Check Your Bitcoin Wallet/Seed Phrase Once A While to Know if Everything is Okay

[Agbe]

There are lot of stories coming to our ears and eyes to see about people misplacing their seed phrase and lost their bitcoins forever. But if they were at least once a week or Month login to their wallets to check if everything is alright and also check the physical saved seed phrase is in good condition. And if they could not found the physical saved seed phrase, but they can login to the wallets, they can take the seed phrase again from the login wallet and keep it in a saved place. And don't automatically abandon your wallet because you have saved it in a good place or object.  Always login to your wallet or whatever place your store your coins to see if they are okay. We have read stories and heard people lost their bitcoins in a careless way or over confident that they are saved because the seed phrase is saved.
Avoid using Custodial wallets/exchanges to keep your bitcoins, because you are not the controller of the seed phrase and the exchange account. Use non custodial wallets. And always ask questions when you don't know what to do.  I don't know why people are still losing Bitcoin in the cold hands of custodial wallets/exchanges. Only seed Bitcoin to exchange when you want to sell and not to keep bitcoin there. Always remember the slogan: "Not your key, not your coins".

Not to input your seed phrase again but to check where you kept it. But to login your wallet to know if your coins are saved.

[bitbollo]

I would say simply not. You don't need to check "once a while"...
if your seed/phrases has been tested one time (how it should be initially) what should be the sense to test every...week/or month? it could change something?
the same tested words would stop to recover an address? ... imagine people using many address/chains/channel payments... no one could this to (and has not sense... coins are make to be stored not to be verified "once on a while").
login to wallet? you can just sign an offline message and see if everything is working fine. nothing more nothing less.
I would avoid to use any key/seed in online machine for "verifying" whatever it is still working.

[Agbe]

I would say simply not. You don't need to check "once a while"...
if your seed/phrases has been tested one time (how it should be initially) what should be the sense to test every...week/or month? it could change something?
the same tested words would stop to recover an address? ... imagine people using many address/chains/channel payments... no one could this to (and has not sense... coins are make to be stored not to be verified "once on a while").
login to wallet? you can just sign an offline message and see if everything is working fine. nothing more nothing less.
I would avoid to use any key/seed in online machine for "verifyng" whatever it is still working.

It is not necessary that you input the seed phrase in the wallet but to check if it is in the place you kept it and the letters are alright. But as foe the wallet, it is good you check login to see your coins. I create this thread because of the stories heard and a comment I made from the gambling board.

[Moreno233]

There are good reasons to be checking the place where the seed phrase is kept and to ensure they are still there. This can be done quarterly or twice per year and not weekly or monthly like you suggested. I don't also agree to performing regular opinions to the wallet, that can expose your wallet to security risk. When backing up the wallet, the login process is enough that everything is fine for me and not regular login which can lead to some form of risk.

[bitbollo]

...good you check login...

No. I just sign a message off line. I just check blockchain. I don't need nothing for "login" and I continue to say that has no sense
If you use crypto, you don't "login" to show you own, at least you sign a message using a wallet.
I would never try my seed/private key in any online wallet or even online laptop if the address has been created for cold storage.

About check "phisical location" sure we know all, and there are many topics and arguments/service like https://www.seedor.io/
Would you check also regularly this seed once has been buried ? ...

[Cointxz]

My seed phrase was located on multiple location of my house while no one in my neighborhood knew that I involved on Bitcoin so I’m confident about the safety of its location and content since I do check regularly my balance on blockchain.

I do a regular check here when flood season in my country just in case there will be a possibility of flood that so far nothing happened for the last 5 years.

The best safety precautions is to never let others knew you involved on Bitcoin so that you don’t need to be worried about your seed phrase. 

[pawanjain]

But if they were at least once a week or Month login to their wallets to check if everything is alright and also check the physical saved seed phrase is in good condition

I get your point that we should keep on checking our seed phrases just to make sure it is safe and secure.
But the thing is that we should not be checking our seed phrase that frequently because it might be the reason we get hacked.
If we check every week or month it will increase our probability of getting hacked.
So it's better to check for the seed phrase just once or twice a year to be on the safer side.

