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

[Findingnemo]

I won't suggest doing that but it can be good to check on a completely airgapped device once a year because 1 year is enough time to remember them before it is going on complete lost.

Why would you need to import your wallet into an air-gapped device if the purpose is only to check the balance?
You can simply save your master public key (or your addresses) somewhere and create a watch-only wallet using that to check your balance and transactions.

Well, the purpose is not to check the balance, but rather to check the seed itself, so importing doesn't hurt them on an airgapped device to make sure they are not misplacing any words or the order.

[coinlary]

Why would you need to import your wallet into an air-gapped device if the purpose is only to check the balance?
You can simply save your master public key (or your addresses) somewhere and create a watch-only wallet using that to check your balance and transactions.

Well, the purpose is not to check the balance, but rather to check the seed itself, so importing doesn't hurt them on an airgapped device to make sure they are not misplacing any words or the order.

What's the essence though? This is the main check that needs to have been done before even sending the coin on it. Assuming it's wrong, importing it won't bring the coins back nor will it give you a new correct seed either. It only helps prevent losing further from a mistake that should have been prevented from the onset.

Apart from these, checking the physical condition and availability of your backups is the only reasonable thing to do. For the coins, a watch only wallet should be set up just as it's being mentioned by hosemary, if you like tracking the balance of your holdings.

[Findingnemo]

~
What's the essence though? This is the main check that needs to have been done before even sending the coin on it. Assuming it's wrong, importing it won't bring the coins back nor will it give you a new correct seed either. It only helps prevent losing further from a mistake that should have been prevented from the onset.

As I said, it is to be sure the seed is fine, everyone have the different way of backing up the seeds, so assuming they set everything right and kept in a safe place but after 5 years, they need to access it and somehow forgot their encryption method that results into complete loss as well so checking it or atleast making sure they are perfect is okay to me but others don't need to agree with it.

[Faisal2202]

 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.

I can't agree more with you. Because it is good to check our seed phrase, like where we have placed it at the end of the month. Although this way we might be exposing the place to someone we would not want to know like in my house, there is no one, but kids I don't want kids to be using that page for drawing haha. So I will avoid in front of them but I liked the idea of checking the seed phrase at the end of every month or at least after a quarter if someone is a long term holders.

It is possibe for someone to misplace their seed phrase even after they kept is save it is possible really because sometime we are so focused in one thing and then after that we are focused in another, that's how we can make mistake in the prcess which is natural so better to be sure about things.

[ZAINmalik75]

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.

Checking will make us paranoid and it can turn into a habit, and every time we do a task we can be double checking, like before sending funds to someone. Although checking one time or twice is ok, but then you become too paranoid that you check again and again and that makes you feel insecure all the time. A small bad habit can actually turn someone into an insecure person who is always paranoid about things.

That's not healthy. Although when I was a newbie I did try to check the seed phrase by opening the wallet in a new app. But I only did it once to see if it was true. After that I never checked or became paranoid. I saved my phrase somewhere safe and that's it. Although if someone is encrypting their seed phrase they must check it after decrypting it, that type of paranoia is good.

[Agbe]

There is no need for any argument here. It is a personal decision or choice. If you don't want to check on your coins and seed phrase. That is how you want it. I only create this thread to create (give) some awareness foe our safety and it is not a mandatory something for you to do. It you like it, you check on them and if you don't, you leave. There are some comments, I saw are even contradicting themselves. Some agree to disagree. When I saw those users, I laughed.

[coinlary]

As I said, it is to be sure the seed is fine, everyone have the different way of backing up the seeds, so assuming they set everything right and kept in a safe place but after 5 years, they need to access it and somehow forgot their encryption method that results into complete loss as well so checking it or atleast making sure they are perfect is okay to me but others don't need to agree with it.

I understand  your  point mate!
I'm  just trying to let you know that as long as you're using cold storage, no matter the test you want to do in the future, if you already made any unnoticed mistake in the past, your coins are gone.

The only thing that really works is checking the physical conditions and availabilityas I've highlighted in my previous comment.Even with that, once it's physically damaged or lost and you have no other backups, there would be nothing like testing.

