Should I copy my electrum wallets to USB for extra backups?

[edward500]

Right now I have my wallets in cold storage on a laptop that has no internet access.

I also of course have my seed written down.

I was wondering, if I should stash a USB drive someplace very hidden with my electrum wallets on them, where I will remember the passwords. This would be just another backup where if anyone finds it, they wouldn't be able to access the wallet without the password. I would stash the USB drive someplace safe.

What I'm worried about is someone finding my written down seed and being able to use it, while, if they found a thumb drive they would not be able to use it without the password, which only I remember.

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[OmegaStarScream]

Is your password complex enough? Because the wallet file can always be cracked. Regardless though, I think it's better to keep the wallet copies to a minimum.

As for your seed phrase, then you can always make a new one and add custom words to it. Write it down and store it without the extended words, that way, if someone finds it, he can't access your wallet.

[Upgrade00]

What I'm worried about is someone finding my written down seed and being able to use it, while, if they found a thumb drive they would not be able to use it without the password, which only I remember.

Discretion should be highly considered when storing your back ups and you can play around with it a bit to ensure that if anyone does find it, they would but be able to access your funds with only that information.
An extended seedphrase is one option, and works better than omitting one of the words when writing it down.
You can also have a multi-sig wallet and store them in different locations, so finding one of then would not grant access to the funds.

[examplens]

as long as that flash is only under your control, used only for that purpose in your clean and checked computer, it can be a medium backup solution. Why not.

I certainly wouldn't trust a password as a high level of security, maybe only for direct offline access, for someone who will be limited with time. at one point all my wallets were compromised due to a keylogger, the hacker had access even to wallets for which I had forgotten the password.

[hatshepsut93]

All questions about security should start with a question "what's your security model". There's no single method for storing Bitcoin keys that suits all needs. If you store your wallet file on a USB in the same place that you store your seed, then the risk of losing coins to some natural disaster like fire or flooding remains almost the same. If you store your backups in different places, you raise your chances that they will fall in wrong hands. If you don't encrypt your backups, they can be easily stolen. If you do, you risk forgetting your password and losing your coins. You have to decide for yourself which threats are the most likely for you - theft, misplacement, natural disaster, etc.

[Charles-Tim]

If you prefer to go for extended word (passphrase) which I will also suggest, always know that you need the extended word anytime you want to recover your wallet, else different keys and addresses will be generated. Without the extended word, you will lose your keys and your coins. Better make a backup of the extended word also, but in different locations from your seed phrase.

[Kemarit]

It could be a good idea but you have to remember that,

(a) USB are prone to deterioration overtime or corruption, so it you used it as a single backup, it might not be good
(b) If you are going to used USB as backup then make multiple copies of it, not just one, so in an event of failure, you can still have at least one or two that could be functioning

Good tips as well on the extending your mnemonic phrase.

Best of luck.

[dkbit98]

I was wondering, if I should stash a USB drive someplace very hidden with my electrum wallets on them, where I will remember the passwords. This would be just another backup where if anyone finds it, they wouldn't be able to access the wallet without the password. I would stash the USB drive someplace safe.

I really wouldn't trust USB as your single backup, but they can be one of multiple backup options you have.
Recently one of my USB drives started acting crazy, it always reports some error when I plug it to any computer and somehow it reduced in size.
Whatever secure data you have on USB you should encrypt it and add password that you write on paper and keep in safe location.

What I'm worried about is someone finding my written down seed and being able to use it, while, if they found a thumb drive they would not be able to use it without the password, which only I remember.

You can always add one or more additional passphrases to make it more secure, or even better use multisig setup.
Some people even split seed words using Secret Shamir Sharing but I wouldn't suggest doing that, or making some unique splitting disaster scheme.

[lovesmayfamilis]

A similar thing happened to me recently, as dkbit98 describes. Suddenly something happened, and my laptop refused to turn on the next day. I don't store anything important on my laptop, everything important is archived elsewhere. However, the laptop just died. Repair and give it into the wrong hands, I did not It was a working machine for 5 years, but I knew that one day something could go wrong. I ended up buying a new one. Similarly, USB devices and your laptop, which is not currently active, may experience an unexpected failure. Therefore, I would advise not to trust only one device but to make a number of copies that cannot age overtime at the same time, like paper, or simply break.

[Woodie]

Honestly, It's a yes and no answer, for the Yes this backup could come in handy when you lose access to your wallets and the only backup available might be on this drive to regain access to your wallets. But the ugly side of having several backups of your wallet means chances are high for a third party to have unauthorized access to you wallet, which means safety is pretty much compromised.
But all in all its all about precautions and that backup is needed either way.

[Lucius]

I was wondering, if I should stash a USB drive someplace very hidden with my electrum wallets on them, where I will remember the passwords.
---
What I'm worried about is someone finding my written down seed and being able to use it, while, if they found a thumb drive they would not be able to use it without the password, which only I remember.

When you say "remember" do you mean keeping your password in your head? This is generally a bad idea for a number of reasons, some of which are :

• people tend to forget, even things they know are very important to them.
• the human brain is very sensitive, any head injury can cause temporary or permanent memory loss.
• under the influence of alcohol, drugs or certain medications, we can unconsciously say things that we would not otherwise say.

In a nutshell, don't rely only on your brain as a storage of such sensitive information, others have already given you good advice on how to reduce the risk.

