Why You Need a Recovery Key

Legacy Key uses zero-knowledge encryption, which means your encryption key is derived from your password and never leaves your browser. We physically cannot reset your password and hand back your data — only you can decrypt it.

The Recovery Key is the escape hatch. It's a high-entropy code generated locally during signup that can re-derive your encryption key if you ever forget your password. Without it, a forgotten password means permanent loss of your encrypted wallets, locations, and notes.

Think of it like a hardware-wallet seed phrase. Same trust model: anyone who has it can recover your account, and we have no way to help you if you lose it.

What It Looks Like

Your Recovery Key is a Crockford Base32 code in the format:

LK-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX

Prefix: LK- identifies this as a Legacy Key recovery code
Entropy: 128 bits of cryptographically random data — more than enough that no one can guess it
Crockford Base32: uses an alphabet that omits confusable characters (0/O, 1/I/L) and tolerates lowercase or accidental confusables when you type it back in

Generating Your Recovery Key

You'll be prompted to generate your Recovery Key during initial account setup, right after your master password is set. The flow runs entirely in your browser:

The code is generated client-side from your browser's secure random source
It's shown to you exactly once, alongside a downloadable PDF
You confirm you've saved it by retyping a portion of the code
Only then are the matching server-side wrappers stored, completing setup

How to Store It

Treat your Recovery Key with the same seriousness as a 24-word seed phrase. The right storage is offline, durable, and separated from your password.

Good

Printed PDF stored in a home safe
Stamped on a metal backup plate
Sealed envelope in a safe-deposit box
Inside an offline password manager that you don't sync to the cloud

Avoid

Email, screenshots, or messaging apps
Cloud-synced notes (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox)
The same place you store your master password
Anywhere with the seed-phrase backups it can recover

Using the Recovery Key

If you forget your password, start the password-reset flow from the sign-in page. After verifying your email, you'll be asked for your Recovery Key. Paste it in (case-insensitive, with or without dashes) and choose a new password. Your encrypted data is automatically re-sealed under the new password so nothing is lost.

One Recovery Key per account. Each Recovery Key is bound to the account it was generated for. You can't use someone else's key to recover your account, and vice versa.

How It Differs From Other Backups

Backup	Recovers	When you use it
Recovery Key (`LK-`)	Your full account & encrypted data	You forgot your master password
MFA Backup Codes	Two-factor authentication only	You lost your authenticator app
Emergency Access Document	Your trusted contacts' access path to your wallets	Inheritance or emergency for someone else

Rotating Your Recovery Key

If you ever suspect your Recovery Key was exposed (a lost printout, a stolen password manager, a relative who shouldn't have had it), rotate it from Settings → Security. The old code is invalidated immediately and a new LK- code is generated. Re-print and re-store, just like the original.

What If I Lost It?

If your account still has shared users with active access, ask one of them to help you regain visibility into your data — they can decrypt with their own keys. For pure account recovery, though, the Recovery Key is the only cryptographic path back in. We can't reset it for you. This is the deliberate tradeoff for zero-knowledge encryption: only you can decrypt your data, including us.

If you have a Legacy plan with an active inheritance schedule, your trusted contacts can eventually inherit your data via the Dead Man's Switch even if you've lost both your password and Recovery Key. That path is intended for inheritance scenarios, not for routine recovery.