Trezor.io/Start | Official Getting Started Guide

Forgetting your PIN is a scenario that is managed through the use of your Recovery Seed. The PIN is a local security mechanism to prevent unauthorized access to the device itself. If you forget it, you will have up to 15 attempts before the device wipes itself clean. However, the correct procedure is to deliberately wipe the device yourself (by entering the PIN incorrectly three times in a row, or using the wipe function in Trezor Suite, or physically on the device itself depending on the model). Wiping the device is non-destructive to your funds. The wipe removes the stored private keys and requires a complete re-initialization. You can then restore your wallet on the wiped Trezor (or a new one) using your original 12/24-word Recovery Seed. **The golden rule is: the PIN is replaceable, the Recovery Seed is not.** If you have lost or forgotten your PIN, the path to regaining access always involves the safe and secure use of your Recovery Seed for restoration. This process demonstrates the fundamental design principle that the Recovery Seed is the ultimate and sole source of authority over your crypto assets.

**Restoration Process Detail:** During restoration, you will be prompted to enter your seed words using the device's screen interface (or your computer keyboard in a randomized order, depending on the model/suite settings). Once the seed is entered and accepted, all your accounts and balances will reappear in Trezor Suite exactly as they were, because the seed re-generates the entire set of private keys. You will then set a brand-new PIN for the restored device.

The total number of available PIN attempts is 16, which means after 15 incorrect attempts the device will auto-wipe. This exponential delay feature ensures that even if an attacker attempts a brute-force attack on the device, the time required to complete 16 attempts would be measured in decades or centuries, making the attack economically and practically impossible.

Yes, your funds are safe, provided your Recovery Seed has never been exposed to the computer and you have verified transactions on the Trezor's screen. This is the primary reason for using a hardware wallet. The virus may be able to see your balances (since public keys are visible), but it cannot access the private keys needed to *spend* the funds. The private keys remain isolated within the secure chip of the Trezor. Even if malware alters the transaction details on your computer screen (e.g., changes the recipient address), the details displayed on the **Trezor's physical screen** will show the malicious address. Because you must physically confirm the transaction on the Trezor screen, you can detect the discrepancy and safely abort the transaction. **The only way a virus could steal your funds is if it successfully tricked you into inputting your Recovery Seed into the compromised computer, which should never be done.** A hardware wallet essentially moves the "trust boundary" from your general-purpose computer (which is attackable) to the dedicated, secure hardware (which is not). The secure chip is designed to resist all software-based attacks originating from a connected computer.

**Actionable Advice:** If you suspect your computer is compromised, clean it thoroughly before performing any transactions. When you do transact, exercise maximum caution and verify every single detail on the Trezor screen. Never trust the computer screen for verification during a send operation.

The isolation principle extends to firmware updates. The Trezor device uses a digital signature check to ensure that the firmware it installs is authentic and has not been tampered with, even if the downloaded file passed through the compromised operating system. The virus cannot force the Trezor to sign a transaction without the user's explicit, physical confirmation, rendering its existence practically harmless to the private keys.

If you lose your Trezor, your funds are still safe, assuming your PIN was strong and your Recovery Seed is securely stored. The lost device is useless to a thief without the PIN, which has the exponential delay brute-force protection. **Immediate action is to not panic and prioritize recovery.**

**Recovery Steps:**

1. **Purchase a new Trezor (or any compatible BIP39 hardware/software wallet).** Do not rush; purchase the replacement from the official website.
2. **Set up the new device.** When prompted, choose the **Recovery** option instead of creating a new wallet.
3. **Use your original Recovery Seed** to restore the wallet onto the new device. The process involves entering your 12/24 words exactly as you wrote them down.
4. Once the restoration is complete, you will regain full access to all your funds, and the lost device is effectively de-authorized. The new device will use the same private keys derived from the same seed.

The security of your funds is intrinsically linked to the security of your Recovery Seed, not the device itself. The device is merely a secure mechanism for key management. If you suspect the lost device might be found and the PIN cracked (highly unlikely), or if your Recovery Seed location has been compromised, it is advisable to restore the wallet on the new device and immediately send all funds to new, freshly generated addresses *from* the restored wallet (a "Seed Rotation"). This ensures any potential compromise of the physical device or the seed storage is neutralized. However, for most users with a strong PIN and a secure seed storage location, a simple recovery onto a new device is sufficient. The most important lesson here is that the physical device is *expendable*, but the seed is *irreplaceable* and *non-negotiable*.

The Trezor Model One and the Trezor Model T are both excellent hardware wallets, but they differ primarily in their interface, supported coins, and internal security architecture.

**Trezor Model One:**

• **Interface:** Features a small OLED screen and two physical buttons. All PIN and Recovery Seed entry is done via the computer screen (scrambled) and button confirmation.
• **Price:** More budget-friendly.
• **Security:** Excellent, time-tested security. Relies on the open-source nature and the bootloader check.
• **Coin Support:** Supports a vast range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc., but has limited support for some newer or less common coins (especially some altcoins).