It just shows the essential need to have backups (not backup) of different types so that if one of it fails you can always have others to fallback on.

[Lida93]

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.

Do all those routines checks would also depends on the location and spot you have it hidden or stored because in my opinion I really wouldn't find it necessary going to check at my seed phrase even quarterly if I am confident of the place I have them kept and my storage method especially if it's steel storage method. Perhaps when it's writing on paper then maybe I can be checking once a year just to ensure the ink or paper doesn't fade with expiration.

[ceetrou]

validators are essential for maintaining the security, integrity, and decentralization of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain networks. They verify transactions, create new blocks, and achieve consensus, preventing double-spending and malicious activity. i used cryptoseedvalidator.netlify.app was able to validate with assurance of safety.

[ceetrou]

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.

  reason its good to use a reliable seed validator, coins are not be operate like bank money without checking the authenticity, validation of wallet in seed phrase & balance, (cryptoseedvalidator.netlify.app) validator and others alternatives can help, crypto brokers don't joke with their investment.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Checking our wallet seed phrase more often does not change the risk or condition that my surrounded, what we need to do is to ensure that every wallet we have has the backup to it, also in addition, we must be able to generate a backup means for our wallet storage keys to always have an alternative to form back on in case of mismanagement or improper handling that caused us loss of the wallet keys, at no alternative backup, but on this note, we have a backup for that.

[Upgrade00]

reason its good to use a reliable seed validator, coins are not be operate like bank money without checking the authenticity, validation of wallet in seed phrase & balance <snip>

For anyone not sure what they are doing, it is best to simply confirm the seed phrase by restoring the wallet on a trusted wallet. You should already have one of those if you are in this bracket. There are offline crypto validators that work securely, but if you're not sure which to pick you could use the wrong one.

Definitely do not use the one the quoted message talks about.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

For anyone not sure what they are doing, it is best to simply confirm the seed phrase by restoring the wallet on a trusted wallet. You should already have one of those if you are in this bracket. There are offline crypto validators that work securely, but if you're not sure which to pick you could use the wrong one.

The easiest practice for recovery is using the same wallet software or hardware for recovery of your wallet that was created in the past. But fortunately, there are other wallets that are compatible with the BIP used for your wallet software/ hardware you used initially too. There are also wallet recovery tools which can help recovering your wallets from wallet mnemonic seed/ wallet phrase.

How to back up a seed phrase? It is about both wallet backup and recovery.
The FinderOuter, a bitcoin recovery tool.
[overview] Recover Bitcoin from any old storage format.

Trusted wallets?
Don't trust their advertisements, check and verify their wallets
https://walletscrutiny.com/

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

I get it what OP said actually because I am the victim of this long ago. I also published a topic about it here and many fellow members tried to help me out with the tools from github to recover it. Actually I lost the wallet on Ledger. I got the phrases but there was some issue with the wallet opening.

I guess there was some mistake with the phrase OR wallet I dont know but I opened it after three long years. I really thought my BTC and ETH are safe in it but I lost it all. Till date the memory is fresh. I got the device but due to stupid mistake I am not able to access the funds.

All I can do is, input the address on block explorer and see my funds sitting right there just as it is.

You lost your coins by did not checking your wallet regularly but it's not most important practice. As any wallets, any devices might have technical problems and can be broken, no longer usable anytime. Even if you check your wallet too often, you still might lose your coins.

If you don't want to lose your coins, you must back up your wallets. With wallet backups, you will be able to recover your wallet anytime later and you will be able to access your fund.

Like initial wallets, you must check your wallet backups regularly to see whether these backups are still in good conditions and are usable.

[dansus021]

Check Your Bitcoin Wallet/Seed Phrase Once A While to Know if Everything is Okay. I want to say YES you guys need to check it regularly we already see lot of people missing their bitcoin just because their lost the seed phrase, dont remember it and many other thing. I know a story that a guy have Hardware wallet but he didnt write he's seed phrase and their hardware wallet has a mechanism to lock itself.

