Recovery

Sui Wallet Recovery — Restore From Seed

Recover your Sui wallet on a new device by installing Sui Wallet Desktop, choosing "Recover existing wallet" at first launch, and entering your 24-word seed phrase in the correct order. Your accounts, balances, and transaction history sync from the Sui blockchain automatically. Recovery without a seed phrase is impossible — there is no centralized recovery service.

Last updated: 11 May 2026.

Recover Sui wallet — when you need to

• New computer (laptop replacement, OS reinstall)
• Lost or damaged device
• Migrating to Sui Wallet Desktop from another wallet
• Adding a backup device for redundancy
• Wallet software became inaccessible

In all cases, the 24-word seed phrase is the recovery key.

Sui wallet recovery phrase use — how the seed phrase recovers

1. Validates each word against the BIP39 wordlist
2. Derives the master private key from the seed
3. Derives your Sui address using the Sui derivation path (m/44'/784'/0'/0'/0')
4. Queries the Sui blockchain to fetch your balances, NFTs, and transaction history
5. Displays the wallet identical to how it appeared on the original device

The seed phrase doesn't store your balances — those are on the Sui blockchain. The seed phrase derives the keys that prove you control your addresses.

Recover Sui wallet from seed phrase — step by step

1. 1. Install Sui Wallet Desktop

   Download and install Sui Wallet Desktop on your new device from suiwallet.net/download.

2. 2. Choose Recover existing wallet

   At first launch, select 'Recover existing wallet' instead of 'Create new wallet'.

3. 3. Enter your 24-word seed phrase

   Type the 24 words from your seed phrase backup in the correct order.

4. 4. Confirm and sync

   The wallet derives your addresses and syncs balances from the Sui blockchain.

Total time: under five minutes for the recovery itself, plus 1–2 minutes for blockchain sync.

How to restore Sui wallet

"Restore" and "recover" are the same operation. Both mean: install the wallet on a device, enter your seed phrase, get your accounts back.

Sui wallet lost access — what to do

If you lost access to your wallet but have your seed phrase: install Sui Wallet Desktop on any device, recover using the seed phrase, your funds appear. If you lost access AND lost your seed phrase: funds are unrecoverable. This is the irreversible self-custody trade-off.

Import Sui wallet to new device

Same flow as recovery. The seed phrase produces the same addresses everywhere — you can have the same wallet on multiple devices simultaneously by recovering on each.

Sui wallet backup recovery — backup-then-restore pattern

• Initial setup — generate seed phrase, write down on paper, store securely
• Secondary backup — make a metal backup or second paper copy in a different physical location
• Periodic verification — once a year, verify you can read all 24 words on your backup
• Recovery test — for high-value wallets, periodically verify recovery works

What if my computer crashes — recovery from disaster

Computer crashes, hard drive failures, OS corruption — none of these affect your funds, as long as you have your seed phrase. Your wallet's data on the device is just a local cache; the authoritative state is on the Sui blockchain. Get a new device, install Sui Wallet Desktop, recover with seed phrase, funds appear.

Can I recover Sui without seed phrase

No. Without the seed phrase, recovery is impossible. There are three exceptions:

1. You used zkLogin — recovery is via the OAuth provider (Google, Apple, Facebook).
2. You used a hardware wallet (Ledger) — the Ledger device's own seed can recover.
3. You set up an additional recovery key — Sui Wallet Desktop optionally supports an extra recovery option for zkLogin users.

Without any of these: recovery is not possible. Lost seed phrase + lost devices = lost funds.

How to recover Sui wallet on new computer

1. Install Sui Wallet Desktop on the new computer
2. Choose "Recover existing wallet"
3. Enter 24-word seed phrase
4. Set new local password
5. Confirm — wallet syncs from blockchain

Sui wallet forgot password

The local password protects the wallet on a specific device — it's not the same as your seed phrase. If you forget it: reinstall Sui Wallet Desktop, recover with seed phrase, set a new local password. The seed phrase is always the master backup.

Frequently asked questions

See also Seed Phrase Guide.