Recovery
The recovery key restores your vault anywhere; the passphrase only unlocks it in one browser. What each one protects, what losing either means, and how to move to another device.
Two secrets protect your vault, and they do different jobs.
| Recovery key | Passphrase | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The vault's root itself, as text with a checksum | A phrase you choose, at least 10 characters |
| Where it works | On any device and in any browser | Only in the browser where you set it |
| What it gives | Everything: your balance, your void address and the power to spend | Access to the sealed vault in this browser |
| Shown | Once, when you create the vault | Never stored: the app keeps only the vault sealed with it |
| Can be changed | No. It is the vault. | Yes: restore the vault with the recovery key and choose a new one |
Your notes are on the chain, encrypted. Whoever holds the recovery key can find them all and spend them, from anywhere. The passphrase only opens the copy of the vault kept in one browser.
Anyone with your recovery key can spend your whole private balance, without your passphrase. Nobody can recover the key for you, including the Voidcash team: there is no copy on any server. Write it down offline and keep it where only you can reach it.
If you forget the passphrase
The sealed vault in that browser cannot be opened without it. Use the recovery key instead:
- On the unlock screen, press Remove from this browser and confirm.
- Choose Restore, paste the recovery key and choose a new passphrase.
Your balance and your address come back after the first sync. The activity list of that browser is gone: it was removed with the vault.
If you lose the recovery key
While a browser still holds the vault and you know its passphrase, you can keep using it: unlock, send and unshield as usual. But the key cannot be shown again, and a vault without its recovery key is lost with that browser's storage, for example if you clear site data or remove the vault.
To end up with a key you hold again, create a new vault, save its recovery key, and send
your balance to the new vault's void address. A send has no pool fee: you pay the relayer fee, and any merges.
If both the browser copy and the recovery key are gone, nobody can restore the vault or move its notes.
If someone else may have the recovery key
They can spend your notes as soon as they want, and you cannot change the key. Move your balance at once to a new
vault: create one in a browser you trust, save its recovery key, and send everything to its void address.
Moving to another device
Open the app on the new device
Choose Restore on the first screen.
Paste the recovery key
Type or paste it. A wrong character gives bad checksum: check for a typo, and nothing is restored.
Choose a passphrase for this browser
At least 10 characters. It does not have to match the one on your other device.
Wait for the first sync
The app downloads the pool's notes and finds yours with your viewing key. Your balance and your void address are
the same as on the other device.
Both devices can hold the vault at the same time: they read the same notes. The activity list does not move between them; each one shows what was done from that browser.
Balance and notes
How the app computes your private balance from the pool's notes, how it checks the indexer against the chain, and why it sometimes combines notes before a send or an unshield.
Fees
The pool's shield and exit fees, the relayer fee on sends and unshields, the network fee of a shield, and where the pool's fees go.