How Often Do You Check Your Seed Phrase.

[GiftedMAN]

I understand that several thread has been created concerning the importance of keeping our seed phrase save but the question now is this, how often do you check your seed phrase?. My personal experience on why I think you should always check your seed phrase to ensure that it is in a good condition: recently I relocated to another place, when I was moving my things it never occurred to me that I had mistakenly removed my seed phrase from where it was kept not until I had spent more than five months before something struck my mind to check where my seed phrase was written but I couldn't find it there. I was lucky to have kept a duplicate of it somewhere else not just in my house else I would have  ended up losing my funds to some people who understands what seed phrase is all about.

Lessons( 1) Do not keep your seed phrase in a particular place (2) Always check your seed phrase to be sure it is intact (3) Be sure you alone have access where your seed phrase is kept.

Conclusion: Knowing too well that keeping the seed phrase and other account related information of a user private are some ways to ensure adequate security, I think we need to do a constant check on our seed phrase so that we don't end up losing it.

I stand to be corrected if there are things that were not listed as this thread is based on personal encounter and observation.

[Coin_trader]

I rarely check my seed phrase because it’s located on a secret location which I don’t want to be exposed by checking it frequently. The last time I check it is when I change hardware wallet.

I understand that we should always make sure that it’s safe but I really don’t like the idea of checking it regularly because that’s a weak spot of your holdings since anyone who will hold that will have an easy access to your wallet no matter what happened. So I always just make sure that my hardware wallet is well maintained and have 2 location of seed phrase that is store on a titanium plate. This way, I don’t have to worry about physical damage that’s why I don’t check it anymore.

[Lida93]

I normalize checking my seed phrase every three months in the different locations I have them stored this because I don't want to take chances, people notion about the regular check of our seed phrase may differ and this could be base on where they are stored and how impenetrable. If not for anything, a seed phrase should be stored in a position where only you alone have access into that a strange entity can't access without your consent, and for printed seeds on paper it should be done with an immutable ink hat wouldn't fade off with time.

Our seed phrase is same as our bank account PIN number for transactions and it is what verified you as a real owner of a certain fund that's why the famous  phrase " not your keys not your funds".

[SmartGold01]

I don't regularly check my seed phrase because I know I have several duplicates and so I don't think there's any needs to keep checking, except for your experience or maybe something happened within ones environment could be flood attack, house burning or any other fire incident that may occurred within oneself. Sometimes regularly checking our private keys or seed phrase might lead to some potential harm where we could get carried and exposed it to our friends or relatives whom we don't want them to know about our privacies, in Normal circumstances before relocation from your previous places what you should go after is your documents this includes your seed phrase since it can be stored where other documents are being kept. From what you said it's important to check while relocating to a newer apartments to ensure all details are intacts.

[GiftedMAN]

I rarely check my seed phrase because it’s located on a secret location which I don’t want to be exposed by checking it frequently. The last time I check it is when I change hardware wallet.

Your idea of keeping it on a secret location  is cool since it is not meant to be seen by someone else but I think it's not bad if you go check it out once in awhile to be sure it is still in order, seeing that you have changed your hardware wallet proved that you understood what I meant by seeing if it's in order. If we don't confirm if it's in order how do we know when something has gone wrong or when it's missing? We don't always pray for unforseen circumstances but things do happen and having a proper check can help us to dictate when it has been tampered by someone else.

[Publictalk792]

Thanks for sharing your personal experience on why it is important to check our seed phrase on regulaly basis or on monthly basis. Your story telling us that to be careful in protecting your seed phrases. It is really important to have more than one copy of the seed phrase and safe them in different safe places. We should also check that we have still access and use the seed phrase regularly. Your advice to not keep the seed phrase in one place is really good. By regularly checking our seed phrases we can reduce the risk of losing our money. I mostly safe the seed phrase on one place but by reading this story I have decided to safe my seed phrase in different places because being a human I can forget and can make any mistake like you have done.

[Spaceman1000$]

I understand that several thread has been created concerning the importance of keeping our seed phrase save but the question now is this, how often do you check your seed phrase?. My personal experience on why I think you should always check your seed phrase to ensure that it is in a good condition: recently I relocated to another place, when I was moving my things it never occurred to me that I had mistakenly removed my seed phrase from where it was kept not until I had spent more than five months before something struck my mind to check where my seed phrase was written but I couldn't find it there. I was lucky to have kept a duplicate of it somewhere else not just in my house else I would have  ended up losing my funds to some people who understands what seed phrase is all about.

