How to Restore a Zcash Wallet From Your Recovery Phrase (and Pick the Right Birthday)
Updated November 4, 2026.
To restore a Zcash wallet, install a maintained wallet, choose Import, enter your recovery phrase, and set a wallet birthday on or before the day you first used it. The birthday is where the wallet starts scanning. Too late and it misses funds. Too early is safe, just slower. In Vizor on iPhone or Android, a restore takes a few minutes of typing and then a sync. This guide covers what to have ready, how to pick the birthday, and what to do when the balance doesn't look right.
Quick answer: restore a Zcash wallet in 5 steps
- Install Vizor from the App Store or Google Play, or get the desktop app from vizor.cash/get.
- Optional, before you import: turn on Tor and Private queries so the server doesn't see your IP address or which transactions you look up. More on this below.
- Choose Import and enter your recovery phrase in order. Vizor accepts 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24-word phrases. If you protected the phrase with a BIP39 passphrase, enter that too.
- Set the wallet birthday. Pick a date on or before the day you first received ZEC to this wallet.
- Let the sync finish. Your balance and history fill in as Vizor scans. If the phrase has other accounts with transparent activity, Vizor offers to import those as well.
What you need before you start
| What | Where to find it | If you don't have it |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery phrase (12 to 24 words) | Your written backup | You can't restore a software wallet without it. Nobody can recover it for you. |
| BIP39 passphrase (optional extra word or phrase) | Only exists if you set one | Without it you restore a different, empty wallet. Try with and without if you're unsure. |
| Wallet birthday (date or block height) | Your backup notes, or the wallet's backup screen | Use a date you're sure is earlier. It only costs sync time. |
| Hardware wallet (Ledger or Keystone) | The device itself | Restore the device from its own phrase first, then connect it. You don't type a hardware wallet's phrase into the app. |
Zodl shows the birthday height on its recovery phrase backup screen, so check there before you wipe an old phone. If you're making a fresh backup now, write the birthday down next to the phrase.
What a wallet birthday is, and how to pick one
A shielded Zcash wallet finds its funds by scanning blocks and trying to decrypt each transaction with your keys. The birthday tells it where to start. Edge's support team describes it as the block height at which your wallet was created, so the wallet can skip everything before that.
| Birthday you enter | What happens |
|---|---|
| After your first transaction | The wallet never scans the block with that transaction, so those funds are missing. Edge warns that a block height that's too recent misses transactions. |
| On or a little before your first transaction | Correct. Fastest complete sync. |
| Months or years too early | Still correct, just a longer first sync. Zkool's docs put it simply: the value must be lower than the actual birth height, not exact. |
Rule of thumb: when in doubt, go earlier. A slow sync is an inconvenience. A late birthday looks like lost money.
How Vizor handles it. Vizor asks for a date, not a block number. It calculates the birthday on your device, so no server learns roughly when you made your wallet, and it starts restored wallets from a broader block range for the same reason. It also adds a seven-day safety window before the date you pick. Your restored wallet may show an earlier birthday than you entered. That's expected.
Finding the exact height. If you know the transaction ID of the first ZEC you received, paste it into a block explorer. The block number shown is your birthday height, as Edge explains.
Step by step: restore in Vizor on your phone
Vizor is a self-custody, open-source Zcash wallet for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux, built by a team with years of experience building crypto wallets. The phone apps cover the same core as desktop: create or import a wallet, multiple accounts, Keystone accounts, and custom lightwalletd servers.
- Install from the official link. Use the App Store or Google Play links on vizor.cash/get, not a search result. Fake wallet apps exist. See Zcash wallet scams.
- Turn on network privacy first (optional). Vizor supports Tor on iOS and Android. On desktop you can enable Tor before creating or importing a wallet from Network settings. You can also turn on experimental Private queries before importing, which looks up your transactions without revealing their IDs to the server. Doing this before the first sync matters, because the first sync is when the server would see the most. Details in Zcash wallets with Tor.
- Choose Import and enter the phrase. Type the words in order. Do it somewhere private, away from people and cameras, as Zodl also advises.
- Add the BIP39 passphrase if you used one. You can also clear a passphrase you entered by mistake during import.
- Pick the birthday date. Earlier than you think.
- Choose an account name and picture, and set an app password. The password protects the app on this device. It isn't part of your backup.
- Pick any extra accounts. If Vizor finds other ZIP 32 accounts with transparent activity, it shows each one with its balance and path so you can add it. Accounts that only ever held shielded funds may not show up automatically.
- Wait for the sync. Keep the app open. Your balance is only final when the sync completes.
Got a ZEC gift card link while setting up? Vizor can redeem gift cards during wallet setup. See Zcash gift cards.
Moving from Vizor desktop to your phone
You don't have to retype anything. Link Vizor Mobile in desktop Settings moves software accounts, supported Keystone accounts, and contacts to your phone with a one-time QR code. The link needs your password, expires after one minute, and only works on the same Zcash network. You still need your written phrase for any real recovery.
