Store your seed phrase offline

[Ultegra134]

Use your imagination? Trust me, this is probably the worst piece of advice. I've lost quite a few seed phrases which I had written in a notebook in the past, thinking I'd remember where it is a year later. Trust me, I didn't have a single clue. Let alone coming up with your own encryption or randomizer of the seed phrase. It's a 99.9% guarantee that you'll lose it.

You shouldn't deviate away from standard encryption methods that have proven to be resilient and work for the majority of people. I agree with you on the part of not creating your own standards or reinventing hot water, as they say.

But misplacing or losing your seed that was written down in a notebook is your own fault. You didn't create something non-standard that failed you. You simply forgot where you wrote down your recovery phrase in the most natural of ways. This could have happened to you with any paper wallet backups. Even if you had a metal seed backup, you could have lost it somewhere or buried it and forgot where. It's your responsibility to remember these things. However, such backup standards aren't unusual in any ways to be avoided and not be recommended.     

I'm mostly referring to coming up with your own encryption method, as the previous poster mentioned. As you've already mentioned, standard encryption methods are fine; there's no objection to that.

No method is foolproof, but forgetting the location of my seed phrase is purely my own fault. The notebook method is actually extremely reliable if you're not careless like me. No one will ever bother going through a notebook, and even if someone encounters your seed phrase, they won't realize what it is.

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[Pmalek]

The notebook method is actually extremely reliable if you're not careless like me. No one will ever bother going through a notebook, and even if someone encounters your seed phrase, they won't realize what it is.

If you have a diary or a notebook you used back in school, that would be a good hiding place for a seed. If the book is already filled with your class notes, you could add a seed in there somewhere. Just don't forget where it is. What you do after is very important. If that notebook is hidden away and someone finds it, that person might consider the content important. Otherwise, why would anyone look to hide it, right? But if you keep it in a visible place, preferably among a bunch of other books then it doesn't look like anything is out of the ordinary. 

Another thing worth mentioning. I agree that a thief wouldn't go through your old chemistry notes that you took back in high school searching for a seed. But if you have one of those recovery cards that are given out when you purchase hardware wallets hidden there, the thief will probably consider the card as something valuable. Valuable enough to be hidden like that.

You said that even if someone finds the seed, chances are they won't realize what it is. It's a gamble I wouldn't like to partake in. I saw a link to a video posted on the forums a few weeks ago recorded from a police cam. Anyway, the police was searching the car and belongings of a suspect and they found a piece of paper. The paper contained a list of words written down by hand. I don't remember if it was 12 or 24 words. One of the cops didn't know what it was, however, his colleague commented and said that's that bitcoin thing. It's like a password. People know about seeds, and they will know even more in the future.   

[Ultegra134]

The notebook method is actually extremely reliable if you're not careless like me. No one will ever bother going through a notebook, and even if someone encounters your seed phrase, they won't realize what it is.

If you have a diary or a notebook you used back in school, that would be a good hiding place for a seed. If the book is already filled with your class notes, you could add a seed in there somewhere. Just don't forget where it is. What you do after is very important. If that notebook is hidden away and someone finds it, that person might consider the content important. Otherwise, why would anyone look to hide it, right? But if you keep it in a visible place, preferably among a bunch of other books then it doesn't look like anything is out of the ordinary.  

Another thing worth mentioning. I agree that a thief wouldn't go through your old chemistry notes that you took back in high school searching for a seed. But if you have one of those recovery cards that are given out when you purchase hardware wallets hidden there, the thief will probably consider the card as something valuable. Valuable enough to be hidden like that.

You said that even if someone finds the seed, chances are they won't realize what it is. It's a gamble I wouldn't like to partake in. I saw a link to a video posted on the forums a few weeks ago recorded from a police cam. Anyway, the police was searching the car and belongings of a suspect and they found a piece of paper. The paper contained a list of words written down by hand. I don't remember if it was 12 or 24 words. One of the cops didn't know what it was, however, his colleague commented and said that's that bitcoin thing. It's like a password. People know about seeds, and they will know even more in the future.  

No one is going to bother to go through a bunch of school notes, that's for sure, or at least it's unlikely. But you're right, concealing a piece of paper with a 12- or 24-word phrase will make someone suspicious if they end up finding it somewhere well hidden; even if you're clueless, a simple Google search is likely to reveal what it is.

In my opinion, a notebook hidden in plain sight is above suspicion; a bookshelf with school books is the perfect example. However, I believe that we're overcomplicating things. Just write them down in a notebook or two, place them on your desk or bookshelf, and simply don't forget where you wrote them.

