Storing your seed phrase in a password manager? Yes or no?

[Stalker22]

You are not getting it.  A seed phrase is not a password - its the master key to your whole crypto stash.  Equating it to a banking login misses how dangerous it is.  A password manager keeps all your different logins handy so you can easily use websites and stuff.  But I dont really see why you would save a seed phrase in there when you barely ever need it, if at all.

Your approach introduces a single point of failure that is entirely avoidable. Dont store your seed phrase online, period. Its not "an option worth considering"; its a major security flaw.

[Felicity_Tide]

You are not getting it.  A seed phrase is not a password - its the master key to your whole crypto stash.  Equating it to a banking login misses how dangerous it is.  A password manager keeps all your different logins handy so you can easily use websites and stuff.  But I dont really see why you would save a seed phrase in there when you barely ever need it, if at all.

Your approach introduces a single point of failure that is entirely avoidable. Dont store your seed phrase online, period. Its not "an option worth considering"; its a major security flaw.

Very true.
I think people needs to stop seeing seed phrase as just a mere password, when it can either protect or shatter someone"s hardwork if compromised. I could remember downloading a suggested password Manager some months back, but I haven't really used it for anything because I barely trust large percentage of softwares that are available for download.

People have to understand that the essence of keeping your seeds is solely to have responsibility over it. There is no banking system in charge here. Whatever goes wrong due to one's own mistake is clearly no man's fault. Call me old fashion, but I will always prioritize writing my on a paper. How I duplicate it, and where I store the duplicate is all left for me.

[headingnorth]

Instead of giving in to our emotions and fearmongering, let's take a look at some facts.

Millions of bitcoins have been lost permanently because people lost the physical backup
of their seed phrase. That is an indisputable fact. The exact number of lost coins can not be known,
but most experts agree it is in the millions. That explains why there are no shortage of stories in the media
about people losing their bitcoin because they lost their hardware wallet and/or physical backup.

How many bitcoins have been lost due to hacked PMs? I don't know of even one bitcoin that was
(verifiably) lost that way. So statistically you are far more likely to lose your bitcoin because you lost
the physical backup of your seed phrase then your PM getting hacked. But do whatever you feel comfortable with.
There is no right or wrong answer. The best method for one person may not be the best for someone else.

Estimating the Number of Lost Bitcoin

As of early 2025, analysts estimate that between 2.3 million and 3.7 million Bitcoins are permanently lost, representing approximately 11–18% of Bitcoin’s fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins, with some reports suggesting losses as high as 4 million BTC. This impacts the effective circulating supply—while the total mined Bitcoin stands at around 19.8 million BTC, the usable amount is closer to 15.8–17.5 million BTC after accounting for these losses, highlighting a significant reduction in accessible coins despite the unchanged maximum supply of 21 million BTC.

But what does that mean, exactly? How can Bitcoin be lost? Today, let’s tackle this phenomenon and help you understand how Bitcoin really works.

What Exactly Does “Lost” Bitcoin Mean?
Bitcoin can indeed be “lost,” but this doesn’t mean it disappears entirely—instead, it becomes permanently inaccessible. This happens when a user loses, forgets, or destroys their private key, a unique secret code that serves as the only way to access and spend their Bitcoin.

Without this key, the Bitcoin remains locked on the blockchain, a decentralized public ledger that records all transactions. Unlike traditional banking systems where a lost password might be reset by a central authority, Bitcoin’s decentralized design offers no such recovery option. As a result, lost Bitcoin is effectively removed from circulation, reducing the available supply of the cryptocurrency, which is capped at 21 million coins.

Even when Bitcoin is lost, it still technically exists on the blockchain—it’s just unusable without the private key.

Think of it like a vault with a lost combination: the contents are still inside, but no one can get to them. This highlights a key feature of Bitcoin’s security and autonomy: there’s no central entity to step in and help recover lost keys, placing full responsibility on the user to manage them securely. Additionally, some Bitcoin is intentionally “burned” by sending it to addresses with no known private key, further shrinking the circulating supply.

In short, lost Bitcoin is a real and irreversible risk. Well, if you were to ask its creator, he would say (and we quote) “Lost coins only make everyone else’s coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.” Either way you look at it, it’s important to safeguard your private keys at all costs.

[BALIK]

I could remember downloading a suggested password Manager some months back, but I haven't really used it for anything because I barely trust large percentage of softwares that are available for download.

Bitcoin wallets used by millions of investors, such as Electrum, are also software that is available for download. Computer or phone operating systems are software available for download. Are you using and trusting it?
Likewise, there are many open source, self-hosted, password managers that are very reliable to use. Don't jump to conclusions, they are unsafe and unreliable when you haven't even taken the time to learn about them.

