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How to set up your recovery key

This guide shows you how to generate your recovery key, save each recovery share, and verify that you saved them correctly. Your recovery key is the only way back into your vault if you lose every device you’ve set up.

Before you start

  • You’ll need your passphrase to begin.
  • Decide in advance where each share will go. You’ll create several, and they should be stored in separate places, not together.
  • Have a printer, or a way to save a PDF somewhere safe, ready before you start.

Open recovery setup

If you set up your recovery key during vault creation, you’re already on the Recovery Key screen — skip to Choose how many shares.

Otherwise, from an unlocked vault:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Under recovery, tap Set up Recovery Key….
  3. Enter your passphrase when asked.

Choose how many shares

  1. On the recovery screen, set Total shares (n) — how many recovery shares to create.
  2. Set Shares to recover (k) — how many of those shares are needed to recover the vault.
  3. If you’re unsure, leave the default: any 3 of 5 shares.
  4. Tap the button to continue (Set Up, or Create Vault if you’re still in vault creation).

Any k of your n shares can recover the vault. A lower k is easier for you to recover but easier for someone else to abuse; a higher n spreads the shares across more places.

Save each share

Fixative shows your shares one at a time. For each share:

  1. Tap Save / Print Recovery PDF and print it, or save the PDF somewhere safe. This printed or saved copy is what you keep — see the warning below.
  2. Confirm the share is stored, then turn on I have saved this share.
  3. Wait for the short countdown to finish, then tap Next Share →.

Repeat until you’ve saved every share. Store each one in a different place.

You will not be able to see these shares again. Once you finish this flow, Fixative permanently discards its copy of your recovery key — there is no screen anywhere that redisplays your shares. If you lose them, your only option is to generate a brand-new set with Re-split recovery shares… in Settings, which makes all the old shares useless. Save or print every share now, before you continue. See How your photos are protected for what recovery can and cannot do for you.

Verify a share

On the last share, Fixative asks you to prove you saved one correctly:

  1. Tap Verify a Share.
  2. Choose Type Words and type back the words of any one share, or choose Scan QR and scan that share’s QR code from your printout.
  3. When it matches, tap Done — I’ve verified a share.

Your recovery key is now set up. If the home screen still shows a “Recovery Key not set up” reminder, this clears it.

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