Restoring from another wallet
| Coming from | What to do |
|---|---|
| Zodl (formerly Zashi) | Import its 24-word phrase. Use the birthday height from Zodl's backup screen if you have it. Both wallets scan the same keys, so you can keep Zodl installed. See Zodl vs Vizor. |
| An old desktop wallet such as Zecwallet Lite | Its repository is archived and it predates Ironwood and NU7. Import the phrase into a maintained wallet. See Zcash desktop wallets. |
| Ledger | Keys stay on the device. Connect the Ledger to Vizor instead of importing a phrase. New Ledger accounts need Zcash app 3.9.4 or newer, and Vizor asks for 3.10.0 or newer before NU7. Vizor recovers existing transparent history and balances for Ledger accounts. See Ledger with shielded ZEC on mobile. |
| Keystone | Keys stay on the device. In Vizor, tap Connect Keystone and scan the device's QR code, then enter the wallet creation time when asked. See Keystone and shielded ZEC. |
If your old wallet stopped sending after NU7
NU7 is expected around November 5, 2026 (UTC), at block 3,543,405. After activation, version 4 transactions are invalid, so a wallet that hasn't been updated may fail to send. Your funds aren't gone. They're tied to your phrase, not the app. Restore the phrase in an NU7-ready wallet such as Vizor (v0.0.63 on desktop, "Ready for NU7" on the App Store and Google Play). One exception: ZIP 259 says funds still in the old Sprout pool become unspendable at NU7. More in Zcash NU7.
Balance missing after a restore? Check these
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Balance is zero or low while the sync bar is still moving | Sync not finished | Wait. Keep the app open and the phone awake. |
| Older transactions missing, newer ones present | Birthday set too late | Remove the account and re-import with an earlier date. |
| Wallet is completely empty, phrase was accepted | Wrong or missing BIP39 passphrase, or a different phrase | Re-import with the passphrase. A different passphrase gives a different wallet. |
| Funds you know were in a second account are missing | Account at another ZIP 32 index | Re-import the same phrase. Vizor can add missing higher-index accounts without duplicating the first. |
| Transparent funds show but can't be spent yet | Private queries still confirming them | With Private queries on, transparent funds can't be spent or shielded until private recovery confirms them. Vizor doesn't fall back to public lookups. Give it a few blocks. |
| Shielded funds show as Orchard and need moving | Funds from before Ironwood | Vizor guides you through moving Orchard funds to Ironwood. |
If funds are still missing after a full sync with an early birthday, contact Vizor support with your app version and device, and never include your phrase.
Restore safely
- Your phrase goes in one place only: the restore screen of a wallet you installed yourself, on your own device. Zodl puts it bluntly: anyone with your seed phrase will be able to spend your Zcash.
- No support team needs it. Vizor's support page says not to share your recovery phrase, private keys, or passwords, even in bug reports.
- If the phrase was ever exposed, don't restore it and carry on. Create a new wallet with a new phrase and send your funds to it.
- Keep the written backup current. Device storage can fail. After one update, Vizor noted that some Linux users whose keyring data was lost may need their secret passphrase to restore. The phrase is the one copy that always works.
FAQ
How do I restore a Zcash wallet?
Install a maintained Zcash wallet, choose Import or Restore, enter your recovery phrase in order, add your BIP39 passphrase if you set one, and enter a wallet birthday on or before the day you first used the wallet. Then let the sync finish before you check your balance.
What is a Zcash wallet birthday?
It is the block height, or a date the wallet converts to one, where the wallet starts scanning the chain for your funds. A birthday that is too late misses transactions made before it. A birthday that is too early is safe but makes the first sync slower.
What if I don't know my wallet birthday?
Pick a date you are sure is before you first received ZEC. Earlier is always safe. Vizor asks for a date, works out the block range on your device, and starts a little earlier on purpose. If you know the ID of your first incoming transaction, a block explorer shows the exact height.
Why is my balance missing after I restored my Zcash wallet?
The usual causes are a sync that hasn't finished, a birthday set after your first transaction, a missing or wrong BIP39 passphrase, or funds held in another account derived from the same phrase. Let the sync complete, then re-import with an earlier birthday if funds are still missing.
Can I restore a Zodl or Zashi wallet in Vizor?
Yes. Zodl uses a standard 24-word Zcash recovery phrase, and Vizor imports 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24-word phrases. Both wallets scan the same keys, so the same balance appears in each. Use the birthday height from Zodl's backup screen if you have it.
Is it safe to type my recovery phrase into a wallet app?
Only into the restore screen of a wallet you installed yourself from its official link, on your own device. Never type it into a website, a form, a chat, or an app someone sent you. Anyone with the phrase can spend your ZEC.
Ready to restore? Get Vizor for iOS, Android, or desktop. It's free and open source, and it works with Ledger and Keystone. Questions? Visit Vizor support or browse the code on GitHub.