People have to understand that the essence of keeping your seeds is solely to have responsibility over it. There is no banking system in charge here. Whatever goes wrong due to one's own mistake is clearly no man's fault. Call me old fashion, but I will always prioritize writing my on a paper. How I duplicate it, and where I store the duplicate is all left for me.

You store them by writing them on paper or engraving them on steel plates, titanium...that does not mean you are safe, you also face risks such as fire, flood, loss...Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

[Danica22]

Depends on the password manager you are using. Millions stolen from LastPass users in massive attack. This is why if you don’t want to go through the traditional route of writing it in a piece of paper, you need to at least choose a proper and secure password manager. To be fair last pass experienced an attack few years ago so it’s not the strongest right now but my point is that it’s possible so choose wisely.

There's no such thing as a secure password manager. The LastPass password hack may be the most recent or popular case. However, others like 1Password, Norton LifeLock, Bitwarden etc, have also suffered security breaches. So it doesn't matter which password manager you choose, they are often targeted by hackers and it's a dumb idea to store the seed phrase electronically. The safest method of storage is by using a piece of paper or metallic steel plate.

Fire, explosion or water can easily destroy seed phrase if you use paper to store them. Meanwhile, earthquakes, floods can bury or wash away your seed phrase if you use steel plate.

It can be seen that no method is absolutely safe. So I disagree with the idea that online storage is the worst idea and offline storage is the best idea. For me, each method has its own pros and cons, choosing which method and which method is best will depend on the individual.
If you live in an area where earthquakes, natural disasters, etc., frequently occur, storing seed phrases on paper or steel may not be the best option, and vice versa.

[Ishicryptic]

No I don't think that I can store my seed phrase in password manager or any online device because it goes against everything that I have learnt on this forum from experienced members. Mistakes can happen and any online device can be hacked so I still don't consider PM a safe option for my seed phrase despite the OP reasonable opinions about it's safety. I can store some important information on a PM but something as personal as my seed phrase should not be secured online, it holds the keys to many years of long term accumulation, I will rather store it in more than one secure offline locations. 

[headingnorth]

You are not getting it.  A seed phrase is not a password - its the master key to your whole crypto stash.  Equating it to a banking login misses how dangerous it is.  A password manager keeps all your different logins handy so you can easily use websites and stuff.  But I dont really see why you would save a seed phrase in there when you barely ever need it, if at all.

That is completely dependent on the value of your own bitcoin versus the value of your bank account.
If you have a million US dollars in you bank account but only a thousand dollars worth of bitcoin in your wallet,
then having your bank account hacked is much more dangerous.

Your approach introduces a single point of failure that is entirely avoidable. Dont store your seed phrase online, period. Its not "an option worth considering"; its a major security flaw.

I disagree. Which is why I suggested using at least two layers of security including passphrases, encrypted files,
2 factor authentication, etc. If one layer ever fails you are still protected by the others.
So there has to be multiple points of failure before anyone can access your bitcoin.

I would argue storing your private key in a physical location can be considered a single point of failure.
Because if you lose it or it is stolen, or destroyed by a natural or man-made disaster, then there is not
much you can do to get it back.

[Swordsoffreedom]

You are not getting it.  A seed phrase is not a password - its the master key to your whole crypto stash.  Equating it to a banking login misses how dangerous it is.  A password manager keeps all your different logins handy so you can easily use websites and stuff.  But I dont really see why you would save a seed phrase in there when you barely ever need it, if at all.

That is completely dependent on the value of your own bitcoin versus the value of your bank account.
If you have a million US dollars in you bank account but only a thousand dollars worth of bitcoin in your wallet,
then having your bank account hacked is much more dangerous.

As I understand it, he means that the seed phrase is not the same as the password. Unlike a password, once someone gets your seed phrase, they have full access and can do anything with your bitcoins. Meanwhile, if hackers get your bank password, it will be difficult for them to steal your money because bank accounts also have many other layers of security such as 2FA , facial authentication...

I would argue storing your private key in a physical location can be considered a single point of failure.
Because if you lose it or it is stolen, or it is destroyed by a natural or man-made disaster, then there is not
much you can do to get it back.

As some have pointed out, there are risks with every method, but online risks are much more dangerous and unpredictable than offline risks.

[examplens]

Your approach introduces a single point of failure that is entirely avoidable. Dont store your seed phrase online, period. Its not "an option worth considering"; its a major security flaw.

I disagree. Which is why I suggested using at least two layers of security including passphrases, encrypted files,
2 factor authentication, etc. If one layer ever fails you are still protected by the others.
So there has to be multiple points of failure before anyone can access your bitcoin.

I would argue storing your private key in a physical location can be considered a single point of failure.
Because if you lose it or it is stolen, or destroyed by a natural or man-made disaster, then there is not
much you can do to get it back.