[The Cryptovator]

First of all, I have stored my seed phrase in multiple places, and another is far from my home. So even if my seed phrase is lost or damaged along with the device, my other backup will help to recover my wallet. However, still sometimes I need to use my hardware wallet for moving funds to the exchange and from the exchange to the hardware wallet. I usually don't store funds in the exchange; I always move them into a hardware wallet once trading is complete. Only keep a small amount for trading on the exchange for regular trade.

So yes, I agree with OP. Sometimes we need to check our wallet is working fine; otherwise, the backup is also secure. When you lose one, then another should help to restore the wallet. It's very important to secure your seed phrase in multiple places. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow; if something goes wrong, then funds should be secured.

[Zlantann]

My seed phrase was located on multiple location of my house while no one in my neighborhood knew that I involved on Bitcoin so I’m confident about the safety of its location and content since I regularly check my balance on blockchain.

I do a regular check here when flood season in my country just in case there will be a possibility of flood that so far nothing happened for the last 5 years.

The best safety precautions is to never let others knew you involved on Bitcoin so that you don’t need to be worried about your seed phrase.  

Everyone would apply measures that are best for them. If checking it periodically gives you peace of mind, that's okay. For me, I check where the seed phrase is kept once in a while but I don't log in since I can easily check transactions in the blockchain. Consistent logging in and out of your wallet (especially an online wallet) could expose your wallet to attacks. There are significant risks in always connecting your wallet to the Internet.

However, sometimes there is news about wallets suffering general security breaches, phishing attacks, and technical glitches. At this point, it is important to log into your wallet and take the necessary security measures.

[Cryptoprincess101]

My seed phrase was located on multiple location of my house while no one in my neighborhood knew that I involved on Bitcoin so I’m confident about the safety of its location and content since I do check regularly my balance on blockchain.

I think this solves it, keeping seed phrases in different locations is very important so that if you lose or forget where you kept it in one location, you won't forget where you kept it in another location. Why do i need to be login in my wallet weekly as OP said, except for someone who trades bitcoin but for a hodler, there's absolutely no need to be checking your wallet all the time. Someone can use blockchain explorer to track their transactions or check wallet balance if need be, instead of regular logins when you are not performing any transaction.

[MusaMohamed]

I would say simply not. You don't need to check "once a while"...

If checking is done with Bitcoin block explorer with Tor or watch only wallet, that's good and acceptable. If checking is with wallet backup usability, it's good too, as it can help you detecting any broken and unusable wallet backups and replace them as soon as possible.

If checking means connecting your wallet to Internet, it's risky and should be avoided or minimized times of doing that.

Some more advice about that.
How to back up a seed phrase?

Seed Backup Threat Model

Loss due to destruction
Loss due to not being able to restore from backup

21 tips for securing your bitcoin.

#10 — Keep keys offline

Unless you’re ready to send a bitcoin transaction, your keys should be kept far away from the internet at all times. If your key is connected to the internet, it can be hacked. Mobile wallets are acceptable only for small amounts, around how much cash you’d carry around with you in a physical wallet.

When you’re not sending a transaction, keep your keys in cold storage (offline) for any long-term holdings.

#16 — Don’t allow your seed phrase backups to be a single point of failure

Seed phrases are overrated. While hardware wallet manufacturers typically encourage you to create seed phrase backups of your keys, hiding a piece of paper from the world forever requires security knowledge most people don’t have.

If you choose to use a seed phrase backup, we would recommend that you maintain redundancy with your backups. Keeping a seed phrase is optional with a multisig wallet like Casa, but we recommend hanging onto at least 1 seed in a 5-key vault for easy recovery.

[m2017]

But if they were at least once a week or Month login to their wallets to check if everything is alright and also check the physical saved seed phrase is in good condition.

What if I buried my seed phrase under a tree in my yard? What then? Do I have to dig it up and then bury it again every time? And if I have a lot of neighbors around, should I do it in front of them? To compromise my seed phrase?

