Where to Store Your Seed Phrase on iPhone (and Where Never To)

The safest place for a crypto seed phrase is off your phone entirely, written on paper or stamped into metal, kept somewhere private. If you also want a copy on your iPhone, it should be inside encrypted storage with its own passcode, never in your camera roll or a plain note.

A seed phrase (also called a recovery phrase) is the 12 or 24 words that can restore your crypto wallet. Anyone who has those words can take everything in the wallet, from anywhere in the world, and there’s no bank to call.

Never: screenshots in your camera roll

It’s tempting to screenshot the words when your wallet shows them. Don’t, and if you already have, deal with it today.

In February 2025, researchers at Kaspersky found malware they named SparkCat inside apps in both the App Store and Google Play. When a user granted photo access, the malware used text recognition to scan the photo library for screenshots of recovery phrases and sent them to attackers. Apple removed the apps, and a related family called SparkKitty turned up a few months later.

The lesson: once a seed phrase is a photo, any app you give full photo access to can read it. So can anyone who opens your Photos app, and so can iCloud Photos on every device you’re signed in to.

Also risky

• Plain notes. A normal note in Notes is readable by anyone who unlocks your phone and syncs to iCloud.
• Messages or email to yourself. That creates copies in places you don’t control and will forget about.
• Cloud drives like Google Drive or Dropbox, unless the file is encrypted before upload.
• Password managers you don’t fully trust. A good, reputable password manager is a reasonable digital backup. A random free one isn’t.

Better: keep the main copy offline

1. Write it down clearly, in order, on paper. Double-check every word.
2. For long-term storage, consider a metal backup plate. It survives fire and water.
3. Store it somewhere private and safe, like a home safe or a bank safe deposit box.
4. Consider two copies in two places, so a single fire or flood can’t wipe you out.

If you want a copy on your iPhone

Some people want a backup on their phone, for example when traveling. If you do:

• Use encrypted storage with its own passcode, separate from your phone passcode. A photo vault that really encrypts, or a locked note at the very least.
• Keep it out of your photo library. If you photograph the paper copy, move the photo into the vault immediately and delete the original.
• Treat it as the backup, not the only copy.

Clean up old screenshots today

1. Open Photos and search for words like “recovery”, “seed”, “phrase” or the first word of your phrase. iPhone search can find text inside images.
2. Check the Screenshots album under Media Types.
3. Delete anything that shows a recovery phrase, then go to Utilities, Recently Deleted in Photos and delete it there too.
4. If you think a screenshot was ever exposed, move your funds to a new wallet with a new phrase. Deleting the photo can’t undo a copy someone already has.
5. Review Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos and remove full library access from apps that don’t need it.