definitely not a good way to do it, but I hope you get the idea.

To safely secured my personal data like mnemonic phrase etc. I created a google docs. And i compressed it through winrar with a strong password and saved to my usd flash drive. Thats how i safely secured my personal data.

This is definitely a bad bad way of doing it.

Thanks for the information Sir. I thought with that method i safely secured my data. So i need an extra careful with my personal data. From now on i will make my own encryption algorithm. Thanks for the i idea Sir. I will keep that in mind always.

[soljal543]

Since other posters already suggested good ideas, I'd like to share one sort of "unorthodox" way of storing your mnemonic phrases.

Memorize it. Yes, you heard that right. A 12-word recovery seed is a lot easier to memorize that most people thought(though memorizing 24-word seed is still possible, just significantly harder). But I understand that this is definitely not for anyone.

This is very wrong because you can easily forget it

[vasrasus]

I always put it to my email. I save it in my drafts and applying some secret code to the phrase just like adding some letters on it so that if ever my email was hack. They will not use it since it was wrong and it is very hard to determine what is the character that it makes wrong. Trust me, No one can use it but just remember what and where do you put the additional character.

[aakriti]

I keep my manamonic phrases by printing on paper and laminate it. All information about it is also mentioned on the page.

[cryptosec.info]

Since other posters already suggested good ideas, I'd like to share one sort of "unorthodox" way of storing your mnemonic phrases.

Memorize it. Yes, you heard that right. A 12-word recovery seed is a lot easier to memorize that most people thought(though memorizing 24-word seed is still possible, just significantly harder). But I understand that this is definitely not for everyone.

This is very wrong because you can easily forget it

Hence the reason why I said "this is definitely not for everyone".

[Dapper]

Piece of paper in a safety deposit box.

[aoihs00]

OK, this would sound noobish but I'm interested to know how other people keep the mnemonic phrase generated by the wallet. I do have the wallets secured with a pw and backed up (still not enough to warrant a hardware wallet) but I also have the passphrases handwritten in paper (someone said be wary of printers) and stashed somewhere but I'm wondering if there's a better way to keep them.

I don't know any cryptography but I'm thinking of shuffling the words rather than writing them down in order. Like a 12x12 grid where I'd spread them out in certain patterns and then finished with filler words. Since it's no longer as straight-forward should anyone get their hands on it, I think it would finally be safer to keep digital copies of it. Any suggestions?

You shuffling them? Really, I mean that could just make it worst if you dont remember the order later on and somewhere you will have to put the passphrase in line to capture it later on. I dont really think all these majors are necessary to make it more complicated in the first place. Just printing it and keeping it in your house safe somewhere can do the job mate! The printing or writing it down the old way is always golden one. Believe me it can stay untouched in your closet forever until storm doesn't fly away with your house. To be frank people just make it look like very sophisticated and it is not in the first place. Putting it on different storage's (digital one) can have risk of getting hacked, synched, destroyed etc. Better write it!

[merchantofzeny]

You could make your own sort of "encryption algorithm" just so if ever someone gets a glimpse over your seed, they wouldn't be able to steal your coins. Like, probably instead of writing your seed straight on, probably take a look at the word list and list the words above or under your seed words instead. This example is definitely not a good way to do it, but I hope you get the idea.

That's exactly what I thought of first but considering I don't know of a good way to do that, it'd probably very easy for them to find out. Which is why I think I'll end up with something more visual like the pattern key I use on my phone.

Since other posters already suggested good ideas, I'd like to share one sort of "unorthodox" way of storing your mnemonic phrases.

Memorize it. Yes, you heard that right. A 12-word recovery seed is a lot easier to memorize that most people thought(though memorizing 24-word seed is still possible, just significantly harder). But I understand that this is definitely not for everyone.

As someone who routinely forget passwords for sites and ending up having to have a reset request sent, this is definitely not for me. 

they also set up a completely different 12th(24th) word(as a surrogate) with just a few satoshi's on that seed phrase incase ever physically aproached by someone with a hammer or gun demanding the whole 12(24) words... you simply give the 11(23) normal words. plus the surrogate 12th(24th) word to get them to leave you alone saying its all you have... knowing it would only cost you a few lost sats to be left alone

OK I'm noob when it comes to the tech side and I've only used Electrum and just go with standard setting and the seed it generates. Are you referring to the optional seed extension or are you talking about making a dummy wallet using the same seed as the main wallet save for the last word so that it would be easy for to memorize?

[neo444]

You can save your mnemonic phrases in document text and keep it protect by a program like WinSesame

[Spazzer]

I've always been a big supporter of memorizing the code and storing it on paper in several secure and safe locations.

I've also been following the idea of storing it via chip implant. The future?

[CrystalPham]

You should write a paper or store it in a safe place if you are afraid of theft. However, do not forget to put a password that you use regularly to avoid having to do it again.

[mu_enrico]

First of all, don't use Windows since it has the worst security.
Antonopoulos recommend to just use the easiest (and actually has the lowest failure rate), that is simply write it on paper and keep it in somewhere safe.
Don't be overly smart he said.

Other than that, use offline linux OS to keep the soft copy if you want.

[Direwolve735]

To safely secured my personal data like mnemonic phrase, login username and password, 2fa secret code, I always created a google docs. And i compressed it through winrar with a strong password and saved to my usd flash drive. Thats how i safely secured my personal data. I hope it will help you Sir.

In my opinion, this is a very dangerous way of storing the information which is necessary to access your electronic wallets. Google documents are easy to crack: due to the cloud, they are synchronized on all devices where your account is open, so accessing this information becomes much easier. I adhere to the "old school" option - I store information about passwords, secret phrases and keys "on paper" - in several notebooks, which I have access only.

[BrewMaster]

i certainly prefer hard copies over digital ones. it is so much safer to have it written on a paper or even better etched on a metal or even wood rather than digitally which can be stolen or damaged.

(someone said be wary of printers)

this is a valid concern but also someone has to be looking for it in that temp memory to find it.
imagine you see this written on a wall in the street:

Code:

0C28FCA386C7A227600B2FE50B7CAE11EC86D3BF1FBE471BE89827E19D72AA1D

it looks like random data and you may just pass it but in fact it is a private key and it may contain 1000 bitcoin!

Code:

5HueCGU8rMjxEXxiPuD5BDku4MkFqeZyd4dZ1jvhTVqvbTLvyTJ

so your malware, thief or whatever has to know you printed a private key, look for it in your printer's memory, dump that memory and find the private key and steal your coins.