Lessons( 1) Do not keep your seed phrase in a particular place (2) Always check your seed phrase to be sure it is intact (3) Be sure you alone have access where your seed phrase is kept.

Conclusion: Knowing too well that keeping the seed phrase and other account related information of a user private are some ways to ensure adequate security, I think we need to do a constant check on our seed phrase so that we don't end up losing it.

I stand to be corrected if there are things that were not listed as this thread is based on personal encounter and observation.

My seed phrase is one of my topmost secret, though for some time now, I've tried to see if I can let it stick in my head, but it hasn't been an easy task. Five months was too long for you to have stayed without checking, at least once in two weeks, should be the Time frame, this is your investment, so a regular check on it should be prioritise. I also think if you have a trusted partner, maybe your wife or your spouse, you can as well let them know, in case of any eventuality.

[Cryptomultiplier]

Sincerely, i do not remember that last time i got to check my seed phrase, let alone bother to think of where i stored them.  One thing i have come to understand is that, it is not every person that claims to be a cryptocurrency investor or holder that even bother to check the seed phrases. some of the friends i have had the opportunity of discussing the subject of crypto currency with will conclude that they do infact use crypto currency brokers to invest or maintain a DCA strategy for a given period, rather than be bothered about keeping it safe on their own.

Although, i can not stress how important it is to keep abreast with key phases and passwords by checking often mostly as often as one gets to invest, because even the wallets or exchanges will have a reason to want to upgrade their systems or refresh and hence customers who may sometimes not see such notifications may be at the mercy of losing their coins because they failed to stay updated with the ever innovative blockchain network and exchanges wallets.

[Nwada001]

I don't often do it, but a few times when I travel or visit places where I keep my backup, I often check if it's still there. I do have one of them very close to me, though, which I check or come across almost every time I'm trying to access my important documents.

I was lucky to have kept a duplicate of it somewhere else not just in my house else I would have  ended up losing my funds to some people who understands what seed phrase is all about.

And I hope you will make good use of that luck and opportunity given to you very well, like discovering the place you saved the second phrase, or will I say the backup you kept is not entirely your saviour? If you are convinced that the first one that you lost access to due to relocation is not entirely destroyed, it's advisable for you to move out of the fund to a newer address. If you have not already done that, this is the only time you can consider yourself completely safe. You never know when someone will come across it or if your old compound will be my next apartment.

[TakeItEasy]

I didn't check my seed phrase mostly because I need them when I put them in a new wallet or I need them when I buy a new mobile phone so I export it in them and use my wallet there.

But I have a bad habit whenever I made a new wallet then I send my seed phrases through my WhatsApp  which I sometimes forgot to save it to myself which is my bad habit. Because recently I was a phrase which I need then O forgot to get it and that was almost keep me in danger even there were my fund though which I have kept for doing the Airdrops from the wallet. Although I prefer the users not to forgot their seed phrase to save it even in a safe place where they would always remember if they want to import their wallet to any other place.

[GiftedMAN]

I understand that several thread has been created concerning the importance of keeping our seed phrase save but the question now is this, how often do you check your seed phrase?. My personal experience on why I think you should always check your seed phrase to ensure that it is in a good condition: recently I relocated to another place, when I was moving my things it never occurred to me that I had mistakenly removed my seed phrase from where it was kept not until I had spent more than five months before something struck my mind to check where my seed phrase was written but I couldn't find it there. I was lucky to have kept a duplicate of it somewhere else not just in my house else I would have  ended up losing my funds to some people who understands what seed phrase is all about.

Lessons( 1) Do not keep your seed phrase in a particular place (2) Always check your seed phrase to be sure it is intact (3) Be sure you alone have access where your seed phrase is kept.

Conclusion: Knowing too well that keeping the seed phrase and other account related information of a user private are some ways to ensure adequate security, I think we need to do a constant check on our seed phrase so that we don't end up losing it.

I stand to be corrected if there are things that were not listed as this thread is based on personal encounter and observation.

My seed phrase is one of my topmost secret, though for some time now, I've tried to see if I can let it stick in my head, but it hasn't been an easy task.

