Can I recover a Monero wallet from its seed?

Yes. You can usually recover your Monero wallet from its seed, the set of secret words you saved when you created it, even if you lose your device or delete the wallet app. You need a wallet that supports your seed format, plus any extra seed passphrase you originally used.

What your seed can recover

Your Monero stays recorded on the blockchain, the shared record of transactions, rather than inside your phone or computer. Your seed recreates the secret keys that let your wallet find and spend your funds.

Restoring from a seed can recover access to:

• XMR you received, including mining payouts already sent to your wallet.
• Your wallet’s main address and the additional receiving addresses it can recreate.
• Funds you still control, even if your original wallet app is gone.

It does not recover mining earnings that a website or pool has not paid out yet. Those depend on that service’s records and payout rules.

Your seed also may not restore local information, such as address-book entries, transaction notes, or account labels. A separate backup of your wallet files may preserve those details.

Choose a wallet that supports your seed

Not every Monero wallet uses the same seed format. Traditional Monero seeds commonly contain 25 words, while some newer wallets use different formats, such as 16-word Polyseed backups.

Use a trusted wallet’s restore from seed option and check that it supports your exact format. Get the software from its official source, not an advert or a message from someone offering recovery help.

If you used an extra seed passphrase, you need that too. This is different from the password that unlocks your wallet app. You can usually set a new app password during recovery, but a missing seed passphrase can prevent you from recovering the correct wallet.

For a hardware wallet, follow the device maker’s recovery instructions. Avoid typing its recovery words into an ordinary computer or phone.

Restore and let the wallet scan

The usual process is:

1. Choose restore wallet from seed.
2. Enter your words in the correct order.
3. Enter any required seed passphrase.
4. Set a new password to protect the wallet on your device.
5. Let it scan the blockchain for your transactions.

You may be asked for a restore height: the block number where scanning should begin. A block is a batch of recorded transactions. Choose a height, or a supported date, from before your first payment.

If you are unsure, scan from the beginning. That takes longer but avoids skipping older payments. Some seed formats already include information that helps choose the starting point.

An empty balance during scanning does not necessarily mean recovery failed. Wait for scanning to finish. If funds are still missing, check the seed format, passphrase, restore height, and whether additional accounts or receiving addresses need to be recreated.

The bottom line

Your seed is normally enough to recover your Monero wallet, provided you have any required extra passphrase and compatible software. Keep the words private and stored safely offline: anyone with the complete recovery details can spend your XMR.

Never give your seed to a mining website, support agent, or “recovery expert.” Restoring a wallet cannot reverse theft, and without your seed, usable wallet files, or another valid key backup, recovery may be impossible.