Recovery key — 12 or 24 words to reset your password
A written-down phrase that resets your password without a recovery email. Create one, check your copy, use it once. It cannot recover a lost passphrase.
A recovery key is a list of 12 or 24 ordinary words, shown to you once, that you write down and keep. If you forget your password, typing those words in order is a second way to set a new one — beside the recovery email address, not instead of it. In the app it is also labelled Also known as a mnemonic phrase.
This resets your password only. It cannot recover a lost passphrase. If your unlock method is Passphrase, the recovery key gets you back into the account but your mail stays unreadable without the passphrase. Nothing anyone holds can recover a forgotten passphrase — see Your passphrase.
Web app only for now. The shipping Private.Ki app for Android (1.0.0) has no recovery-key screen; on Android, password recovery goes through your recovery email address. Create the key in the web app at app.privateki.net — once it exists it belongs to the account, so it works from the sign-in screen on any device.
Create one
- Open Settings › Security and privacy. Under If you lose access you will find Recovery key, with 12 or 24 words you write down or keep in your password manager under it and Not set at the end of the row.Web & desktop screenshotSecurity and privacy → If you lose access: Recovery email and Recovery key side by side.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Security and privacy → If you lose access: Recovery email and Recovery key side by side.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotSecurity and privacy → If you lose access: Recovery email and Recovery key side by side.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Security and privacy → If you lose access: Recovery email and Recovery key side by side.iPhone Android screenshotSecurity and privacy → If you lose access: Recovery email and Recovery key side by side.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Security and privacy → If you lose access: Recovery email and Recovery key side by side.Android - Read the two lines the screen leads with — This resets your password only. It cannot recover a lost passphrase. and Private.Ki keeps only a fingerprint of the words, never the words themselves. Pick the length: 12 words are more than enough. Choose 24 if you prefer the longer form. Click Create recovery key.Web & desktop screenshotBefore the words: what a recovery key does, and what Private.Ki keeps.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Before the words: what a recovery key does, and what Private.Ki keeps.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotBefore the words: what a recovery key does, and what Private.Ki keeps.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Before the words: what a recovery key does, and what Private.Ki keeps.iPhone Android screenshotBefore the words: what a recovery key does, and what Private.Ki keeps.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Before the words: what a recovery key does, and what Private.Ki keeps.Android - Write the words down. They are shown once, numbered and in order, with Write them down in this order, or copy them into your password manager. This is the only time Private.Ki shows them. and, in red, Anyone with these words can reset your password. Keep them private. Buttons let you copy, download or print the list.Web & desktop screenshotShown once: the numbered words, with copy, download and print.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Shown once: the numbered words, with copy, download and print.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotShown once: the numbered words, with copy, download and print.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Shown once: the numbered words, with copy, download and print.iPhone Android screenshotShown once: the numbered words, with copy, download and print.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Shown once: the numbered words, with copy, download and print.Android - Click I have written them down.
- Check your copy. Type three of your words, so you know your copy is right before it is the only way back in. — three numbered boxes, for example Word 11. The hint is Small letters, no numbers. The order matters. Fill them in and click Confirm. Got lost? Show the words again takes you back a step.Web & desktop screenshotCheck your copy: three of the words, typed back in.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Check your copy: three of the words, typed back in.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotCheck your copy: three of the words, typed back in.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Check your copy: three of the words, typed back in.iPhone Android screenshotCheck your copy: three of the words, typed back in.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Check your copy: three of the words, typed back in.Android - A toast says Recovery key saved. The row now reads Set · 26 Sep 2026 · 24 words and ends with Set.
Private.Ki keeps only a fingerprint of the words, never the words themselves. That fingerprint is a one-way hash: it can confirm a phrase you type, and it cannot be turned back into the words. Neither support nor anyone with a copy of our database can read your recovery key or show it to you again. If you lose the paper, make a new key — you cannot recover the old one.
Use it to reset your password
- On the sign-in screen, click Forgot password?.