Mate I can't believe you actually tried to store your seed phrase in your head that's a dangerous thing to do because you can easily forget the words that comes first before the next line. If you got no option on how to keep it safe, I suggest you write it out in Metal I believe it's going to be safe, but ensure it is not kept where one around you has access to because they can easily discover what it is by simply asking questions. Feel free to duplicate it if possible instead of having it all in your brain that's crazy thing to do you know.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

I relocated to another place, when I was moving my things it never occurred to me that I had mistakenly removed my seed phrase from where it was kept not until I had spent more than five months before something struck my mind to check where my seed phrase was written but I couldn't find it there.

I hope that you have not kept the wallet phrase in a place that someone else might later have access to.

As for me, I have already had enough ugly experience in terms of lost funds, so I don't joke with my wallet phrase. Once in a while, I usually go over the location where I keep my wallet to check if it's still intact, and the reason why I do check ones in a while is because I know that it's very safe where it's kept, and visiting it more regularly might even create the suspicion that very important stuff is kept there. Like you said, @OP, it's very wise for one to check their wallet phrase because there are also some external facts that can destroy the phrase, depending on the location where it's being kept. Some natural disasters, too, can affect the location where you hide your wallet.

[cabron]

I rarely check it but it is always just written on scratch paper which I slipped inside an old machine shop book. No one is going to be interested to read it. I don't think anyone will ever be interested in checking those piles of books. But I do have a soft copy on my laptop hidden in a hidden folder and on my secret flash drive too. Redundancy is good.

The last time I checked that seed was when I forgot my password to send coins. I have to import again and set a new sending password and that was I think 2 years ago.

[cafter]

incidents like this happened which me, I was one time going to throw away the paper where my seed of electrum is written. because we clean our home every 6 months.
thank you for sharing you experience it is helpful for users who are getting started with bitcoin.
and make sure you relocated you coins to a new wallet, anytime your wallet can get accessed by someone because you don't know where your seed phrase is.

[jrrsparkles]

Not too often, for example not once in this year so that is how often I check them but I am sure that its in a safe place so no need to keep checking often as it should be apart from the primary wallet, I do have multiple seeds which are stored in airgapped device which I used to check once in a while and also once in a while their physical copies.

[aoluain]

I understand that several thread has been created concerning the importance of keeping our seed phrase save but the question now is this, how often do you check your seed phrase?. My personal experience on why I think you should always check your seed phrase to ensure that it is in a good condition: recently I relocated to another place, when I was moving my things it never occurred to me that I had mistakenly removed my seed phrase from where it was kept not until I had spent more than five months before something struck my mind to check where my seed phrase was written but I couldn't find it there. I was lucky to have kept a duplicate of it somewhere else not just in my house else I would have  ended up losing my funds to some people who understands what seed phrase is all about.

Lessons( 1) Do not keep your seed phrase in a particular place (2) Always check your seed phrase to be sure it is intact (3) Be sure you alone have access where your seed phrase is kept.

Conclusion: Knowing too well that keeping the seed phrase and other account related information of a user private are some ways to ensure adequate security, I think we need to do a constant check on our seed phrase so that we don't end up losing it.

I stand to be corrected if there are things that were not listed as this thread is based on personal encounter and observation.

My seed phrase is one of my topmost secret, though for some time now, I've tried to see if I can let it stick in my head, but it hasn't been an easy task.

Mate I can't believe you actually tried to store your seed phrase in your head that's a dangerous thing to do because you can easily forget the words that comes first before the next line. If you got no option on how to keep it safe, I suggest you write it out in Metal I believe it's going to be safe, but ensure it is not kept where one around you has access to because they can easily discover what it is by simply asking questions. Feel free to duplicate it if possible instead of having it all in your brain that's crazy thing to do you know.

Yes thats risky.
You would think that 12 words in sequence would be easily memorised and called upon instantly.

I think to perfect this a daily routine would have to be followed, its possible but with very strict
dedication to the task.

As for checking the seed phrase, I never "check" it because its on a Stainless Steel plate, nothing
is going to happen it, nobody will find it, no water or fire will damage it, no corrosion either.

I do from time to time I remind myself where it is hidden, actually every time I access my hardware
wallet I visualise those words stamped into the SS plate!