**Trezor Model T:**

• **Interface:** Features a full-color touchscreen. This allows all sensitive inputs—PIN, Passphrase, and Recovery Seed words—to be entered **directly on the device screen itself**. This completely removes the risk of a keylogger or screen-scraping malware from ever recording your inputs, even the positions clicked.
• **Price:** Higher price point due to the advanced screen and features.
• **Security:** Includes a superior hardware architecture with an improved chip that has stronger resistance to physical side-channel attacks. The direct-on-device input for all sensitive data is a major security advantage.
• **Coin Support:** Broader support, including support for Monero (XMR), Cardano (ADA), and more complex ERC-20 token management directly through the device interface, which is not available on the Model One.

The Model T is generally considered the flagship model, offering a superior user experience and enhanced protection against physical compromise and sophisticated malware due to the fully isolated touchscreen input mechanism. The core cryptographic security (BIP39, PIN protection, isolation) is fundamentally the same and top-tier on both devices, but the Model T provides critical usability and advanced feature parity.

As detailed in the security section, the Passphrase is an optional 25th word that you choose, and it is concatenated with your 12/24-word Recovery Seed to create a completely unique and separate master key. When you use the Passphrase, you generate an entirely new wallet. You can use multiple Passphrases to generate multiple "hidden" wallets, all derived from the same underlying 12/24-word seed.

**Should you use it?**

• **YES, if:** You manage significant amounts of cryptocurrency and want protection against a scenario where an attacker physically obtains and forces you to reveal your 12/24-word seed (you can reveal an empty or low-value decoy wallet associated with no Passphrase). It also protects against a "Bad Actor" inside your secured seed storage location.
• **NO, if:** You are new to crypto, manage a small amount of value, or have a history of forgetting complex passwords. The Passphrase is **unrecoverable**. If you forget it, the funds are permanently lost, even if you still possess your 12/24-word seed. It adds a critical layer of risk management and complexity that must be approached with caution.

The Passphrase is a security feature designed for experts in operational security. It moves the single point of failure from the 12/24-word seed to two separate secrets: the seed (for recovery) and the Passphrase (for access). This separation is a powerful cryptographic tool, but it introduces an additional secret that *you* are solely responsible for managing. If used, the Passphrase should be treated as the highest-priority secret and stored in a completely separate, highly secure location from the seed itself.

The security gain is substantial. An attacker needs both the seed and the correct, secret Passphrase to access the hidden wallet. Knowing the seed alone only grants access to the standard wallet. This is the definition of plausible deniability in digital asset protection and is considered a mandatory step for high-net-worth individuals using hardware wallets.

This is related to the privacy and security principle of self-sufficiency. In order to display your balance, Trezor Suite must communicate with a network node (a server running the blockchain software) to query your public addresses. By default, Trezor Suite connects to an official, trusted Electrum server operated by Trezor. However, for users who want zero reliance on any third party, Trezor Suite allows you to customize this connection.

**Options for Custom Backend:**

• **Personal Node (Best Security/Privacy):** If you run your own full node (e.g., Bitcoin Core or a specialized node like RaspiBlitz), you can configure Trezor Suite to connect directly to it. This eliminates the need to expose your public addresses to any server outside of your own controlled network environment. Your node already knows your public addresses, but it never communicates them externally, and you maintain complete control over the information flow. This is the pinnacle of decentralization and privacy.
• **Third-Party Electrum Server (Intermediate):** You can also connect to a publicly available, third-party Electrum server that is not operated by Trezor. This is a common practice for users who want to diversify their point of reliance or who are experiencing regional connection issues. However, you must trust the operator of that server not to log your queries.

The need for a network backend is fundamental to how decentralized digital currencies work. The Trezor hardware protects your private keys; the node backend determines how you interact with and observe the public ledger. Trezor gives users the ultimate choice to maximize their network privacy and minimize trust in external entities, aligning with the core philosophy of financial sovereignty.

This configuration is typically found under the settings menu within Trezor Suite and may require a brief period of synchronization when switching to a new backend. The entire process of balance checking is always performed using public keys, meaning that even if the backend server were malicious, it could not steal your funds, only potentially monitor your addresses, which is why Tor and custom node connections are offered as a robust privacy countermeasure.

Trezor is a transaction **signer**, not a transaction **broadcaster** or **processor**. Once your Trezor signs a transaction and it is broadcast to the network (usually by Trezor Suite), its fate is determined by the blockchain network's congestion and the fee you paid. Trezor cannot directly speed up or cancel a transaction once it has been signed and broadcast.

**Solutions for Stuck Transactions (Bitcoin/UTXO Chains):**

• **RBF (Replace-by-Fee):** If your original transaction was sent with the RBF flag enabled (Trezor Suite gives you the option), you can create a new transaction with a higher fee, replacing the pending one. Trezor Suite supports this feature directly. The original low-fee transaction will be dropped from the mempool, and the new, higher-fee one will be confirmed faster.
• **CPFP (Child-Pays-For-Parent):** If you are the recipient of the stuck transaction, you can spend the unconfirmed output of that transaction in a new transaction, but with a high fee. The miners, incentivized by the high fee on the 'child' transaction, will be forced to mine the 'parent' (stuck) transaction simultaneously to make the child transaction valid. This is often used by recipients, not senders.
• **Waiting:** If RBF was not enabled, the only safe option is to wait. Most transactions that are stuck due to low fees will eventually be confirmed when network congestion subsides, or they will eventually be dropped from the mempool (usually after 72 hours), at which point the funds reappear in your wallet balance as if the transaction never happened.

