My experience with memorizing seed phrases

[hatshepsut93]

First things first, I have pretty average memory, I don't forget important things too often, but I also can't instantly memorize things to the tiniest details like some gifted people can.

Around 5 years ago I decided to memorize my wallet seeds to have one extra backup method. My main backups are pieces of paper + a flash drive with wallet files.

I memorized all 4 wallet seeds (12 words each) that I have very quickly by rehearsing them from memory and checking with the written down seeds every day. For a long time, maybe 1-2 years I kept discipline and repeated the seeds every day, but eventually I started slipping and forgetting to do it, especially if I was busy with something. This affected my memory, and sometimes I forgot or wasn't sure about parts of a seed (2-4 words) so I had to look at it again and repeat it more often.

Interesting thing about memory, it's easier for me to repeat them in the sequence that I was always repeating (seed 1 -> seed 2 -> seed 3 -> seed 4) than to repeat only one seed that isn't the first. Also I can't repeat the words starting from non-first word or in an order that isn't original. So to me it's more like keeping in memory one big 48-word seed than having 4 seeds of 12 words each.

So in summary, I think memorizing a seed is easier than most people think, and there's no need to come up with songs or rhymes or other stuff, they can probably even make things worse. But in general memory is not reliable, even in long term, so this shouldn't be viewed as a reliable backup. It's just a nice extra layer of backup that doesn't require any complicated setup, and its strongest upside is that it's always with you (until your memory fails).

[GreatArkansas]

(....)
So in summary, I think memorizing a seed is easier than most people think, and there's no need to come up with songs or rhymes or other stuff, they can probably even make things worse. But in general memory is not reliable, even in long term, so this shouldn't be viewed as a reliable backup. It's just a nice extra layer of backup that doesn't require any complicated setup, and its strongest upside is that it's always with you (until your memory fails).

Another thing also that will help you to memorize your seed phrases is called "mnemonics".

For example, using acronyms, where words or phrases are created using the first letters of several words.

Rhymes also could be helpful but as you said, you don't need it anymore. But this could be also helpful for other people who can easily memorize or recall words by just using rhymes.

[Zaguru12]

I memorized all 4 wallet seeds (12 words each) that I have very quickly by rehearsing them from memory and checking with the written down seeds every day. For a long time, maybe 1-2 years I kept discipline and repeated the seeds every day, but eventually I started slipping and forgetting to do it, especially if I was busy with something. This affected my memory, and sometimes I forgot or wasn't sure about parts of a seed (2-4 words) so I had to look at it again and repeat it more often.

This is usually normal in every human it is called the decay theory or interference by medical professionals. Once a thing is memorized and it is not rehearsed regularly then the new informations take proceedings and with the limited ability of the brain to remember everything these old informations are either forgotten totally or mixed. But with constant rehearsals they remain fresh or at top. Also the interference is when similar things happen then this misses up the other and therefore causes one to miss up informations.

There are many people that usually finds it hard to memorize this words no matter how many the duration of time they take to memorize it. So they compose songs on it. The memorizing of seed Pharisees or keys aren’t bad but relying solely on it has the only backup for there storage is what is frowned at

[Charles-Tim]

It can be a backup, but should not be depended on. We may be normal and nothing happens to us, yet forget some of the words at anytime. That is how the brain works, especially if you think you have known the all words and not checking it again.

[Hispo]

Seeds are not difficult to memorize, in fact. Memorizing them can be a rather useful way to have an emergency backup in case the paper or steel seed gets lost or destroyed in a natural disaster.

The trick to memorize them is repetition and other techniques to make it easier. If you repeat in your mind the seed at least once a week, it gets more engraved in your memory.

The biggest threat about memorizing seed phrases is that if an attacker is aware of it, they could perform a physical attack on you in anytime or any location they feel to be convenient to extract the information out of you. So keeping the existence of the seed or even the fact one has memorize it is vital, otherwise, some criminal could take their chances and see how much Bitcoin you have got in your brain.

[Hatchy]

This is usually normal in every human it is called the decay theory or interference by medical professionals. Once a thing is memorized and it is not rehearsed regularly then the new informations take proceedings and with the limited ability of the brain to remember everything these old informations are either forgotten totally or mixed. But with constant rehearsals they remain fresh or at top. Also the interference is when similar things happen then this misses up the other and therefore causes one to miss up informations.

There are many people that usually finds it hard to memorize this words no matter how many the duration of time they take to memorize it. So they compose songs on it. The memorizing of seed Pharisees or keys aren’t bad but relying solely on it has the only backup for there storage is what is frowned at

The human brain, retains information a lot more than we can imagine. Storing information in the long term memory, require repeated rehearsals and will also depend on the length of the information you want to store.

For long, it has been advisable to store the seed phrase or any other private keys that have access to your wallets or funds in a safe place or location Like a hardwallet.The brain can be a safe place, but how long do you think it would last? How long can you continue rehearsing?  As time goes on, we tend to be busy with other important things and forget to rehearse.

