Trezor.io/start (Official) | Congrats on your new Trezor

Welcome — You just unboxed a hardware fortress

This page walks you through the official start flow, recovery practices, additional security guidance, and helpful context — written to be friendly, thorough, and resilient.

This document was designed to be long-form. It contains extensive guidance, checklists, examples, warnings, and suggestions for best practice.

Getting Started • Official

1) First things first — Inspecting your device

When you receive a Trezor device, take a moment to visually inspect it. Confirm the packaging is intact, the tamper seal (if any) is present and undisturbed, and the device matches the official model information from the manufacturer. A typical new device will show factory-default screens on first boot that ask you to pair it with the official companion application. Avoid powering the device using unknown chargers or public USB ports; use a clean, trusted cable and a private computer. These initial steps reduce exposure to supply-chain and local tampering risks.

The device's firmware version will be displayed during setup. Official Trezor firmware is signed; the setup process verifies firmware authenticity. If you see unexpected prompts or if the device warns of an unsigned firmware image, stop and contact official support. Do not proceed with entering any seed words or connecting to unknown services until you are confident the device is genuine and the firmware is authentic. This may seem cautious, but hardware compromise is difficult to recover from and prevention matters more than cure.

Always use the official Trezor start URL or follow instructions provided with the device. Bookmark the official setup page in your browser, and double-check the URL every time to prevent phishing attempts. Remember: physical possession of the device does not guarantee it is secure — the supply chain and local environment play a role.

Setup • Walkthrough

2) Setup flow — connecting, initializing, and creating a seed

To set up the device for the first time, connect it to a secure, updated computer and open the official interface at the official start domain (e.g., the URL printed in official materials). The onboarding flow typically includes creating a new wallet (generating a seed) or restoring an existing wallet. Choose "Create a new wallet" unless you intentionally are restoring a known seed. The device will generate a recovery seed — a sequence of words — using its hardware random number generator. The words should never be entered into a computer or stored digitally. They exist solely as a physical backup that you keep in a safe location.

During the process you will be advised to write down or otherwise back up your recovery seed. Follow the recommended best practices: write the words legibly on the provided recovery card or on high-quality offline backup media, consider using steel backup plates if you live in an area prone to fire or flooding, and split pieces of the seed among multiple secure locations using secret sharing if desired.

Choose a PIN for device access when prompted. The PIN protects the device's operation when connected to potentially malicious hosts, but is not a substitute for the recovery seed. Use a PIN that is memorable to you but not trivial. Avoid using the same PIN as other devices, and never write the PIN on the device or near where you store the recovery seed.

Security • Deep Dive

3) Recovery seed — the single most important artifact

The recovery seed is the canonical backup of your private keys. Possession of the seed equates to possession of the funds. Consequences are absolute: if someone obtains your seed they can recreate your wallet and move funds; if you lose your seed and your device is damaged beyond recovery, your funds become irretrievable. Because of these stakes, treat the seed with the same seriousness you would physical cash or legal documents.

Best practices for handling seeds include:

Never take photos or digital copies of the seed.
Use multiple offline backups in geographically separated locations.
Consider metal backup plates to survive fire, flood, and degradation.
Regularly verify that backups are intact and legible.
Use secret sharing (Shamir's or other schemes) only if implemented correctly and you understand the tradeoffs.

Additionally, test your recovery process in a low-stakes environment. Create a secondary wallet with a small test amount, back it up with your process, and perform a restore to ensure everything works as expected. This exercise is invaluable in confirming that your backup procedure works under stress and avoids surprises when you truly need to restore access to a wallet.

Operational Security

4) Day-to-day use and safe habits

Once set up, the hardware wallet should be used as the signing authority for transactions. Maintain separation between the device and general-purpose computing environments. Use a clean, up-to-date computer for wallet interactions, and prefer the official companion application for transactions. When verifying transactions, use the device's screen to confirm addresses and amounts; never rely solely on the computer's display. Many phishing and malware campaigns present false addresses to the computer while the hardware wallet's screen displays the true destination. A mismatch indicates compromise.

Limit the number of times you expose the device to untrusted hosts. Where possible, use an air-gapped signing strategy: prepare unsigned transactions on an internet-connected machine, move the unsigned file to an offline machine that has the device attached, sign the transaction with the device, and then move the signed file back to an online machine for broadcast. This additional step can make remote compromise significantly harder.

Be careful with browser extensions, remote desktop tools, and clipboard managers. These tools can leak data or manipulate transaction content. Consider using dedicated profiles, separate browsers, or even a small dedicated laptop for crypto operations. The marginal cost of this separation is small compared to the security improvement it brings.

Advanced • Features & integrations

5) Advanced features, passphrases, and integrations

Trezor devices support advanced features such as passphrase-protected hidden wallets, multiple coin types, and developer-friendly APIs. Passphrases act as an additional word appended to your recovery seed. They create distinct hidden wallets that are only accessible when the passphrase is entered on the device. Passphrases can prevent adversaries from discovering your main wallet but introduce complexity and risk; if you forget the passphrase, access to that hidden wallet is lost forever. Use a passphrase only if you understand the operational overhead and have a reliable, secure way of remembering or retrieving it.

