Key Points
Install Phantom from the official app store on the new phone. If you created the wallet with a recovery phrase, tap More Options, then Import Recovery Phrase, and enter your 12 words. If you created it with Google or Apple, tap Continue with Google or Continue with Apple and sign in with the same account. Phantom has moved these wallets to a new key system, so most no longer ask for the old four-digit PIN. The common misread is that losing the phone loses the crypto: the funds sit on the blockchain, and what you need is the phrase or the account, not the device.
Which type of Phantom wallet do you have?
Either a recovery phrase wallet or a Google or Apple wallet, and the restore steps differ, so check this first. If you wrote down 12 words when you set Phantom up, you have a recovery phrase wallet. If you tapped Continue with Google or Continue with Apple and did not see 12 words, you have a Google or Apple wallet.
Phantom showed you a 12-word Secret Recovery Phrase during setup. Those 12 words, in the right order, restore the wallet on any phone or computer.
You signed up with a Google or Apple account. Signing in with that same account restores the wallet. Earlier versions also asked you to set a four-digit PIN.
Two less common cases: a wallet you imported from a single private key comes back with that key (it restores one address on one network), and a Ledger hardware wallet is reconnected rather than restored. Phantom's help article on restoring a wallet covers both.
How do you recover Phantom with a recovery phrase?
Install Phantom on the new phone, choose Import Recovery Phrase and type your 12 words. Phantom then restores every account in that wallet that has been used.
Use the Apple App Store or Google Play and check the developer is Phantom. Do not install from a link in an email, a Telegram message or a search ad: fake wallet apps exist to collect recovery phrases.
Do not create a new wallet. On the browser extension, the same option sits under I Already Have a Wallet.
Spelling and order both matter. A single wrong word can produce a valid but empty wallet with a different address, so if your balance shows zero, check the words before anything else.
On the app, Phantom offers to turn on device authentication such as Face ID or a fingerprint; on the browser extension you set a password. Either one protects this device only and does not replace the recovery phrase.
Phantom restores the accounts that have activity. An account you created but did not use may not appear; add it from the account menu and it will come back with the same address, because every account is built from the same phrase.
How do you recover Phantom without a seed phrase?
If you created the wallet with Google or Apple, you do not need a seed phrase: install Phantom, tap Continue with Google or Continue with Apple, and sign in with the same account you used at the start.
Apple App Store or Google Play only, developer Phantom.
On the browser extension, choose I Already Have a Wallet, then Connect Email Wallet, then Google or Apple.
It has to be the exact Google or Apple account the wallet was made with. Phantom cannot switch a wallet to a different account, so a newer Gmail address or a second Apple ID will not find it.
Most Google and Apple wallets no longer need one (see the next section). If the PIN screen appears, enter the four digits you set when you created the wallet.
With a Google or Apple restore, Phantom brings back your first account automatically. Add the others from the account menu.
What if you forgot your Phantom PIN?
You may not need it any more. Phantom has moved wallets created with Google or Apple to a new key system, Phantom KMS, which protects the wallet with your Google or Apple account directly. Once a wallet has moved, the old four-digit PIN is no longer used and Phantom stops asking for it. The move happens automatically.
If Phantom still shows the PIN screen and you cannot remember it:
If Phantom is still open on another phone, tablet or browser, go to Settings, then Security & Privacy, then Reset PIN.
Phantom says that after seven wrong attempts the encrypted backup on that device is deleted. Stop well before that and contact support.
Google and Apple wallets have a recovery phrase too, which you can export in settings. If you ever wrote it down, it still works: import it as in the recovery phrase steps above.
Phantom's own guidance for anyone who cannot sign in after the change is to contact support. Start from help.phantom.com, typed into the browser yourself.
What if you have lost the phrase and cannot get into your account?
What is still possible depends on what you have left:
Open Phantom there, go to Settings, then Security & Privacy, then Show Recovery Phrase. Write the 12 words on paper. Then set up a fresh, properly backed-up wallet and move your funds to it.
For a Google or Apple wallet, the account is the way back in. Use Google's or Apple's own account recovery process. Once you can sign in to the account again, the Phantom restore steps above will work.
With no recovery phrase, no access to the original Google or Apple account and no device still signed in, the wallet cannot be restored by Phantom or anyone else. Anyone who says otherwise for a fee is running a scam.
Which recovery scenarios work?
Most do. The only dead end is losing every route at once: the phrase, the account and every signed-in device.
| Your situation | Google or Apple wallet | Recovery phrase wallet |
|---|---|---|
| Lost phone, everything else intact | Sign in with the same account | Import the 12 words |
| Forgot the old PIN | Usually no longer needed | No PIN involved |
| Lost the 12 words, still signed in elsewhere | Restore with the account | Export the phrase from that device now |
| Locked out of Google or Apple | Recover that account first | Not affected |
| Want to use a different Google or Apple account | Not possible | Not relevant |
| No phrase, no account, no signed-in device | No recovery | No recovery |
Source: Phantom Help Center articles on restoring a wallet, creating a wallet with Google or Apple, and the PIN change (links under Sources).
Where do you get real Phantom support?
Only through the Phantom Help Center at help.phantom.com. Phantom has said its Help Center is the one channel for support, and that its staff do not contact users on X, Discord, Telegram or any other chat app.
Our guide on how to spot and avoid crypto scams covers the other tricks that follow a lost wallet, including fake recovery services.
How do you stop this happening again?
Keep two independent ways back in: a written recovery phrase and a well-protected sign-in account. Four steps cover it.
Go to Settings, then Security & Privacy, then Show Recovery Phrase. Keep it offline, out of photos, notes apps, email and cloud storage. A second copy in a different place is worth it for larger balances.
Use a strong password, two-factor sign-in and up-to-date recovery options, as Phantom itself recommends. For a Google or Apple wallet, that account is the wallet's front door.
On a spare phone or a browser, restore the wallet with your phrase and check the balance matches. Then remove it. Finding a missing word now is far better than finding it after the phone is gone.
A hot wallet suits spending money. For larger amounts, a hardware wallet keeps the keys off any phone; our hardware vs software wallet guide explains when it is worth it.
Our free wallet and bridging safety checklist puts these checks on one page.
Frequently Asked Questions
We publish each market call with its date and the condition that would prove it wrong, then score it when it resolves, misses included. Anyone can check.
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Sources
Legal And Risk Notice
This guide is for education only and is not financial, investment or legal advice. It describes Phantom's recovery options as published in its Help Center in October 2026; wallet apps change their screens and processes, so check Phantom's current help articles before acting. Crypto assets are high risk, and a lost recovery phrase can mean a permanent loss of funds.
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