[masulum]

It’s not safer anymore to trust your seed phrases online even how trusted the app is because as long as its operated online, it will always be at risk of losing or hacking, and lose it completely. Personally, I have my own record book about all my passwords and seed phrases of my important documents. Yes, it can still be a subject for stealing but all I have written in there are already having their own duplicates and I kept hodling them in my secret vault at home.

Yes, from my case i learn about how i can lost everything when store any .dat, seed phrase, or password note in any online service. Same like you, as i say I alread move from cloud to store my key and password offline. I wrote down all the passwords, passphrases and private keys in a book and I prepared a backup book that was placed separately. for the last 4 years I have not experienced any problems anymore. As for the .dat files, I save them on a USB.

[Pandu Geddon]

It’s not safer anymore to trust your seed phrases online even how trusted the app is because as long as its operated online, it will always be at risk of losing or hacking, and lose it completely. Personally, I have my own record book about all my passwords and seed phrases of my important documents. Yes, it can still be a subject for stealing but all I have written in there are already having their own duplicates and I kept hodling them in my secret vault at home.

Yes, from my case i learn about how i can lost everything when store any .dat, seed phrase, or password note in any online service. Same like you, as i say I alread move from cloud to store my key and password offline. I wrote down all the passwords, passphrases and private keys in a book and I prepared a backup book that was placed separately. for the last 4 years I have not experienced any problems anymore. As for the .dat files, I save them on a USB.

I still haven't done everything like you two. I just save everything in a file that I keep on the USB. recording the manual in a book and keeping it for me is still quite risky to lose. because I don't have a safe enough place to store everything yet.
drawer or cupboard, I think it's still too risky when a place like that is still accessible to children. maybe I'll buy a safe or a place that no one but me can access. I already have a plan for it all.

[Pmalek]

...I already move from cloud to store my key and password offline. I wrote down all the passwords, passphrases and private keys in a book and I prepared a backup book that was placed separately. for the last 4 years I have not experienced any problems anymore. As for the .dat files, I save them on a USB.

Hmm, private keys and .dat files. I assume you are talking about Bitcoin Core's wallet.dat files or are you using some other software? It must be difficult to make physical backups of every single private key that corresponds to a new address you funded.

I just save everything in a file that I keep on the USB.

That's all? One digital copy on a single piece of hardware. Have you ever thought about what you are going to do if it malfunctions, you misplace it, or the kids you mentioned break it?

[Magic-Money]

That's a good one to store you're phrase offline, because using email to save your phrase or private key is very high risks in the sense that, the email account maybe compromised alongside for hacker to have access towards your phrase code, therefore is better to saved your details offline than online.

[RockBell]

Aside from the fact that it is a seed phrase, any information involving passwords should be saved offline. I used to save my passwords in my email, but when I started seeing people get hacked, I changed my habits and started saving everything offline in multiple locations to protect it from natural disasters like fire outbreaks or any other type of disaster because, as the adage goes, "Not your keys, not your coin."

[drwhobox]

That's a good one to store you're phrase offline, because using email to save your phrase or private key is very high risks in the sense that, the email account maybe compromised alongside for hacker to have access towards your phrase code, therefore is better to saved your details offline than online.

storing seed phrases online is stupidity, but if you shuffle the phrases and store them in a different location by memorizing the combination it may be safe to store them online. Although I don't see any point to store your wallet seed online, store them offline will be lesser riskier than storing them online or in a Gmail or online note application.

Aside from the fact that it is a seed phrase, any information involving passwords should be saved offline. I used to save my passwords in my email, but when I started seeing people get hacked, I changed my habits and started saving everything offline in multiple locations to protect it from natural disasters like fire outbreaks or any other type of disaster because, as the adage goes, "Not your keys, not your coin."

I used to do the same, I saved them on a note connected to my email address, for accessing them both on my phone and laptop or any device I use. But now memorize my password and tweaked them to use in different places.

[puloweh555]

I like to put my seed phrase on a paper, if you want it safer, you can use a steel backup for it, there are steels that you can buy to backup your seed phrase and it is not a waste of money.

Instead of storing your keys on a piece of paper, how about you store them on a memory stick that can only be accessed via a password? I don't worry about a fire breaking out in my house because I always check the stove/oven every time I leave the house to make sure it's turned off and even check it during the day when no one else is around.

be careful that your method of storing your keys, is not so complicated that it will protect yourself in the end...