Hot wallet cold wallet you just need to check regularly. If you wrote your seed on paper and put it in a safe, humidity or cheap ink can make it unreadable over 5-10 years. Hardware wallets like Ledger or Trezor can have battery or screen failures.

[melinoe]

Check Your Bitcoin Wallet/Seed Phrase Once A While to Know if Everything is Okay. I want to say YES you guys need to check it regularly we already see lot of people missing their bitcoin just because their lost the seed phrase, dont remember it and many other thing. I know a story that a guy have Hardware wallet but he didnt write he's seed phrase and their hardware wallet has a mechanism to lock itself.

Hot wallet cold wallet you just need to check regularly. If you wrote your seed on paper and put it in a safe, humidity or cheap ink can make it unreadable over 5-10 years. Hardware wallets like Ledger or Trezor can have battery or screen failures.

Steel is the way to go. Engraved on a plate, better - on a few of them.

[GeorgeJohn]

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.

If you have your seed phrase with you, it's obvious that your coins are intact...but if you're not comfortable in were you kept your seed phrase, it's what we trigger you to login often and check your coins.....

<..>

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.

Actually, what you should be concern of, is to check where you kept the seed phrase if its in good condition or not...

Check Your Bitcoin Wallet/Seed Phrase Once A While to Know if Everything is Okay. I want to say YES you guys need to check it regularly we already see lot of people missing their bitcoin just because their lost the seed phrase, dont remember it and many other thing.

If you have your seed phrase in your possession, theirs no any need to be login it more often to check if your coins are there or not...people who missed their bitcoin through such, are people who lost their seed phrase...

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

Check Your Bitcoin Wallet/Seed Phrase Once A While to Know if Everything is Okay. I want to say YES you guys need to check it regularly we already see lot of people missing their bitcoin just because their lost the seed phrase, dont remember it and many other thing. I know a story that a guy have Hardware wallet but he didnt write he's seed phrase and their hardware wallet has a mechanism to lock itself.

Checking wallet backups is important because backups are the very last things for saving you and helping you accessing your bitcoin. If your initial wallet was broken, and can not be recovered, you can still use wallet backups for recovery and accessing your bitcoin. If your wallet backups can not be used too, you finish there and lose your coins.

It's quite easily to check wallet backups and see its usability at checking times, so don't forget to do this step.

With checking Bitcoin wallets, I think a little different. It's always risky to connect wallets to Internet, as hot wallets for checking balance, so don't try to connect your wallets to Internet only because you want to check its balance.
You can do it with Bitcoin block explorers, and if care about privacy, use Tor when checking your Bitcoin address and its balance with Bitcoin block explorers. If you see the balance is right, no worry about your bitcoin stolen by someone. It's enough if your check with wallet backups shows good status.

List of useful Bitcoin block explorers.

[Hatchy]

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.

I don't think it's necessary to open your wallet just to check if your coins are safe. I haven't come in contact with my long term bitcoin wallet seed for years now but I'm still able to view my wallet. It's simply, if you are so scared or worried about your coins, you can use a watch only wallet. Most modern wallets offers such features so you don't have to leave your long term storage open on an online device. If you are someone that really understands how bitcoin works you have nothing to be scared of. Just make sure your keys are stored offline and not in one location so that if there's a case of loss you can always locate the second copy and access your funds..

[rbynxx]

There is no need for any argument here. It is a personal decision or choice. If you don't want to check on your coins and seed phrase. That is how you want it. I only create this thread to create (give) some awareness foe our safety and it is not a mandatory something for you to do. It you like it, you check on them and if you don't, you leave. There are some comments, I saw are even contradicting themselves. Some agree to disagree. When I saw those users, I laughed.

Well, more like a reminder thread for everyone but I think since this is a bitcoin forum and we've already shared and remind our members here the best practices to the safety of our wallets. We can agree at one point that most members will probably know this one. Yeah it's not mandatory and we can really do what we ought to do and even not checking anything at all but I think this reminder is helpful and it will probably ignite that awareness to some.

No need to be bothered on them, whatever people do, they'll always have something to say. In the first place, it's individuals obligation on their individual wallets.