How to Store Monero Safely in 2026
How do you store Monero safely? Keep the keys yourself, and match the wallet to the amount. For everyday amounts, use a non-custodial wallet that scans on your phone. For large amounts, use a hardware wallet or an offline wallet. In every case, write your seed on paper and keep it offline. This guide covers each choice, including how to store Monero offline.
We make Monero One, a wallet for iPhone and Android. We say where a hardware wallet or a computer wallet does more.
How We Checked
On October 18, 2026, we read the Monero project's docs and the Feather, Trezor and Cake Wallet docs. For Monero One, we read the app source code for iPhone and Android. We quote each app's own labels. The screenshots show Monero One for iPhone 1.1.0 (11), with demo wallets.
Keep Your Own Keys
An exchange holds your keys for you. It can freeze your account, get hacked or shut down. Mt. Gox and FTX both failed with customer coins inside. Self-custody means your keys live on your own device and in your seed backup, and nowhere else.
Not your keys, not your Monero.
Match the Wallet to the Amount
| Setup | Where the spend key lives | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Phone wallet | On your phone, behind a PIN | Everyday amounts |
| Hardware wallet | On the device. It signs each send | Savings that you still spend from |
| Offline wallet | On a computer that never goes online | Long-term savings |
| Seed on paper | Your backup for all of the above | Recovery |
How to Store Monero on Your Phone
A phone wallet is the easy choice for money you spend. Check three things:
- Non-custodial: the keys stay on your phone.
- Open source: anyone can read the code.
- Scans on your phone: some wallets give your private view key to a light wallet server. The Monero project says a view key shows "every incoming transaction for that address." A wallet that scans on your phone keeps the view key to itself.
Monero One scans the blockchain on your phone. It connects to a Monero node that you pick, or to your own node. A remote node still sees your IP address and the transactions you send. Our guide to what a Monero node sees explains how to hide your IP address from the node.
To set it up:
- Download Monero One from the App Store or Google Play.
- Create a wallet. On iPhone, the Choose Seed Format screen offers Polyseed (16 words) and Standard (24 words). On Android, the app creates a 24-word seed.
- Write the seed on paper. The section on seeds below explains how to keep it.
- Set a PIN. Then turn on Face ID on iPhone, or Enable Biometrics on Android.
To compare other phone wallets, see our guides to the best Monero wallets and Monero One vs Cake Wallet.
How to Store Monero Offline
For large amounts, keep the spend key off every device that goes online. You can do this in two ways.
With a Hardware Wallet
A hardware wallet keeps your Monero keys on a small device. It signs each send after you check it on the device's own screen. Ledger and Trezor both make devices that hold Monero. On a computer, Feather and the Monero GUI work with many Ledger and Trezor models.
On iPhone, Monero One pairs with a Trezor Safe 7 over Bluetooth. The app scans with the view key, and the spend key stays on the Trezor. Our Trezor guide for iPhone has the steps.
The hardware wallet has its own backup words. Keep them offline, like a seed. They restore your wallet if you lose the device.
With an Offline Computer
An offline wallet, also called a cold wallet, lives on a computer that never connects to the internet. Feather's docs explain offline transaction signing. A view-only wallet on an online device builds each send. The offline computer signs it. You move the data between the two by QR code or with files on a flash drive. Feather says this works "without exposing the private spend key to a computer that is connected to the internet."
To watch an offline wallet from your phone, use a view-only wallet. The Monero project says a view-only wallet "can only see incoming transactions," so it cannot spend. Monero One for iPhone can restore a view-only wallet from an address and a private view key. The view key shows your incoming payments, so keep it private too.
This setup takes more work. It suits savings that you rarely touch.
Protect Your Seed Phrase
Your seed is the master key. A Monero seed can have 16 words (Polyseed), 25 words (the classic Monero format), 24 words (the Standard format in Monero One) or 13 words (MyMonero). Our Monero seed words guide explains each one.
Anyone who has your words controls your Monero. No password reset exists, and no support team can bring the coins back.
- Write the seed on paper. Not in Notes, not in a screenshot, not in a cloud drive.
- Keep two full copies in two safe places, such as a fireproof safe at home and a safe deposit box.
- Never type the seed into a website. Never share it with someone who says they are support.
- Install wallet apps only from links on the wallet's own site. Cake Wallet's docs warn that "Fake wallet apps copy the names and icons of real ones."
Lost your phone? Restore from your seed on a new phone. Lost your phone and your seed? Those funds are gone for good.
Write Down the Date Too
A Polyseed stores the approximate date you created the wallet, so a restore starts its scan near that date. Monero One creates Polyseed seeds on iPhone, and it restores them on iPhone and Android. A 25-word seed stores no date. Write the date you created the wallet next to the words. Without it, pick an early date when you restore, and the scan takes longer. Our guide to a balance that shows zero after a restore explains restore dates.
Lock the App
Pick a PIN that is not 1234 or a birthday. Turn on Face ID or biometrics too. Monero One handles wrong PINs in different ways on each phone:
| Rule | iPhone | Android |
|---|---|---|
| PIN length | 4 or 6 digits (6 is the default) | 6 digits |
| After 5 wrong PINs | Wait 1 minute | Wait 30 seconds |
| More wrong PINs | Each one doubles the wait, up to 1 hour | From 10, wait 5 minutes |
| After 20 wrong PINs | The 1-hour waits go on | The app deletes all wallets from the phone |
On Android, only your seed brings a deleted wallet back. That is one more reason to keep it safe.
Trusted Locations on iPhone
Monero One for iPhone can also limit syncing to places you trust. Go to Settings, then Sync Settings, and turn on Trusted Locations. Then tap Manage Locations to open the Trusted Locations screen. With Warn Only, the app warns you when the wallet syncs outside your trusted places. With Block Sync, the wallet syncs only inside them. The list of places is saved on your phone.
Is Monero Safe?
The Monero network has run since 2014, and its code is open source. Its privacy has grown with network upgrades, such as RingCT and larger rings. Our guide to ring signatures covers that history.
For you, the bigger risks are on the wallet side: a lost seed, a fake app, or a scam that asks for your words. The steps above guard against each one.
Download Monero One for iPhone or Android.
FAQ
How do I store Monero offline?
Use a hardware wallet, or a wallet on a computer that never goes online. Feather and the Monero GUI work with Ledger and Trezor devices, and Feather can sign sends on an offline computer. Keep your seed on paper in both cases.
Is a phone wallet safe for Monero?
For everyday amounts, yes, if the wallet is non-custodial and you keep the seed offline. For large amounts, a hardware wallet or an offline wallet is safer, because the spend key never sits on a phone that goes online.
What happens if I lose my phone?
Install the wallet on a new phone and restore it from your seed. Your Monero stays on the blockchain. Without the seed, nobody can restore the wallet.
Sources
Read on October 18, 2026.
- Monero project: view key, view-only wallets, downloads
- Feather docs: offline transaction signing, hardware wallets
- Trezor: Monero on Trezor
- Cake Wallet docs: install on iPhone and Mac
- Monero One: iPhone source code, Android source code