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Forgotten Passphrase

A forgotten passphrase is very serious as your passphrase is directly tied to your secret private keys that allow access to your funds. 

Video Guide

If you have access to your wallet:

If you currently have access to your wallet via PIN code you should immediately send your coins out of the wallet into another wallet you control. It is not safe to keep your bitcoin in Samourai if you do not know your passphrase.

Once your bitcoins are in another wallet that you control, you may erase Samourai wallet and create a new wallet. When you create a new wallet you will need to define a new passphrase and write down new secret words. 

If you do not have access to your wallet:

Samourai does not store your passphrase for you, as such it cannot reset lost or forgotten passphrases.  If you can no longer authenticate into your Samourai wallet and you do not have your passphrase follow the directions below to help yourself regain access to your wallet:

  1. Don't create a new wallet
    Samourai Wallet creates an auto backup of the last wallet on the device. If you create a new wallet you will erase the existing auto backup file of your wallet.

  2. Locate your auto backup file
    Samourai Wallet stores your encrypted auto backup file on the device file-system. Follow the directions below to locate your backup. Once located, open and copy the entire contents of the file to your clipboard.
    • Open Android Settings
    • Tap Storage
    • Scroll down and tap Explore
    • Locate and tap Download
    • Locate and open Samourai.txt
  3. Install the Samourai Backup Reader app
    We have created a Troubleshooting app that you can download from Github called Samourai Backup Reader - Install the APK on your device with Samourai

  4. Run Samourai Backup Reader
    Launch the Samourai Backup Reader APK. You will be asked to enter a passphrase. Enter the passphrase you think is  correct for your wallet and press OK. Next, paste the contents of samourai.txt into the text box and press OK

  5. Keep trying
    The Backup Reader app will attempt to decrypt the backup with the passphrase you specified. If the passphrase is incorrect you will see an error. We advise you to keep trying common variations of the passwords/passphrases that you frequently use until you no longer get an error.  Be aware that white-space and special characters are considered valid.
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