When setting up a Helium wallet through the app, you are prompted to write down the 12 words seed phrase. These are the mnemonic phrase generated from the private key of your wallet, and the only way to access the wallet.
WARNING
The 12 words can never be recovered if they are lost, and they are the sole key to accessing your wallet, the HNT it contains, and all access to your Hotspot and it’s rewards. Lose the 12 words, lose it all. You’re not able to log into your account without them, nor can you transfer HNT or a Hotspot to a different account without them.
Twelve Word Security
A friendly reminder about those 12 words… When you first created an account in the Helium App, those 12 words represent the private key to your wallet account.
What does this mean?
It means that those 12 words are the only way to access your Hotspots and HNT balance. Lose those 12 words, lose your access to your HNT and your hotspots and their future earnings.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to back up those 12 words. Write them down, save it, and back it up. Go to the Helium App > … menu > Reveal Words.
NOTE
Do not logout of your phone wallet or uninstall the app without first writing down your 12 words
The only places you are required to enter your 12 words are:
- The Helium APP – on your phone
- The CLI Wallet – on your computer
- The Ledger Wallet – on your computer or phone NEVER enter them into a website.
When entering the 12 worlds make sure you:
- Enter them in the right order
- Get the spelling correct. Check here for correct spelling: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt
No Helium Support person will EVER ask for your 12 words or ask you to enter them into a website to fix a problem.
NOTE
Remember two things.
- Write them down and keep them safe, do it now if you you are not sure.
- Imagine they are cash, never give them to anyone you would not trust with the HNT value and Hotspot value.
Never share your 12 words with anyone. Helium will NEVER ask for these for any reason.
source: https://docs.helium.com/wallets/app-wallet/twelve-words/