Memories can be fallible and mistaken if this happens for instance,  and you type in a wrong word in your seed phrase, you may end up loosing your fund permanently.



The idea of composing songs with our seed phrase is not advisable too, it puts out funds at more risk. Let's just believe that everyone can store their seed phrase or keys in a way that best suits them and take full responsibility of any risk that they encounter.

[dzungmobile]

You remember it because your test it by yourself daily and many times. 4 years means about 1500 days and with 1500 repetitions, I am sure you can remember it very well.

The risk from now is not you forget about those seeds as it is recorded deeply in your memory already and with a condition that you will continue that practice daily. Risk is from accident that might cause to memory loss (of course I don't want it to happen to you, just want to discuss about one risk type). If it is what happens, you are no longer able to control your brain and memory.

Having your memory as one of backup methods is good but should never be your main backup.

[hatshepsut93]

You remember it because your test it by yourself daily and many times. 4 years means about 1500 days and with 1500 repetitions, I am sure you can remember it very well.

I stopped doing it daily a long time ago, especially when I stopped looking at Bitcoin price and Bitcoin news all the time. These days I can go weeks without reciting my seed, and I still remember it, but this is dangerous, because if I'll go a few months without refershing my memory, I'll probably forget big chunks of it. That's why memorizing should be viewed as an optional bonus and not a part of overall seed storage.

[Poker Player]

I don't see the point. Relying on your memory has big risks, and having your memory as a backup plan apart from having the seeds saved in another way has the problem you mentioned:

...because if I'll go a few months without refershing my memory, I'll probably forget big chunks of it. That's why memorizing should be viewed as an optional bonus and not a part of overall seed storage.

Either you have to be constantly refreshing or you will forget at least parts of it, so all the time and effort spent will be for nothing.

[Lorence.xD]

I don't see the point. Relying on your memory has big risks, and having your memory as a backup plan apart from having the seeds saved in another way has the problem you mentioned:

...because if I'll go a few months without refershing my memory, I'll probably forget big chunks of it. That's why memorizing should be viewed as an optional bonus and not a part of overall seed storage.

Either you have to be constantly refreshing or you will forget at least parts of it, so all the time and effort spent will be for nothing.

It would just help you to be familiarize to your seed phrase but eventually you would forget the main words so you would only think of words sound closer to your seed phrase. I've seen someone wrote song which the seed phrase as lyrics where I think it's possible to remember as long you always sing it. But I agree that its still risky because people doesn't have that storage to store all the memories we experience in life. So always have a backup plan in papers, notes and usb.

[Despairo]

It's like memorizing your username, email, password and phone number, of course you will still remember the first part even though you're not use it anymore in long time.

The problem to remember your seed phrases through song or rhyme is you will forgot which word is your seed phrase and which word isn't, but I believe remembering a song or rhyme is more easier than directly remember the seed phrase.

[SamReomo]

I think everyone's memory is a little different and the working mechanism of memory varies form human to human, but in my case I found that even after trying my best to remember anything I will have to listen that thing with the help of audio so I can memorize and remember it for long term.

The audio learning has been working very well for me and trust me I remember the most of the things that I learned with the help of repeated audio listening. For example, suppose if someone is trying to remember the 12 words seed phrase he/she has to record those words in a safe audio device and use earphones to listen to those words everyday. That way the thing will stick in the memory for long term.

I'm not sure about others, but this thing has saved me a lot of time, as with its help I can remember almost everything. But, be careful if you are recording the audio in a device that is connected to the internet than you will still be at risk because that device can be penetrated by hackers. That's why for this purpose I use a smartphone that is unable to connect to internet because of sim/data hardware problem. However, it fulfills my purpose so that's why it's a safe thing for me.

[Flexystar]

I feel like this is a horrible idea to remember your phrases. I would never depend on my memory even if it is sharper than Albert. The entire wallet depends on it and you never know how much bitcoins you may end up accumulating in it over the period of time.

Do we really need to risk it all with just memory cells and trust them to signal it when we recall it? This is definitely not the way to go with your phrases.

Pen and paper is still classic. It’s up to us how safe we can keep it. If we gonna stress about it’s safety all the time then I am sure we going to make mistake, forget it over the time, lose it with simple mistake and what not.

Better yet have physical copy stored safely in a locker. Have another copy on SSD or PD and then at the end believe on the memory cells.

[davis196]

In my country, children are forced to memorize poems in elementary school. I still don't know what's the point of this, but who cares.
I've always sucked at memorizing poems. I'm sure that memorizing a poem is way harder than trying to remember 12 words.
I assume that your brain creates logical connections between those particular 12 words of the seed phrase. That's why it's easier to remember the phrase at the particular order and not just 12 random words.
Anyway, I wouldn't waste my time trying to remember the see phrase, because I know that I will always forget a word or two.