And if they could not found the physical saved seed phrase, but they can login to the wallets, they can take the seed phrase again from the login wallet and keep it in a saved place.

Tell us more about this place: how do you propose to extract the seed phrase from a hardware wallet?

We have read stories and heard people lost their bitcoins in a careless way or over confident that they are saved because the seed phrase is saved.

Because they didn't make backups (multiple copies of the seed phrase).

[sokani]

Checking the location of the seed phrase to see if it is still there or in good shape is a good practice. But, tbh, I don't see the need to be checking the wallet frequently to see if your fund is still there. It is just unnecessary. If you use a passphrase in creating your seed phrase and keep both offline in separate locations, you should be fine.

[Btcdeybodi]

But if they were at least once a week or Month login to their wallets to check if everything is alright and also check the physical saved seed phrase is in good condition.

What if I buried my seed phrase under a tree in my yard? What then? Do I have to dig it up and then bury it again every time? And if I have a lot of neighbors around, should I do it in front of them? To compromise my seed phrase?

Very good question, maybe OP stores his wallet seed phrase in his room where neighbors will not see him when he is bringing it out

And if they could not found the physical saved seed phrase, but they can login to the wallets, they can take the seed phrase again from the login wallet and keep it in a saved place.

Tell us more about this place: how do you propose to extract the seed phrase from a hardware wallet?

I think he is talking about some open source software wallets that can recover a seed phrase using a login password. Electrum wallet does it, you can recover a seed phrase by merely using a password.

[Dex_master25]

Am still in the process of getting and using a wallet,  it I think it is good practice to always check the seed phrase to see that it still has access and is kept properly.
Since I know it's difficult to recover lost coins, during a cold wallet is safer for me because I don't trust apps or my device that can be hacked or logged in by someone else from a different location due to phishing attacks or envy from close friends and relationships.

[noorman0]

From how to back up your seed phrase, it seems like you are referring to a cold wallet that should be made so that it is rarely touched. If you do otherwise, you don't fully understand cold wallets. The ideal practice is that you should access again if you feel your keys are no longer safe, and even then the purpose of accessing is to perform a forced recovery of bitcoins to another new cold wallet.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Checking the seed phrase is appropriate if it is stored on some USB drive or just on a piece of paper, which is probably what the OP of the question is saying, since his remark about the need to check for letters clearly implies paper.

It is not necessary that you input the seed phrase in the wallet but to check if it is in the place you kept it and the letters are already.

Sometimes our USB drives can simply fail, the paper may lose its integrity over time, and so on. Therefore, it is recommended to spend money on storing seed phrases on more reliable media, such as a steel plate, and in more reliable places, and not in one copy. But it can also be dangerous if the number of such “archives” is not within reasonable limits, allowing for paranoia.

[Spaceman1000$]

I wouldn't know for a lot of persons but I believe there is a saying that says "where your treasure lies there will your heart be". If you should have an investment somewhere, it's good you always check to know how your investment is fairing. Your wallet should be checked on a routine basis, probably once in a month or twice, this is because if any of the periods you misplace your seed phrase you can easily trace it to know how you misplaced it but if it is kept for a long time probably five or six months tracing it becomes difficult seed phrase is misplaced.

[TokenTikas]

Not to input your seed phrase again but to check where you kept it. But to login your wallet to know if your coins are saved.

Usually, there is no real need to check it too frequently but it is still important to check it from time to time. I also try to review and fix things occasionally using another device, everything on my side is in proper order. In fact, for people who have not checked it for a long time, it is normal for them to forget about it, but many people keep their security phase very safe, so they do not really need to check it again and again. Even so, it is still necessary to check once in a while to be sure that the investment wallet is still in good condition.

[Awaklara]

For the main wallet, I only access it about once a month, just to make transactions. What you said is correct. When we occasionally check the wallet and look at the seed phrase, it becomes like a user error prevention step.
I don't make very strict security for the seed phrase that I keep, but just a place that probably only I know. Whereas for transactions that are done more frequently, I separate a little into another wallet, just to perform routine transactions that I access from a mobile device.