[NeuroticFish]

I also of course have my seed written down.

I was wondering, if I should stash a USB drive someplace very hidden with my electrum wallets on them, where I will remember the passwords.

1. As already said, relying on your memory for passwords is a bad and risky practice.
2. If the password is strong, USB sticks can be handy, but don't rely only on them; USB sticks can break rather easily too. But I would store there the seed (too), maybe archived with the same very strong password. If by odd chance the electrum wallet format changes by a lot until "next time", the seed may become handy.
3. I would also consider handling the seed completely offline (maybe on a live system), let's not expose it in the attempt to make backup.
4. I would consider using a hardware wallet and backup that one's seed (and only the seed). I expect the only relevant extra the wallet file could hold is labels.

[BlackBoss_]

If it is a USB you use everyday and bring it around, I think you should not.

If it is a USB which is used to store your wallet backup, yes it is a good practice.

Because when you store it in a USB for daily use, you will likely expose to more public internet connections that are unsafe, public curious eyes, and you can lose that USB too. You USB can be infected by virus, malwares too if you plug in, plug out, connect to other devices.

[Ryker1]

If it is a USB you use everyday and bring it around, I think you should not.

If it is a USB which is used to store your wallet backup, yes it is a good practice.

Because when you store it in a USB for daily use, you will likely expose to more public internet connections that are unsafe, public curious eyes, and you can lose that USB too. You USB can be infected by virus, malwares too if you plug in, plug out, connect to other devices.

Well you nailed it --if the purpose of the USB is for saving your private key only that is good enough.
But for me, it is not advisable you only keep your private key in one device, it should be written on a piece of paper that cannot easily to destroy by minor incidence like moistening by water that causes mold --or it would be better in you will engrave it on metal that won't easily break in wet or burn by fire. However, all I said is too much that is I think it is a paranoid reaction, write on a piece of paper and keep it safe, done.

[Botnake]

Best practice is if you keep the seed on a different drives, one from your laptop and one from an external drive. Actually, it's also advisable to have a copy that is not kept in your house, just in case there's a flood or fire, then you can still access your funds even if your back ups are destroyed, but that's the worst-case scenario only, you'll only do this if you have a considerable amount of funds stored in your wallet, to minimize the risk of losing it.

[Pezroly]

If you have seed, you do not need extra USB with wallet. If something happen, just download and restore the wallet.
Good antivirus software needed in any case, if computer is connected with Internet.

[BitcoinPanther]

If it is for extra back up then yes it is always good to have extra back up of your electrum wallets.  You should also have the passphrase or priv key printed out and laminated for another extra back up.  There is no harm in adding extra back up to our wallet address.  Just make sure that it won't fall to other people's hand because if it do and the person is knowledgeable about Bitcoin, all your savings on that wallet will possibly gone.  Just make sure that those backup are kept in a safe place.

If you have seed, you do not need extra USB with wallet. If something happen, just download and restore the wallet.
Good antivirus software needed in any case, if computer is connected with Internet.

I think @OP is asking if it is ok to have extra back up of the electrum wallet not to access his wallet on another computer.

[pooya87]

It is always good to have multiple backups in different forms BUT you should always try to figure out all the pros and cons of each backup method or medium that you use. For example paper could be damaged easily by a lot of things like by water (getting the paper wet ruins it). USB disks and generally the digital storages could also be damaged from the obvious physical and electrical damage to the little known data degradation which is where the data stored digitally could be lost over time.
There is also the matter of encryption and using extended keys for seed phrases that others mentioned that could be categorized as cons of paper wallets.

[gunhell16]

Right now I have my wallets in cold storage on a laptop that has no internet access.

I also of course have my seed written down.

I was wondering, if I should stash a USB drive someplace very hidden with my electrum wallets on them, where I will remember the passwords. This would be just another backup where if anyone finds it, they wouldn't be able to access the wallet without the password. I would stash the USB drive someplace safe.

What I'm worried about is someone finding my written down seed and being able to use it, while, if they found a thumb drive they would not be able to use it without the password, which only I remember.

It's okay to do that as long as you make sure that only you know about it and no one else knows what you save on the USB.

Because I use two USBs for my backup, and I've had it for several years and if I add any changes, I can do it anytime I want. In case I lose one of my USB flash drives, I still have one reserved.

[BALIK]

Right now I have my wallets in cold storage on a laptop that has no internet access.

I also of course have my seed written down.

I was wondering, if I should stash a USB drive someplace very hidden with my electrum wallets on them, where I will remember the passwords. This would be just another backup where if anyone finds it, they wouldn't be able to access the wallet without the password. I would stash the USB drive someplace safe.

What I'm worried about is someone finding my written down seed and being able to use it, while, if they found a thumb drive they would not be able to use it without the password, which only I remember.

It's okay to do that as long as you make sure that only you know about it and no one else knows what you save on the USB.

Because I use two USBs for my backup, and I've had it for several years and if I add any changes, I can do it anytime I want. In case I lose one of my USB flash drives, I still have one reserved.

Coincidentally, I also use 2 USBs to store my private key and seed phrase. I always keep both very carefully, and it seems that only I know where it is, I am not afraid of losing it but afraid of USB problems. They are also technological products, and all have a lifespan, although they are hard to break, but I still want to be on the lookout. But to be extra careful, I also write them down on paper, just in case the worst happens.