Integrations with third-party wallets and services expand functionality but require caution. Only integrate with reputable ecosystem projects, and when asked to provide extended public keys or sign data, confirm the request's legitimacy via out-of-band channels. When developers build solutions on top of hardware wallets, they sometimes expose new attack vectors; stay current with security advisories and avoid experimental features unless you understand the risks.

Troubleshooting • Recovery

6) Lost device, damaged device, or suspected compromise

If your device is lost or damaged but you possess your recovery seed, you can restore your wallet on a new device. Follow the official restore flow and ensure you use a genuine replacement. If you suspect compromise — for example, unexpected firmware messages, transactions you did not authorize, or the device behaves inconsistently — do not trust it. Move funds using a secure process: restore your seed on a new, verified device, move funds to a fresh wallet, and consider rotating keys and separating holdings across multiple wallets.

If you have only partial backups or suspect theft of a seed, assess the situation conservatively. The safest course is to move funds to a brand-new wallet and assume compromise. Time matters; the longer a compromised seed is in adversary hands, the more at risk your funds are.

Checklist

7) Quick security checklist (copy & keep)

Verify device authenticity and firmware signature on first boot.
Create a fresh recovery seed on-device; never import a seed from the internet.
Write the seed offline — no photos or digital copies.
Use a strong, unique PIN and store it separately from the seed.
Consider metal backups for disaster resilience.
Test recovery with a low-value restore exercise.
Keep one device per primary user; avoid sharing devices for signing simple reasons.

FAQ

8) Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I store my seed in a password manager?
A: No. Password managers reside on internet-connected devices and create a centralized target. The seed should remain offline and physical. If you must use a digital method, ensure it is encrypted and air-gapped — but this is rarely recommended for primary wallets.

Q: What if I forget my device PIN?
A: Multiple incorrect PIN attempts may reset the device depending on settings. Use your recovery seed to restore access on a new device. Avoid storing the PIN with the seed, and consider memorization techniques or secure PIN vaults that are physically protected.

Q: Is passphrase support safe?
A: Passphrases add plausible deniability and an extra layer of security but require careful handling. Treat passphrases like distinct secrets and never store them in the same place as your recovery seed.

Long Read • In-depth guidance

Understanding the underlying concepts

Hardware wallets like Trezor separate the storage and signing of private keys from general-purpose computing environments. Their design centers on an air-gapped enclave of trust: secrets are generated and remain within the device, and only signed transactions leave the device. This model dramatically reduces the attack surface compared to storing keys on a regular computer or mobile phone. To understand why this is important, consider everyday threats: keyloggers, clipboard malware, phishing pages, and browser compromises. Each of these tools can capture or manipulate transactions when private keys exist in software. A hardware wallet, by moving the critical operations onto a physically controlled device, makes many of these attacks infeasible.

That said, hardware wallets are not a panacea. They rely on correct user practices — secure backups, careful verification of addresses, and conservative operational patterns. Users should adopt complementary measures: secure endpoint hygiene, operating system updates, network security, and a conservative approach to new integrations. Security is layered and continuous. The hardware wallet is a powerful layer, but it must be combined with other prudent behaviors to achieve durable protection for high-value holdings.

Below we provide extended examples, hypothetical scenarios, and decision trees to help you make choices that match your threat model. Reading these examples will take time, but they are intended to prepare you for realistic situations and to help you design a process for long-term custodianship.

Example scenario: Single-person homeowner storing retirement funds

Imagine you hold long-term cryptocurrency savings intended for retirement. Your goals are long-term retention, minimal maintenance, and protection against both cyber and physical risks. A recommended design might include: storing the bulk of funds in a hardware wallet with a metal backup in a home safe; keeping a secondary small hot wallet for everyday spending; using geographic separation by placing an additional backup in a bank safe deposit box; and testing recovery annually. If you are concerned about coercion or targeted theft, evaluate passphrase-based hidden wallets, but only after discussing the approach with trusted legal and security advisors where necessary.

Example scenario: Family inheritance and succession planning

Estate planning with crypto requires planning for human factors. If you want heirs to inherit assets, document the process in a secure legal framework: provide instructions to trusted executors, and use multi-step legal custody with professional fiduciaries when appropriate. Consider splitting the seed using secret-sharing between multiple trustees and storing shares in separate legal or physical jurisdictions. However, remember that secret sharing increases complexity and failure modes; weigh the tradeoffs carefully and provide thorough, tested instructions for your heirs.

Recovery and rotation strategy

A robust plan should include periodic key rotation for large holdings. Rotation is the act of moving funds to a new wallet with a new seed. This practice reduces exposure from old backups and potential unnoticed compromises. Rotation requires a secure process: prepare a new device, perform a fresh seed generation, move funds with sufficient confirmations, and then securely destroy or retire old backup media if desired. Keep written logs of born-on dates, device serials, backup locations, and other metadata that helps you track the lifecycle of each wallet.

Throughout all of these examples, the common theme is clarity of process: write down the steps a third party should follow to recover or access the funds with minimal ambiguity. Treat documentation as a security-critical artifact. Test everything under non-critical conditions to validate the process.