Recovery Codes: Your Safety Net
Recovery codes are one-time-use secrets that can unlock your Trove content when you can't remember the password used to protect it. They exist because the server can't reset your encryption keys the way it can reset a login password — that would defeat the whole point of client-side encryption.
What they do
- Each code independently unlocks your Trove content once.
- They rescue you from a forgotten password without losing any Trove content.
- If you have a Trove Unlock Password enabled, recovery codes recover that secret. Without a TUP, they recover the login-derived unlock key.
- If you have not enabled the TUP feature and forget your login password, recovery codes can be used to generate a new login password that also unlocks your Troves.
- If you have enabled the TUP feature and you forget your login password, as long as you still remember your TUP. We can send you a password reset link.
- If you have enabled the TUP feature and you forget your TUP, we supply the option of entering a recovery code in place of the TUP.
- If you ever forget both your login password and your TUP, it's a two-step recovery process to first reset your login password and then the TUP.
When to use them
- Generate a set as soon as you can after creating your account whether or not you use the TUP feature.
- Keep them somewhere durable and private — a password manager, a printed sheet in a safe, etc.
- Never store them in the same place as your password.
Tradeoffs
- Each code is single-use. Once you use one, mark it as consumed.
- Generating a fresh set invalidates the old set. Don't do it unless you're sure the old set is compromised or lost. It's a good idea to write the date that the set was generated to help you identify the most recent set, if you might re-discover an old set.
If you lose them
Recovery codes exist precisely so nothing else has to. If you also forget your password:
- A PRF-capable passkey registered on a device you still control can unlock your content.
- Otherwise, you can reset your Trove Unlock Password — but this replaces your encryption keys, and Trove access must be re-granted by another member using the vouch flow or by removing and re-adding you to a Trove. Troves where you're the only member become permanently unreadable. There is nothing we can do to unlock a Trove in such cases.