I could understand checking that other forms of seed phrase storage might be checked from time
to time, it all depends on how they are stored, on what medium ^{paper, memory stick}

[pawel7777]

Lessons( 1) Do not keep your seed phrase in a particular place

I'm not sure if I agree with this one, and it's a bit odd conclusion to make after what happened to you.
By frequently changing the place where you store your seed phrase(s) you're actually compromising security and definitely increasing the risk of something going wrong, i.e. you simply forgetting what's the latest place you put it in. Over-relying on own memory is a common mistake.

You just got a bit careless when moving places. This happens, but doesn't mean you have to change your approach on everything by 180 degrees.

[Antotena]

I understand that several thread has been created concerning the importance of keeping our seed phrase save but the question now is this, how often do you check your seed phrase?. My personal experience on why I think you should always check your seed phrase to ensure that it is in a good condition: recently I relocated to another place, when I was moving my things it never occurred to me that I had mistakenly removed my seed phrase from where it was kept not until I had spent more than five months before something struck my mind to check where my seed phrase was written but I couldn't find it there. I was lucky to have kept a duplicate of it somewhere else not just in my house else I would have  ended up losing my funds to some people who understands what seed phrase is all about.

Your story is similar to my own story, I did the same thing when I relocated to another area and I totally forgot that I had seed phrase in that room but what made me not to even have a second thought about it is that I have my wallet intact in another phone but the day the phone refuse to on again was my darkest day, I can't access the wallet and my small amount of bitcoin. I am still holding the phone hoping one day, I will have access to it.

About the seed phrase, to avoid this kind of problem, it's always advisable to share your seed phrase in different location atleast, 2 diffirrent location so that the day you want to access the wallet and it is not available, the other location will be oh help.

Lessons( 1) Do not keep your seed phrase in a particular place (2) Always check your seed phrase to be sure it is intact (3) Be sure you alone have access where your seed phrase is kept.

Conclusion: Knowing too well that keeping the seed phrase and other account related information of a user private are some ways to ensure adequate security, I think we need to do a constant check on our seed phrase so that we don't end up losing it.

I stand to be corrected if there are things that were not listed as this thread is based on personal encounter and observation.

Exactly, seed phrase is a very sensitive character that must be carefully back up and kept in a secured location, not even in the room because any of your friends can come to your place and if they find out about it, they can either snap it and move your bitcoin or take it completely from you and then you begin to ask how it was possible for your bitcoin to be stolen despite doing the necessary things.

[salad daging]

I always check the seed phrase periodically, maybe if I'm not mistaken, once every 2-4 months (when I remember) because the main store at home is in a confidential place so I always check it to make sure that our seed phrase is safe and not forgotten, I also don't store it in one place, there are three different locations that store the seed phrase, all of which I myself know to maintain confidentiality so that no one knows about it.

Because human nature is forgetful, it is very important to check regularly because when we forget or want to move house, people often forget this precious little bencil so before the incident experienced by the OP, even though there is another place as a backup, we still have to pay attention to this regularly because it's okay if you do that.

I don't know maybe other people check the seed phrase for quite a long time even up to years because they feel they have safely stored it, but for myself to keep checking once every 1 month for example is actually good.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

Lessons( 1) Do not keep your seed phrase in a particular place (2) Always check your seed phrase to be sure it is intact (3) Be sure you alone have access where your seed phrase is kept.

This is a very good update @ O.P on you elaborating about the importance of constantly checking our wallet seed phrase, because if only you never had duplicated yours that how you would have ended up losing all your coins, and this should be a strong lessons to each and every one of us here on this forum if we never want to encounter such incident. So on that note, I was able to make a rough sketch trying to explain on the good and bad ways of storing our seed phrase, so that if mistakenly it happens to get into the hand of a third party, they won't be able to know they are holding a seed phrase of a bitcoin wallet.


This first image explains that while storing a wallet seed phrase, it's more advisable you do not write on the heading the word "Wallet Seed phrase" or the name of the wallet, but instead leave it blank, so that who ever happens to come across it will never know it is a wallet seed phrase, but if he/she is smart enough to know it's a seed phrase, he will not know which wallet it belongs to. (i.e Bluewallet, electrum Trust e.t.c). While secondly the words can be written either ascending or descending order, so that whoever finally figures out the wallet, will not know which order is the right order of words but only you alone.


This second image also explains just like the first about how it's advisable to not also write on the heading the word "Wallet Seed phrase" or the name of the wallet, while the words can be written either vertically on ascending/descending order or in a diagonal form.