How to Recover Zano Wallet

Why recovery works

Zano Wallet is non-custodial. Your 24-word seed phrase is the cryptographic root that derives your address, your view key, and your spend key. Anyone with the seed phrase can recreate the wallet on any computer and access the funds. We do not store your seed; we cannot recover it for you.

This is the structural advantage of self-custody. The downside: lose the seed and the funds are unrecoverable. The upside: a hard drive crash, lost laptop, or service shutdown does not threaten your funds.

Step 1: Get your seed phrase

You wrote it down when you first created the wallet. Find it. Confirm all 24 words are legible. If you cannot find your seed phrase, the funds may be unrecoverable. This is why we tell every new user: write the seed on paper, store in two secure locations, never digital, never email, never photograph.

Step 2: Install Zano Wallet on the new computer

Download from zanowallet.io/download. Confirm you are on the official domain (not a typo-squat). Install.

Step 3: Choose "Restore from Seed"

On first launch, the wallet asks: "Create new wallet" or "Restore existing wallet." Choose "Restore from Seed" (the exact wording may vary by version).

Step 4: Enter the seed phrase

Carefully type all 24 words in order. The wallet validates each word against the BIP-39 dictionary as you type — if a word is misspelled, the wallet flags it. If the last word does not match the cryptographic checksum, the wallet rejects the seed (likely a typo earlier in the sequence — check carefully).

Step 5: Set a wallet password

This password encrypts the wallet file on disk. It is local to this installation only. If you forget it, you re-recover using the seed. The password is NOT the seed — these are separate.

Step 6: Wait for sync

The wallet scans the Zano blockchain for transactions to your addresses. This takes time — typically 15 minutes via predownload checkpoint, longer for first-time scans on slower machines. During scan, the wallet displays your funds as they are detected.

Step 7: Verify the balance

Once sync completes, your balance should match what was in the original wallet. If a transaction is missing, check if the scan finished — partial sync shows partial balance.

Common issues

"The seed is invalid." Double-check word spelling. Words must be in BIP-39 dictionary. Common typos: missing letter, transposed letters, wrong word from a similar pair (e.g., "abandon" vs "abdomen").

"The seed is valid but my funds are missing." Either (a) the sync has not finished — wait; (b) the seed is for a different wallet (not yours); (c) the funds were moved from this address.

"Recovery is taking forever." Slow connection or weak hardware. Let it run overnight. Predownload checkpoint should reduce sync to minutes, not hours.

Important security notes

• Never enter your seed phrase on a website. Wallets ask in-app, not via web form.
• Never email or text your seed.
• Never store the seed in cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud). If those accounts are compromised, your funds go with them.
• Paper backups in secure physical locations is the standard.

Related

• Download Zano Wallet
• Security
• FAQ