Create a wallet in Expert mode

Expert mode gives you every choice the device offers: how the randomness is collected, which backup you make first, and (for paper) whether the seed phrase has 12 or 24 words. This guide follows the ERA Recovery Card path; the paper path is in a collapsed block.

Steps

Part 1: Generate the keys

1. Tap CREATE (on a new device) or ADD WALLET > CREATE (see Add another wallet).

   

Note: Tap i in the header of SETUP MODE to read the device's own description of both modes; X closes it. Standard makes a 24-word wallet and offers the ERA card first; Expert lets you choose everything.

2. On SETUP MODE, tap EXPERT.

   

3. Read the three steps, then tap START.

   

Note: In Expert mode the keys are built from five sources of randomness: the two true random number generators inside the device (main chip and secure element), plus three that come from you in the next steps: your finger movements on the screen, the shaking picked up by the motion sensor, and what the camera sees. The device mixes all five, so even if one source were weak, the others still protect your keys.

Entropy is randomness: the device mixes what you do in the next three steps into the secret that becomes your wallet, so nobody can predict it.

4. Swipe your finger around the box until the progress bar fills (about 5 seconds).

   

5. Shake the device until its bar fills.

   

6. Move the device so the camera sees changing scenes, until the last bar fills.

7. On SUCCESS, tap NEXT.

   

Part 2: Back up to the ERA Recovery Card

Why the ERA Recovery Card

• Nothing to write down: the backup goes onto the card's secure chip, encrypted and locked with a PIN you choose. Anyone who finds the card cannot read it.

• Restoring is a tap, not 24 typed words: hold the card to the device and enter the card PIN.

• Three cards are in the box, and paper stays available as a second backup. Source: era-wallet.com

See Choose a backup method for the full list.

1. On BACKUP TYPE, tap ERA CARD. The card backup always uses 24 words.

   

2. On BACKUP SETUP, tap SINGLE.

   

Want the backup split over several cards?

MULTISHARE splits the backup into shares and writes one card per share; you choose how many cards are needed to restore. See the multishare block in Back up to an ERA Recovery Card and Create a Shamir backup.

3. On SET PIN, tap SET PIN.

   

4. On CREATE PINCODE, enter a card PIN of 4 to 8 digits, then tap OK. This PIN is separate from the device PIN; you need it to restore from the card, and 16 wrong entries block the card for good.

   

5. On REPEAT PINCODE, enter the same digits and tap OK.

   

6. Hold the card flat against the upper back of the device until the bar fills. The header reads READ CARD, then SAVE THE BACKUP.

   

7. On BACKUP SAVED!, tap NEXT. To write a copy to a second card from the box, tap ONE MORE first.

   

8. On PAPER BACKUP, tap SKIP. The card is your backup; the words on paper are an optional extra.

   

Want the words on paper as well?

Tap START instead of SKIP. The screens are the ones in the block "No ERA Recovery Card at hand? Back up on paper", from ATTENTION! to the word check; afterwards the device opens CREATE NAME and you continue with Part 3.

No ERA Recovery Card at hand? Back up on paper

Take pen and paper. The card is offered again as an optional second backup at the end of this block, and you can write one at any time from the wallet's settings — see Back up to an ERA Recovery Card.

Choose the backup and write the words

1. On BACKUP TYPE, tap PAPER.

   

2. On BACKUP SETUP, tap SINGLE. SHAMIR splits the phrase into shares — see Create a Shamir backup and Restore from Shamir shares.

   

3. On SEED PHRASE, tap 24 WORDS (or 12 WORDS to match a software wallet that uses 12). 24 words is the stronger choice.

   

Warning: These words are the wallet. Anyone who has them can spend your funds, and without them the wallet cannot be restored. Keep the paper offline and never photograph it.

4. On ATTENTION!, make sure nobody can see the screen, then tap START.

   

5. Write every word down, in order, with its number. Swipe up to see the next eight words. The 24 WORDS drop-down in the header switches to 12 words; the phrase is regenerated, so start writing again.

   

6. Tap NEXT on the last page of words.

Confirm the seed phrase

1. On CONFIRM SEED PHRASE, tap NEXT.

   

2. Check the list against your paper, then swipe up to the end and tap CONFIRM. Three words are hidden; those are tested next.

   

3. For each of the 3 steps, tap the word that has the number shown.

   

   A wrong tap shows Incorrect word, highlights the right one, and asks a different number. After 5 mistakes you are sent back to the words.

4. On ERA BACKUP, tap START to add a card now (Part 2, steps 3 to 7), or SKIP. Then continue with Part 3.

   

Part 3: Name and icon

1. On CREATE NAME, tap CREATE (or SKIP to keep the default name, for example Wallet_1).

   

Note: The arrow key is caps lock: tap it once for capitals and again to go back to lowercase. !#1 opens numbers and symbols.

2. Delete the default name with backspace, type a name, then tap OK.

   

3. On NAME ASSIGNED:, tap OK.

   

4. On CHOOSE ICON, tap an icon, then CONFIRM.

   

5. On CHANGE ICON, tap DONE.

   

Part 4: Link the ERA Wallet app

1. On LINK YOUR WALLET, tap LINK NOW.

   

2. On the wallet list, tap ERA Wallet (the first row).

   

3. On app.era-wallet.com, tap NEXT. If the app is not on your phone yet, scan this QR code with the phone first.

   

4. Swipe up to the last page of CONNECT ERA Wallet.

   

5. Tap SHOW QR. QR FOR LINK appears and animates; leave it on screen.

   

6. On the phone, open the ERA Wallet app. On Connect your ERA Wallet, tap Link Wallet.

   9:41

   

7. Point the phone camera at the ERA screen and hold still until the app finishes reading the code.

   9:41

   

8. On the ERA, tap DONE.

9. On YOUR WALLET IS READY!, tap FINISH. The device opens the WALLETS list (or the Main menu if this is the first wallet on the device).

   

To link another software wallet (Sparrow, MetaMask, Rabby, Keplr…), see Linking overview.

Link later

On LINK YOUR WALLET, tap SKIP, then FINISH. You can link at any time from the wallet's settings — see Link the ERA Wallet app, which also covers an app that already holds a wallet.

Done

Your wallet is created and its backup is on the ERA Recovery Card. It is listed under WALLETS, and the ERA Wallet app lists it too; if it is the first wallet on the device, the ERA shows the Main menu. Keep the card away from the device and separate from the card PIN.

Trouble?

• NOT ENOUGH RANDOMNESS after the swipe step → tap TRY AGAIN and move your finger over the whole box in loops and zigzags, not one straight line.

  

• CARD NOT EMPTY → the card already holds a backup. Tap BACK and use another card from the box, or OVERWRITE and enter that card's old PIN.

• ERROR with Your ERA Card was not detected. Please, try again! → move the card over the upper back of the device and tap TRY AGAIN.

• The NEXT button under the words is grey → swipe up until the last page of words; it turns black there.

• Incorrect word during the check → the right word is highlighted for a moment; keep going, the device asks another number.

  

• YOU MADE 5 MISTAKES → the words on your paper do not match. Tap the button to see the words again and rewrite them.

• Pressing the hardware button during setup asks Exit Wallet Setup? → CANCEL to keep going; EXIT throws the unfinished wallet away.

Related

• Add another wallet

• Choose a backup method

• Back up to an ERA Recovery Card

• Restore from seed words

• Link the ERA Wallet app