I agree with Stalker22. Entrusting sensitive information such as passwords or seed phrases to a third party is a rather bad choice. Of course, everything carries certain risks, but it is better to be responsible for keeping your own property than to entrust it to an online service where there is always a risk that you cannot influence.
Probably the closest to safe is backup with geographic redundancy, which reduces the risk of losing important data.

How many bitcoins have been lost due to hacked PMs? I don't know of even one bitcoin that was
(verifiably) lost that way. So statistically you are far more likely to lose your bitcoin because you lost
the physical backup of your seed phrase then your PM getting hacked. But do whatever you feel comfortable with.
There is no right or wrong answer. The best method for one person may not be the best for someone else.

Just because you didn't hear about it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Have you ever heard of keyloggers or copy/paste malware? They can take things from your PM, but you won't be sure when and how it happened, so you'll just attribute it as a hack incident.

[Rockstarguy]

I have never heard of a password manager being hacked into so they seem to be extremely secure.
I have been using PMs myself for over 20 years with no issues. So if they have such a stellar track record of security then why not
use a PM to store your seed phrase? Most PMs allow you to store personal notes so that is where your seed phrase would go.

This is not a guarantee that a password manager is safe. You can choose to keep certain information and data in a password manager, but I don't think it is appropriate to consider a password manager the best place for the storage of your seed phrase and other sensitive information.

As long as a password manager remains centralized, no matter how safe you think it is, you should never consider it a safe place for your seed phrase. When using a decentralized wallet to invest in Bitcoin, one should expect to be their own manager of a seed phrase to keep it safe from the eyes of a third party.

[TopTort777]

I have never heard of a password manager being hacked into so they seem to be extremely secure.
I have been using PMs myself for over 20 years with no issues. So if they have such a stellar track record of security then why not
use a PM to store your seed phrase? Most PMs allow you to store personal notes so that is where your seed phrase would go.

This is not a guarantee that a password manager is safe. You can choose to keep certain information and data in a password manager, but I don't think it is appropriate to consider a password manager the best place for the storage of your seed phrase and other sensitive information.

As long as a password manager remains centralized, no matter how safe you think it is, you should never consider it a safe place for your seed phrase. When using a decentralized wallet to invest in Bitcoin, one should expect to be their own manager of a seed phrase to keep it safe from the eyes of a third party.

Nothing is save and guarantee privacy of information. If password managers were so vulnerable, then why would people keep using them? Only because they are lazy to write down password and store them somewhere, or have bad memory? In the following question there is no YES or NO answers, each one take their own risk, also I dont believe that there are no unbreakable password managers or software. Might point would be, I would store only a part of  seed phrase in password managers, or divide seed phrase between several managers. I dont believe in a coincidence, that EVERYTHINKG can be hacked at same moment.

[aylabadia05]

I'm not saying others should store their seed phrase in a PM but I do believe it is an option worth considering.
Ultimately it is up to every person to make their own choice. If you don't feel comfortable doing it then don't do it.
Keep your seed phrase offline. Another option is having both - a physical backup plus online backup secured in your PM.

There are many ways to keep coins safe as long as the keys are stored properly according to the security standards we can reach and remain secret.
Seed pharase is important and how important it is to keep it safe, just like keeping treasure.
There are many types of online crimes. So it's not wrong when someone suggests avoiding online.
If you think that the way you store it has gone through a good and correct way, then that is enough because your coins will always be safe if the keys are also kept safe. Remember. Not your keys, not your coins.
Many suggestions have been given and this is not the only reminder.

[Z-tight]

How many bitcoins have been lost due to hacked PMs? I don't know of even one bitcoin that was
(verifiably) lost that way.

Lastpass was hacked twice in the year 2022, in Aug and Nov, and millions worth of crypto was stolen, even Ripple co-founder Larsen lost ~ $150m in xrp due to this data breach and other victims lost ~ $45m in total, and take note that this is what was reported, there are surely many other losses that are yet unreported.

There is risk in any set up, but i'll pass the idea of storing my keys online, i rather store it offline and add extra layers of security, i.e. a passphrase or i set up a multisignature wallet.

[suzanne5223]

The conventional wisdom is to never store your seed phrase online.

Yes, that's because it is the best safety option, as everything online is not totally safe.

However, millions if not billions of people rely on password managers to store critical username and password information for
their bank accounts, email account, Amazon, ebay, Apple and Android accounts, crypto exchanges, school and work emails, etc.
PMs also store all your personal identifying information including name, address, phone number, etc.

Those who rely on a password manager as storage of their important and private information are only those who don't understand the consequences involved because they are unaware of hacking strategies.

I have never heard of a password manager being hacked into so they seem to be extremely secure.

