Lost your Arqma backup — what now?
We’d rather give you a straight answer than a hopeful one. Here’s exactly what’s recoverable, what isn’t, and what to do next.
The honest truth, up front
If you have lost both your 25-word seed phrase and your wallet file (or the password to it), the funds in that wallet are not recoverable by anyone. Not by us. Not by any service that promises otherwise. Not by any future technology. The cryptography that makes Arqma Wallet secure also makes loss permanent.
What “lost” actually means
Recovery is possible in some partial-loss cases. Here’s the matrix:
| You still have | You’ve lost | Recoverable? |
|---|---|---|
| Seed phrase | Wallet file + password | Yes — restore from seed |
| Wallet file + password | Seed phrase | Yes — open as normal, then back up the seed properly |
| Seed phrase + password | Wallet file | Yes — restore from seed, set new password |
| Wallet file only | Password + seed | No |
| Password only | Wallet file + seed | No |
| Nothing | Everything | No |
Whenever the table says “Yes,” go directly to our wallet recovery guide.
Where are the funds “now”?
They’re still on the Arqma blockchain. The blockchain doesn’t lose anything — it’s a permanent record. What you’ve lost is the ability to sign a transaction from that address. The coins exist; you can no longer authorise their movement. Without the private key (which the seed phrase or wallet file derives), no one can move them.
What about “brute force” recovery?
A 25-word Arqma seed encodes roughly 200 bits of randomness. To put that in perspective: every computer on Earth running for the entire age of the universe would not test a meaningful fraction of the possibilities. Brute force is not a real option.
A partial seed (e.g. you know 22 of the 25 words and three are missing) can sometimes be brute-forced if the missing positions are known. This is a tractable computation only if the gap is small (3–4 words missing, positions known). If you’re in this situation, ask in the communityfor guidance before paying anyone — reputable members can advise without ever needing your remaining words.
If you only lost the wallet password (not the seed)
This is the easy case. Install Arqma Wallet from our download page, choose Restore from seed, type your 25 words, set a fresh password. Done. The new wallet is the same wallet — same address, same funds.
If you only lost the wallet file (have the seed)
Identical to the above. The wallet file is regenerated from the seed every time you restore.
If the loss is total
We’re sorry. There’s no fix and no workaround. The most useful thing you can do now is decide how to handle the next wallet so this never happens again.
- Create a new wallet on a fresh device. Get it from our official download page.
- Before depositing anything, set up the backup properly: paper, two locations, test restore. See how to back up.
- Read common backup mistakes so the second wallet doesn’t go the same way.