Before we start...
Don't ever share your recovery phrase with anyone or anything. Whoever has it can steal all of the funds associated with that phrase. Never let it leave your control. Never back it up online. Now let's continue...
Backing up
Since Coinomi is an HD wallet, all you need as a backup is your Recovery Phrase. That simple list of words backs up all transaction histories and balances for all coins that you added under it. You can review it by going to "Settings / Manage wallets". Select the wallet you want to back up and choose "Recovery Phrase". Each entry on the "manage wallets" screen has its own phrase. Back them all up safely. Below is an example of recovery phrase, and the order in which the words must be used. *If you created your wallet and have not backed up yet there will be a banner on the overview screen which you can tap to take you straight to your recovery phrase.
All 24 words must be written down in this exact order. ✅ It's essential that users keep a proper backup of their phrases and never share it with anyone. This can never be emphasized enough. | Later, the app asks you to confirm you wrote down the phrase correctly. Select each work in the same order as the original phrase from the previous screen. ❌ This is a scrambled version of the phrase and does not work as a backup! |
It is essential that you have a backup of the recovery phrase and keep it stored somewhere safe and private. If anything happens to your device, it is the only thing that can restore access to your funds. If you lost your recovery phrase backup, please read this. Anyone who has access to it is able to move the coins without your permission. We do not have access to your phrase, never have and never will.
✅ You can write it down on paper or durable material and keep it in a fireproof vault.
✅ You can store it digitally offline in an encrypted file protected by a strong password.
✅ If you decide to store it digitally, it pays to be extra careful and use a clean device that was never online.
❌ Do not keep it on the same phone where Coinomi is installed. If you lose the phone, you lose everything.
❌ Do not store it digitally in plain text (or plain image), specially on cloud services.
❌ Do not leave it where other people can see it. Never share it with anyone, not even us.
⚠️ For security, your Recovery Phrase is never transmitted out of your device. If you lose it, we cannot retrieve it!
⚠️ If you ever set a BIP39 passphrase (unrelated to your app password), it must also be backed up and used when restoring. If your wallet has a BIP39 passphrase enabled, there will be a note saying so under your list of 24 words. The passphrase itself cannot be shown or recovered. If you enabled it and forgot what it was, you will not be able to restore.
Restoring
If you ever lose or change phones, or want to use multiple devices at the same time, simply install Coinomi and choose the option "restore a wallet" and input all words in order. On mobile devices, enter the first 3 or 4 letters of each word and select the suggestion below the keyboard for each of the words.
Select the "restore a wallet" option | Enter the first few letters of a word and select it on the bottom of the keyboard. Repeat this for each of the 24 words. |
If you had a BIP39 passphrase, enable the "advanced settings" under the keyboard. The BIP39 option is an extra layer of security for your recovery phrase. It is not your password, you will set it on the next screen. Wallets in Coinomi are created without one by default. Do not select that option unless you know exactly what it is.
Passwords are individual for each device. You don't have the same one on every device, and a password change does not carry over to to other devices. After setting the password and selecting which coins you want to add, your balances should be visible within seconds after a refresh from our servers. Tokens are restored just the same, just add them from the "Add tokens" list.
Error during restoration
The desktop or iOS versions may have different error messages, but all the possible error causes are listed below. If you are getting an error, the cause and solution is listed here.
I don't have my recovery phrase
More details can be found here, Please read: https://coinomi.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/29000013316
After restoring, my wallets are completely empty
Please read the detailed instructions for resolving this here: https://coinomi.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/29000009679
The keyboard does not let you write a word:
The blue in-app keyboard is programmed to only accept valid recovery words. If the word you are trying to write isn't accepted, it means you didn't copy your phrase correctly and you misspelled that word. You can see the full list of valid words here. Look for words that differ by one or two characters, words that sound similar to yours, or words that could have been autocorrected by "smart" keyboards .
Error message: "Word list is empty"
Solution: if you are on Android, close the normal system keyboard before starting to enter your phrase. Use only our secure blue keyboard that appears under the phrase box, selecting the word suggestions from it. This is to prevent keyboards from "learning" your phrase or possibly uploading it to a server out of your control.
Error message: "Could not verify your recovery phrase. Word list size must be multiples of three words."
Solution: A recovery phrase can only be 12, 15, 18, 21, or 24 words long. Make sure that you have not repeated or forgotten any words in your recovery phrase. If you wrote down a recovery phrase that is not of this length, you don't have the correct phrase. You may have created your phrase with an additional BIP39 password and are entering it as a 25th word. If this is the case, remove the word, check the box "Use a BIP39 passphrase" and enter your extra password(s). (Note that by default Coinomi creates wallets without a BIP39 passphrase)
Error message: "Recovery phrase contains unrecognized words."
Solution: This error means that at least one of the words in your phrase is not in the official list of supported words, or you may have an uppercase character. Make sure all characters are in lowercase first. Then you can test your phrase here as it tells you which word is unrecognized. You can also see the full list of supported words here.
Error message: "Recovery phrase is not valid. Check if some words are misspelled."
Solution: This means all individual words on your phrase are valid, but they are either on the wrong order, or a typo changed one word into another valid word. This makes the phrase as a whole invalid. Check the full list of supported words here and look for words on your list that you could have misspelled, for example from "grid" -> "grit", "awake" -> "aware", "bind" -> "bird", "review" -> "reveal" (all of those words are, individually, valid)