No, password manager is not extremely secure. For the record, back in 2022, I could remember that the password manager called LastPass got hacked, the same goes for Bitwarden, and Norton LifeLock.

[Mpamaegbu]

Or alternatively you can probably change some of the words in your phrase that only you can know so even if it's stolen you're the only one who can access it.

I don't advocate that. What if you forgot what word/words was/were there originally? I once tried it and almost ran mad literally. I couldn't figure out what word I exchanged with the other until hours later on the same issue before I figured out that I had swapped the first word with the last word.

I would rather suggest that the person breaks the seedphrase into two and write each half on separate papers than swap or replace them. For instance, if there are 12 words; write only first six on a different paper and then the other six on another paper and keep them in separate locations. Though I haven't being using that method because I trust where I store my stuff not to be compromised. Writing out on papers is safer than storing on online.

[DanWalker]

It's no surprise that almost no one agrees with the idea of ​​storing seed phrases in PM, OP. Because most people here have been in the habit of offline storage for many years, and this habit has spread throughout the forum and become the culture of the forum.

I don't recommend or endorse any storage method as it's a personal choice, but I would like to point out that offline storage is not as perfect as we think.

The most recent example is the wildfire in Los Angeles, USA. The fire also caused significant damage to many cryptocurrency investors, especially those using offline storage methods such as paper, steel, safes...


https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbirnbaum/2025/01/14/bitcoin-owners-devastating-california-fires-are-a-wake-up-call/

https://www.cryptotimes.io/2025/01/09/70-year-old-womans-crypto-lost-in-la-wildfires-disaster/

https://www.panewslab.com/en/articles/urybvu1a

[JollyGood]

I am with the conventional wisdom with regards to this one. Storing your seeds phrase or any password online is a risk. That risk could be mitigated if the seeds, phrases or passwords were at least encrypted. Even if that were the case, I would definitely not recommend it.

The conventional wisdom is to never store your seed phrase online.

[Z-tight]

I don't recommend or endorse any storage method as it's a personal choice, but I would like to point out that offline storage is not as perfect as we think.

The most recent example is the wildfire in Los Angeles, USA. The fire also caused significant damage to many cryptocurrency investors, especially those using offline storage methods such as paper, steel, safes...

That's a natural disaster, it does not happen as frequently as online attacks, you are a hundred times more likely to face numerous online attacks than one natural disaster, depending on where you live though, and when faced with a natural disaster, your life will probably come first before you worry about your money.

However, if you have a summer home or you are lucky to have more than one location, you can keep your seed phrase in the two locations, or you can opt for stainless steel rather than paper.

[Felicity_Tide]

I could remember downloading a suggested password Manager some months back, but I haven't really used it for anything because I barely trust large percentage of softwares that are available for download.

Bitcoin wallets used by millions of investors, such as Electrum, are also software that is available for download. Computer or phone operating systems are software available for download. Are you using and trusting it?
Likewise, there are many open source, self-hosted, password managers that are very reliable to use. Don't jump to conclusions, they are unsafe and unreliable when you haven't even taken the time to learn about them.

I barely trust large percentage doesn't mean I don't trust all.
You probably didn't ask what wallet or Operating system i'm using, because I known for sure that open source are available and I'm using a few.
I keep my personal computer as clean as possible, rather than installing things that I'm not sure of.

You store them by writing them on paper or engraving them on steel plates, titanium...that does not mean you are safe, you also face risks such as fire, flood, loss...Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

They all have their own advantages and disadvantages, but like I said, it's the old fashion, and 100% offline. Moreover, natural disaster is barely a thing is some regions, so that was why I never suggested that writing was the best option. From the few replies I have read on this thread so far, it seems majority don't agree with the PM thing, which I don't know why.

At the end of the day, accountability is still an individual thing, so we all might just want to do what is best for ourselves.

[DanWalker]

That's a natural disaster, it does not happen as frequently as online attacks, you are a hundred times more likely to face numerous online attacks than one natural disaster, depending on where you live though, and when faced with a natural disaster, your life will probably come first before you worry about your money.

However, if you have a summer home or you are lucky to have more than one location, you can keep your seed phrase in the two locations, or you can opt for stainless steel rather than paper.

I agree, natural disasters are not as numerous and frequent as online risks, but not everywhere in the world is the same. With climate change in recent years, natural disasters are on the rise. There are countries and regions where forest fires, earthquakes or floods occur almost every year, such as countries like Japan, Philippines...For users in this region, offline storage will be a challenge.
According to some reports, Japan experiences an average of 1,500-2,000 earthquakes per year while the Philippines faces 19-21 typhoons and floods per year. This is no small challenge and only those living in these areas understand the risks of using physical assets or offline storage.

What I mean is that everything has risks and we should choose the appropriate method based on the regional situation, environment...We cannot say that online storage is always risky and offline storage is always safe.