[yudi09]

...
-snip-
So in summary, I think memorizing a seed is easier than most people think, and there's no need to come up with songs or rhymes or other stuff, they can probably even make things worse. But in general memory is not reliable, even in long term, so this shouldn't be viewed as a reliable backup. It's just a nice extra layer of backup that doesn't require any complicated setup, and its strongest upside is that it's always with you (until your memory fails).

Memorizing seeds can help, but you also don't rely 100% on memorizing seeds without any other place as a location for you to store seeds because most of us know that memory will definitely weaken at some point so that it will be difficult for us to recall word for word seed that has been we memorize.

Just as I can still recall the seed because I have memorized it and it is very helpful when experiencing an emergency situation, but I also save the seed well in another place which makes it easier when I need to see it.

[YUriy1991]

So in summary, I think memorizing a seed is easier than most people think, and there's no need to come up with songs or rhymes or other stuff, they can probably even make things worse. But in general memory is not reliable, even in long term, so this shouldn't be viewed as a reliable backup. It's just a nice extra layer of backup that doesn't require any complicated setup, and its strongest upside is that it's always with you (until your memory fails).

I'm of the same opinion because human memory is at different levels although memorizing initial phrases can be a good backup option despite frequent practice but it shouldn't be relied on exclusively. I myself for effective backups especially those related to digital assets I usually keep in the form of notes even though there are other backup methods, such as storing flash drives or others I also do just in case.

[Kryptowerk]

First things first, I have pretty average memory, I don't forget important things too often, but I also can't instantly memorize things to the tiniest details like some gifted people can.

Around 5 years ago I decided to memorize my wallet seeds to have one extra backup method. My main backups are pieces of paper + a flash drive with wallet files.

I memorized all 4 wallet seeds (12 words each) that I have very quickly by rehearsing them from memory and checking with the written down seeds every day. For a long time, maybe 1-2 years I kept discipline and repeated the seeds every day, but eventually I started slipping and forgetting to do it, especially if I was busy with something. This affected my memory, and sometimes I forgot or wasn't sure about parts of a seed (2-4 words) so I had to look at it again and repeat it more often.

Interesting thing about memory, it's easier for me to repeat them in the sequence that I was always repeating (seed 1 -> seed 2 -> seed 3 -> seed 4) than to repeat only one seed that isn't the first. Also I can't repeat the words starting from non-first word or in an order that isn't original. So to me it's more like keeping in memory one big 48-word seed than having 4 seeds of 12 words each.

So in summary, I think memorizing a seed is easier than most people think, and there's no need to come up with songs or rhymes or other stuff, they can probably even make things worse. But in general memory is not reliable, even in long term, so this shouldn't be viewed as a reliable backup. It's just a nice extra layer of backup that doesn't require any complicated setup, and its strongest upside is that it's always with you (until your memory fails).

Interesting topic. There is a lot of science based data on how to ideally memorize things, it's a multi-layered topic which for the best effect includes a combination of several methods.
I wrote some of this down a while ago, let me check and maybe I can post some info on it here.
One of these concepts is ORDER, so it makes total sense it was easier to remember all 4 phrases instead of one from the middle of the pack.

Regarding memorized seeds: Totally agree, don't solely rely on it - instead, if you can, use it as an additional way of "storing" your seed phrase.
The only viable method to solely rely on it would be short to medium term - for example to get funds out of an oppressive country without any hardware/solid (paper etc) evidence.

[glendall]

I have tried your way by memorizing 1-3 seeds in each memorization, it took me 2 years to be able to memorize my main wallet, but maybe because I think too much my memory sometimes forgets 1-2 seeds so I have to re-memorize, in this case memorizing seeds it must be repeated and tried if you only memorize one moment you will forget

[kryptqnick]

I suppose it depends on one's memory and dedication. My short-term memory is pretty good and accurate, but that's just for some very temporary things. Seeds require using long-term memory, obviously, and I'm not good at particular details over the years. I know the gist very well, I remember a lot of things from my area of research in general, even if I haven't done anything with it for a few years. But I can't remember exact phrases, it's just hard for me to keep such details in mind. I don't trust my memory with this, and I know it will bother me like an additional thing I have to worry about and dedicate time to. So I agree memory isn't reliable, and I think that since I surely won't trust myself to keep the seed phrase in my memory only, I don't want to bother with working on such a backup.

[Crypt0Gore]

How do you do it? This is impossible for now lol because I have too many things to memorize, my phone numbers, my car plate number, my accounts number and so on, having too mamy things memorized will interfere if you take some time off and focus on other things, it's very easier to mess everything up, there is no better solution with seed phrases than to write them down.

Sometimes, fate can make things happen to you, like an accident or memory losses, this happens to so many people and it's not as if they prayed for such, it just happened out of the blue, I am not saying such will happen to you but we humans, sleeping and waking up everyday is a risk.