- Under Get back in with, switch from Recovery email to Recovery key.Web & desktop screenshotPassword recovery: Get back in with Recovery email or Recovery key.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Password recovery: Get back in with Recovery email or Recovery key.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotPassword recovery: Get back in with Recovery email or Recovery key.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Password recovery: Get back in with Recovery email or Recovery key.iPhone Android screenshotPassword recovery: Get back in with Recovery email or Recovery key.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Password recovery: Get back in with Recovery email or Recovery key.Android - Enter your Username and type the words into Recovery words — Type your 12 or 24 recovery words (your mnemonic) in order. Spaces between them. Small letters; the order matters. There is no code to wait for, so a match goes straight to the new-password step.
- Choose a new password and confirm it. A note under the fields says Your recovery key has now been used. You will be asked to make a new one after you sign in.Web & desktop screenshotAccepted: straight to the new password, and a note that the key is now used up.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Accepted: straight to the new password, and a note that the key is now used up.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotAccepted: straight to the new password, and a note that the key is now used up.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Accepted: straight to the new password, and a note that the key is now used up.iPhone Android screenshotAccepted: straight to the new password, and a note that the key is now used up.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Accepted: straight to the new password, and a note that the key is now used up.Android - Sign in with the new password, then create a fresh recovery key.
A recovery key burns the moment it successfully resets a password. The row in Settings turns to Used to reset your password · make a new one with the status Used, and the old words no longer work. Five wrong attempts lock the address for 15 minutes. Every refusal is the same neutral sentence, on purpose: the form cannot be used to find out which accounts exist.
If your unlock method is Password only, read Reset a forgotten password before you reset — a reset does not re-encrypt your key, and that has consequences for reading old mail.
Replace or remove it
- Replace. Open Recovery key and click Create recovery key again. The screen warns: You already have a recovery key. A new one replaces it; the old words stop working the moment it is saved.
- Remove. Remove recovery key asks you to type the words in first — Private.Ki keeps only a fingerprint of your words, so it cannot show them to you here. To remove the key, type the words in. If you have lost them, make a new key instead. A toast confirms Recovery key removed.
Recovery key or recovery email?
| Recovery key | Recovery email | |
|---|---|---|
| What you need | The words, on paper or in a password manager | Access to another mailbox |
| Steps at reset | Words, then the new password | A six-digit code by mail, then the new password |
| Reusable | No — one use and it is burned | Yes |
| What we store | A hash of the words | A hash of the address |
| Risk | Anyone who finds the paper can reset your password | Anyone who takes over that mailbox can |
Having both is the point: set an address for everyday forgetfulness, and keep the words for the day the address is gone too. Neither is a second step at sign-in, and neither can open your mailbox — for that see Security keys and passkeys and Your passphrase.
What our server sees
Cannot see
- Your recovery words — only a one-way fingerprint of them, so we cannot show, mail or guess them
- How many words you chose, until you have used the key
- Your password, passphrase, mail or private key
Can see
- That a recovery key is set, when it was set, and whether it has been used
- That an attempt to use one succeeded or failed, and the count that locks the address after five failures
Common questions
Is this the same as my passphrase?
No, and this is the mistake the wording exists to prevent. The passphrase decrypts your mailbox and cannot be recovered by anyone. The recovery key resets the password you sign in with. Different secret, different job.
Can I choose my own words?
No. They are generated on your device from random bytes, in the standard mnemonic word list, so that guessing them is hopeless. Twelve words are already far beyond brute force; 24 is offered for people who prefer the longer form.
I typed the words and it said they are wrong.
Small letters, single spaces, and in the order they were shown. Check for a swapped pair — the most common slip. Five wrong tries lock the address for fifteen minutes; wait, then try again from your written copy.
I lost the words. What now?
If you can still sign in, open Settings and Create recovery key to make a new one — it replaces the old. If you cannot sign in and have no recovery address either, there is no way back: see Does Private.Ki store my password? for why.
Does using it sign my other devices out?
No, and neither does an ordinary password reset. If you reset because you think someone else knows your password, review Signed-in devices afterwards and sign out anything you do not recognise.