> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://argon-4.gitbook.io/argon-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://argon-4.gitbook.io/argon-docs/start-here/create-or-restore.md).

# Create or restore a wallet

Create a new wallet or restore one from a recovery phrase, set a password, and optionally add a passkey.

The first time you open Enclave you are offered two paths: **New phrase** creates a wallet, **Restore words** brings an existing one back. Both happen entirely on your device, inside SureSign.

{% hint style="info" %}
The **wallet password** and the **BIP39 passphrase** are different things. The password encrypts the vault on this browser and can be changed later. A BIP39 passphrase changes the keys themselves, is part of your backup, and cannot be recovered if forgotten. Most people should leave the BIP39 passphrase alone.
{% endhint %}

## Create a new wallet

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Choose a wallet password

SureSign creates a 24-word recovery phrase that only you hold. The password you enter encrypts the vault on this browser. Pick something long that you do not use anywhere else.

Optionally, open **BIP39 passphrase** and add one. Read the warning first: a passphrase changes the keys, is not the vault password, and must be backed up together with the words.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Write the words down

Enclave shows your recovery phrase once, in a screen titled **Write these words down**. Copy the words onto paper, in order. Anyone with these words can spend your KAS. Enclave never stores the phrase after you dismiss this screen and never asks for it in a message or on a site.

Choose **I wrote it down** when you are finished.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Unlock

Enter the password to unlock. Your first receive address is derived and Home opens. Until you confirm the backup under Security, Home shows a **Back up recovery phrase** reminder.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

## Restore an existing wallet

Choose **Restore words** (or **Restore from recovery phrase**).

1. Enter a 12- or 24-word BIP39 phrase, in order, in Enclave's restore screen. Never enter it on a website or send it to anyone.
2. If the phrase was created with a BIP39 passphrase, tick **This phrase uses a BIP39 passphrase** and enter it. Without the passphrase, the restored wallet will be a different, empty wallet.
3. Choose a wallet password for this browser and select **Restore wallet**.

Enclave then derives receive and change addresses along the standard Kaspa path and asks your selected Kaspa node for unspent Notes in windows of 20. History-assisted discovery is off by default. If a long run of previously used, now-empty addresses hides later funds, you can review a history provider and enable the [optional history-assisted scan](#historical-address-discovery-after-restore). Every balance still comes from your selected node; history hints only widen the search. If your last wallet used more than one account, add the others under [Accounts and networks](/argon-docs/using-enclave/accounts-and-networks.md).

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Replacing a wallet.** If a vault already exists on this browser, creating or restoring another one replaces it. Enclave asks you to tick **I understand this replaces the local vault** first. Make sure the old wallet's recovery phrase is written down; replacing the vault does not delete anything on the network, but it removes the local copy of the keys.
{% endhint %}

## Unlock and lock

Enclave locks whenever you choose **Lock** or after a period of inactivity (default five minutes, adjustable under **Settings → Privacy → Auto-lock**: Off, 2, 5, or 15 minutes). Leaving a window open or refreshing balances does not count as activity. Password and passkey unlock both open the same shared wallet session across the popup, sidebar, and Studio. A newly opened wallet window adopts that session. Choosing **Lock** locks all open wallet windows.

While locked, the lock screen can show your last known balance, marked **Cached**, so you can glance without unlocking. A pending request from a website waits until you unlock, then asks for approval.

## Add a passkey

After the wallet exists you can add a passkey (Touch ID, Windows Hello, a security key, or a phone) so that unlocking no longer needs the password each time.

* **Compact:** More → Security → Passkey → **Add passkey**.
* **Studio:** Settings → Security → Passkey → **Set up**.

Enter the wallet password once to authorize it. The passkey wraps the same vault key; it does not replace your recovery phrase, and a passkey alone cannot restore the wallet on another device. You can add more than one passkey. Unlocking with a passkey uses the **Use passkey** button on the lock screen.

## Change the password, reveal the phrase

Both are under Security. Changing the password protects the same wallet keys with your new password on this browser. Enclave confirms only after saving it, and locks your wallet windows; unlock again to continue. **Reveal phrase** shows the recovery phrase after you enter the password and hides it when you leave that window or lock. Once you have compared it against your paper copy, tick **I have verified the phrase on paper** to clear the backup reminder.

## Terms

The Terms of Service and Privacy Policy sit beneath the Create, Restore, and Unlock buttons; the click is your acceptance of the version then in effect. Enclave records only the version, time, and which control you used, on this device. The current version is shown under About.

Next: [Your first transaction](/argon-docs/start-here/first-transaction.md).

## Historical address discovery after restore

The first scan asks your selected Kaspa node for unspent Notes. It can miss funds beyond a long run of addresses that were used and then emptied. A lower-than-expected balance does not prove the funds are gone.

For a history-assisted scan, open **More → Privacy** in Compact or **Settings → Privacy** in Studio. Review the **History REST base URL**, then choose **Enable and rescan**. You can use the displayed public history provider or a compatible HTTPS/loopback indexer you control. This sends candidate receive and change addresses, including unused future addresses, to that provider and can link them. Discovery is off by default; changing the network, node, or history URL turns it off again.

Your node and token, name, Deal Desk, and artwork providers are separate connections. Choosing your own Kaspa node changes only the Kaspa connection.