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Create an account & get funds

Set up an account in the Polkadot app, keep its recovery phrase safe and get enough devnet funds to start using apps. You need the app installed first. Download links are in Get the app.

This page covers the account you use in the app. To deploy a Product you need a separate CLI signing key, described in Set up an account. A throwaway one takes a single command.

1. Create or import the account

  1. Open the app. It starts by asking for a username, and creates the account for you once you pick one. There is no separate "create account" step.
  2. If you already have a recovery phrase, tap Already using Polkadot? Recover here on that same screen instead, and restore from it.
  3. The app does not show you your recovery phrase on its own. Get it from Settings → Security & privacy → Backup, as described in Back up & restore your account.

The app is self-custodial: your keys are created and stored on your own device. The app's backend never holds them, and every signature happens on the device after you approve it.

Your recovery phrase is the account

Anyone who holds your recovery phrase controls the account, and losing it means losing access. Write it down, store it offline, and never paste it into a website, a chat, or a support request. The Polkadot app will never ask you to share it.

Log in on the desktop app

The desktop (and web) app holds no keys of its own. It pairs with your phone, and signing stays on the phone. So set up the account on mobile first:

  1. Create or import your account in the mobile app, as above.
  2. Open the desktop app and scan the QR code it shows to pair the two devices.
  3. If macOS asks for network options, choose dev only.

The client architecture explains why signing happens on the phone.

2. Get devnet funds

Nothing funds a new account automatically. You need two different things, from two different places:

What What it is for Where to get it
CASH The balance you spend inside the app The "+" top-up in the app. See Get & use CASH
Native tokens (PAS) Transaction fees, and keeping the account alive The faucet, below

The faucet does not give you CASH, and the in-app top-up does not give you fees. A new account usually needs both.

Fund the account from the faucet

Devnet funds come from the Polkadot faucet. It serves several networks, so you have to pick two things: Paseo, and the right parachain. These links pre-select both:

You need fees for Use
Contracts, .dot names, publishing Paseo Asset Hub (1000)
Sending CASH, usernames, personhood Paseo People (1004)

Paste your SS58 address (the one the app shows on its receive screen, or dotns account address for CLI work), not an EVM 0x… address. The faucet pays the native token, PAS.

Do not pick an Asset Hub Next or People Next chain

The faucet also lists Asset Hub Next (1500) and People Next (1502). Those belong to Paseo Next v2 (paseo preset), a different network. Funds sent there will not appear on this Devnet, and the balance you are waiting for will never arrive.

A request pays 5,000 PAS and normally lands within a block or two, which is a few seconds.

Check the funds arrived

The app shows the balance once it refreshes. To check it yourself, open Polkadot-JS Apps on the chain you funded (Asset Hub or People), select system → account, paste your SS58 address and read data.free.

If it is still zero a minute later, the request went to a different chain from the one you are using. Request again from the link for the chain you need.

Afterwards, keep a small PAS balance. As on other Substrate-based chains, an account needs one to stay active and pay fees.

Learn more

Last update: October 28, 2026
| Created: July 16, 2026