--- title: apps-using-the-app-back-up-your-account url: https://developer.polkadot.com/apps/using-the-app/back-up-your-account/ word_count: 1292 token_estimate: 1846 version_hash: sha256:911c05ab13aeaea04c55245aaeda06f44defb6a6ee862d8a21a5129d3ecaea77 last_updated: 2026-10-28T08:43:55+00:00 --- # Back up & restore your account Your account lives on your phone, and a 12-word recovery phrase is what holds it. This page shows you how to back it up to your own cloud, write the phrase down and get the account back on another phone. The steps differ a little between Android and iOS. You need the app installed. Download links are in [Get the app](../reference/resources.md#get-the-app). !!! warning "The recovery phrase *is* the account" Anyone who has your recovery phrase can take over your account, and nobody can issue you a new one. Never type it into a website, send it in a chat, or give it to someone offering help. The Polkadot app will never ask you for it. ## What a backup covers A backup saves one thing: your 12-word phrase. That is enough to bring back your account, your username, your CASH and your collectables, because those belong to the account and not to the phone. Anything that only ever lived on the phone does not come back. Chat history and downloaded photos start fresh on a restored app. | | Cloud backup | Written-down phrase | | --- | --- | --- | | Where it goes | Your Google Drive (Android) or iCloud (iOS) | Paper, kept somewhere safe | | Covers you if | You lose, break or replace the phone | You also lose your Google or Apple account | | Effort | Two taps | A minute with a pen | Do both. ## Turn on the cloud backup The app tries to set this up when you first create your account, so it is often already on. Check, and switch it on if it is not. ### Android 1. Open the **Settings** tab. A warning dot on the tab means you have no backup. 2. Under **Security & privacy**, tap **Backup**. 3. You will see one of these: | What it says | What to do | | --- | --- | | **Account is backed up** | Nothing, you are set | | **Backup your account** | Tap **Backup Your account** and choose a Google account | | **Enable Google Drive** | Tap **Enable Google Drive**, allow access, then back up | | **Backup conflict** | You already backed up a different account. See below. | Your backup is saved in your own Google Drive, in a folder called **`Polkadot App - DO NOT DELETE`**. Do not delete or rename that folder. If you see **Backup conflict**: Google Drive keeps one Polkadot backup at a time. Backing up a second account offers to **Override existing backup**, and makes you tick a box saying *"I fully understand the risk"*. The account you replace cannot be recovered unless you already have its phrase on paper, so go and write that down first. If your phone has no Google Play: the app runs without Google Play services, but Google Drive backup needs them. On such a phone, writing the phrase down is your only backup, so do it straight away. ### iOS 1. Open the **Settings** tab. 2. Under **Security & privacy**, tap **Backup**. 3. You will see one of these: | What it says | What to do | | --- | --- | | **Account is Backed Up** | Nothing, you are set | | **Backup your account** | Tap **Backup Your Account** | | **Enable iCloud backup** | The app cannot reach iCloud. See below. | **Enable iCloud backup** talks you through signing in to iCloud and turning on iCloud Drive, with an **Open settings** button. It misses one setting you also need: your phrase is stored in the iCloud Keychain, so turn that on too under **Settings → *your name* → iCloud → Passwords and Keychain**. Then come back and tap **Backup Your Account**. !!! warning "You need the same account to get it back" A backup only opens for the account that made it. An Android backup can only be restored by signing in to the same Google account, and an iOS backup only reappears on a phone signed in to the same Apple Account. Make sure you can still get into that account. ## Write down the recovery phrase Do this even if the cloud backup is on. You can do it at any time, whether or not you have a backup yet. 1. **Settings → Security & privacy → Backup**. 2. Tap **View recovery phrase** on Android, or **View Secret Recovery Phrase** on iOS. 3. Read the warning and tap **Show recovery phrase**. 4. Unlock. Android asks for your usual screen lock (*"Verify it's you"*); iOS asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If iOS will not let you through, check that you have a passcode or Face ID set up on the phone. 5. Tap **Tap to reveal**, then copy the 12 words onto paper, in order. Keep the paper somewhere only you can get to. Android has no copy button on purpose. iOS does have **Copy to clipboard** under the words, for keeping the phrase in a password manager. If you use it, paste the phrase and then copy something else straight away, because other apps can read whatever is on your clipboard. ## Get your account back on another phone You can only restore onto an app that has no account on it yet. If the app on that phone is already set up with a different account, uninstall and reinstall it first. ### Android 1. Open the app. It starts on **Pick a username**. 2. Tap **Already using Polkadot? Recover here**. 3. Either tap **Backup from Google Drive** and sign in with the Google account that holds your backup, or tap **Import recovery phrase**, type your words in, and tap **Restore account**. 4. You will see **Account restored**. Confirm your username to finish. If you start creating a new account while a backup already exists, the app stops you with **We found an existing backup** and offers **Recover this backup** or **Replace with a new backup**. Replacing it cannot be undone. ### iOS iOS does this for you. If it finds your iCloud backup when you open the freshly installed app, it restores the account on its own. You don't need to tap anything. If it shows you **Pick Your Username** instead, the phone is signed in to a different Apple Account, or iCloud Keychain is switched off. Fix that in the iOS Settings app and reinstall. To use your written phrase instead, tap **Already using Polkadot? Recover here** and type it into **Recover Polkadot ID**. ### Desktop The desktop app has no account of its own. It works by pairing with your phone, and everything is approved on the phone, so there is nothing to back up. Get your phone working again, then open the desktop app and scan its QR code to pair once more. See [the client architecture](../architecture/client.md) for why it works this way. ## The hidden debug menu This test version of the app has a debug menu that the public Polkadot app does not. Shake your phone to open it, or on Android use **Settings → Debug → Debug menu**. It is meant for testing, and two things in it can cost you an account. On Android, **Copy wallet mnemonic** copies your 12 words without asking for your screen lock, so anyone holding your unlocked phone could take them. **Clear backup** deletes your Google Drive backup. On iOS there is no copy shortcut. **Clear Backup** deletes your iCloud backup, and **Replace Entropy (Random)** throws your account away and starts a new one, which you cannot undo without your written phrase. !!! danger "Nothing here asks you to confirm" Use the debug menu on accounts you do not mind losing, and have your recovery phrase written down before you tap anything that says *clear* or *replace*. ## Learn more - [Create an account & get funds](create-account.md): set the account up in the first place - [Username & proof of personhood](username-and-personhood.md): the username that comes back with the account - [The Polkadot app (client tier)](../architecture/client.md): where keys live and why the desktop app has none