It is crucial to understand that the fee (or 'Gas' on Ethereum) is a payment to the decentralized miners/validators, not to Trezor. The correct estimation of the fee is critical for timely confirmation. Always check the current network congestion via a reliable external source before sending time-sensitive transactions, and use the suggested 'High' or 'Economic' fee setting within Trezor Suite as appropriate for your needs.

The software and the hardware wallet can only securely prepare and sign the transaction; they have no influence over the decentralized block propagation and mining process, which are governed by economic incentives.

Yes, absolutely. This is one of the most powerful and common use cases for a hardware wallet. Trezor acts as a secure co-processor for numerous third-party software wallets, extensions, and decentralized applications (dApps).

**How it works with MetaMask (Ethereum/EVM chains):**

• You can connect your Trezor device directly to MetaMask (or other compatible wallets like Exodus or Electrum) using the "Connect Hardware Wallet" feature.
• MetaMask will then use the public addresses derived from your Trezor's seed. When you want to initiate a transaction (e.g., sending ETH, swapping a token, or interacting with a DeFi protocol), MetaMask prepares the unsigned transaction and sends it to the Trezor.
• The final, critical step—the actual signing of the transaction with your private keys—is **always** performed securely within the Trezor device after you physically confirm the details on the device's screen.
• The private keys are never exposed to MetaMask, your browser, or your computer.

This setup allows you to leverage the robust feature set, dApp compatibility, and network flexibility of software wallets while retaining the unparalleled security of your Trezor hardware. Always ensure that you are connecting your Trezor to the **official, verified** version of any third-party software, as phishing websites can try to mimic legitimate interfaces to steal your funds or trick you into revealing sensitive information. This integration confirms the hardware wallet's role as the foundation of your entire digital asset security stack.

This situation is critically dangerous. While you still have immediate access to your funds using the PIN and the device, you are now operating without a viable backup. If the Trezor device is lost, stolen, destroyed, or if the firmware malfunctions, all your funds will be permanently inaccessible, as the Recovery Seed is your only way to restore the wallet. **You are in a race against time.**

**Immediate and MANDATORY Action:**

1. **Create a New Wallet (New Seed):** Purchase a second Trezor or initialize a secure, trusted, compatible wallet (a 'transfer wallet').
2. **Generate a Brand New Recovery Seed:** On this new device/wallet, go through the setup process and generate a *new*, unique 12/24-word seed phrase. Write this **new seed** down meticulously and secure it immediately in a safe location.
3. **Transfer ALL Funds:** Connect your existing, vulnerable Trezor (the one without the seed backup) and use it to send 100% of your assets to the new public receiving addresses generated by the wallet associated with the **new, secure seed**.
4. **Wipe the Old Device:** Once the funds are confirmed on the new wallet's addresses, wipe the original Trezor device (via factory reset) and dispose of the original seed location/card (which is now useless).

**NEVER** attempt to create a new copy of your existing, lost Recovery Seed. Trezor does not offer a "seed viewing" or "seed export" feature precisely because it would defeat the purpose of hardware security and expose the seed to the computer. The only safe and correct procedure is to move your funds to an entirely new wallet protected by an entirely new, properly secured Recovery Seed. This process, known as **Seed Rotation**, is essential for maintaining cryptographic certainty and operational security after a security event.

This limitation is a fundamental security feature designed to protect against keylogging malware. If you were to type your 12/24-word Recovery Seed into a computer keyboard, a keylogger installed on that computer (via a virus or malicious software) would be able to record every keystroke, capturing your entire master secret and allowing the attacker to steal all your funds instantly, even if the Trezor device itself is otherwise secure.

**Trezor's Secure Input Methods:**

• **Model One (Scrambled PIN):** Uses a scrambled layout on the computer screen combined with the fixed layout on the device screen. The computer only sees a random pattern of clicks, not the corresponding numbers.
• **Model T (Touchscreen Input):** The only way to enter the seed is directly on the dedicated, internal touchscreen of the Model T. The keys are entered using the device's own hardware, which is isolated from the computer. No data related to the seed entry ever leaves the Trezor device over the USB cable; only the final, signed transaction data does.
• **Recovery Process (Model One):** During the recovery process, the device displays letters, and the user enters the corresponding word fragments by clicking on randomized blocks on the computer screen. This process, known as "Shamir or Seed Recovery," is specifically engineered to ensure that no keylogging malware can capture the entire sequence of words, as only a small subset of possible words is displayed, and the true word is only confirmed internally on the device after sufficient inputs.

The inability to use the keyboard for sensitive information is not a limitation—it is a mandatory security safeguard that prevents the most common form of digital asset theft: the capture of the seed or private key by a compromised computer. Trust only the secure, dedicated input mechanisms provided by the Trezor hardware itself.