Xaman Backup and Restore: How to Move Xaman to a New Phone

To move Xaman to a new phone, you install Xaman fresh on the new device, import your account secret (secret numbers, family seed or mnemonic), and check that the r-address it shows matches your account before you press Confirm. Xaman has no cloud backup, so your written secret is the only way back in.

Xaman’s help center puts it plainly: “Xaman does not have the ability to display or recover an account secret.” If you wrote yours down years ago and never checked it, a phone change is when you find out whether it works. This guide covers the move step by step, what to do when the address doesn’t match, and how to test your backup now. For first-time setup, see our Xaman wallet setup guide. Menu labels change between Xaman versions, so the buttons in your app may be worded slightly differently.

Where does your XRP actually live?

Your XRP lives on the XRP Ledger, not on your phone. The XRP Ledger docs say “An account’s core data is stored in an AccountRoot ledger entry.” Your phone is one way to reach that account. Any phone with the right secret can reach it just as well.

So a lost or broken phone doesn’t mean lost XRP. Xaman’s help center says “Your account is not gone. Your assets are still on the XRP Ledger.” What you lose is your easy way in. A lost secret with no working phone is the case that locks you out. Our sibling guide on what happens if you lose your phone covers that scenario in full.

What is your Xaman backup?

Your Xaman backup is your account secret, written on paper. The XRP Ledger docs describe a seed as “a compact value that is used to derive the actual private and public keys for an account,” and add: “If you don’t have it, you can’t use your account.”

Xaman says your secret numbers, “also called Family Seed or Mnemonic, are the keys to your account,” and that Xaman “does not have a copy of yours and cannot recover them for you, because that is the whole point of self-custody.” On the phone, Xaman says the key is “encrypted and stored only inside a separate secure, encrypted chip.” So there are two copies: one locked in the phone, and the one you wrote down.

Secret format	What it looks like
Secret numbers	8 rows, labeled A to H, of 6 digits each (Xaman’s own format)
Family seed	A single string of letters and numbers
Mnemonic	A list of words

Whichever you have, keep it private. Xaman says “Never share your Secret Numbers with anyone,” and “If someone asks for them, they are trying to steal from you.” That includes anyone offering to help you recover them. Our seed phrase explainer covers safe storage.

Why can’t you restore Xaman from the cloud?

Xaman blocks cloud and device backups on purpose. Its “Got a new phone?” page says Xaman can’t be restored or copied from a backup or another device, because an attacker who got into your Google or Apple account could otherwise restore your wallet. Xaman’s advice is to keep your account secret stored offline, in a secure place.

By the same logic, a photo of your secret that syncs to the cloud isn’t offline. Neither is a screenshot, a notes app or an email to yourself. Xaman says of your secret numbers: “Anyone who has them can control your funds.”

How do you move Xaman to a new phone?

You keep the old phone, install Xaman fresh, import your secret and check the address. Based on Xaman’s help center:

1. Keep the old phone. Xaman says “Do not get rid of your old phone until your new phone has been properly setup and is working as expected.”
2. Get your secret ready: secret numbers, family seed or mnemonic.
3. Install Xaman fresh on the new phone from the official Apple App Store or Google Play.
4. Start the import. Tap “Add account,” then “Import an existing account.” Choose “Full access,” then the type of secret you have.
5. Enter your secret slowly, row by row.
6. Check the r-address. Xaman’s import page says “Please ensure that r-address that is displayed is the one that you intend to import.” Only then press “Confirm.”
7. Pick a security level and label. Xaman says “Extra security allows you to enter a separate signing password.”

You may then see a warning that your account is present on another device. Xaman lists “You install Xaman on a new phone and import your existing account secret for the first time” as one cause, and says its urgent steps only apply if the message is unexpected. If you use a Xaman (Tangem) card, add it again on the new phone with the “Add Tangem card” option.

What if the r-address doesn’t match after importing?

A different r-address means you imported a different account, so don’t send anything to it. Xaman says the secret was likely written down incorrectly when the account was created, entered into Xaman incorrectly, or you have a different secret for that account. Xaman also says importing the correct secret always gives the same r-address.

Start with the easiest fix. Re-enter the secret slowly and compare each row against your paper. If it still doesn’t match, your old phone is the safety net: the account is still reachable there while you sort it out.

How do you test your Xaman backup before you need it?

You test it by confirming that your written secret produces your known address. Two levels:

Test	How	Trade-off
In-app check	On your current phone, follow Xaman’s “How to test your Account Secret” steps: start “Import an existing account,” choose your secret type and enter it. If it’s right, Xaman says the secret belongs to an account already in the app	Tests the written secret without putting it on another device
Full	Install Xaman on a spare device you trust, import the secret, and check that the r-address matches	Proves the backup works, but puts your secret on one more device. Remove the account afterwards if you won’t keep using it

If you don’t have a spare device you trust, run the full test on your next phone upgrade, with the old phone kept as the safety net. For larger balances, Xaman’s help center points to its card, where the key is “generated inside the card chip and physically cannot be extracted or shared.” That option has its own backup steps.

What if you’ve already lost your Xaman secret?

If your phone still works, move your funds to a new account while you still can. Xaman’s help center says that if you can still sign, you can create a new XRP Ledger account in Xaman and move your assets over. Xaman says to activate the new account by sending it 1 XRP, the XRP Ledger’s current base reserve. You will also need to recreate trust lines for any tokens you hold. Some XRP stays locked as a reserve in the old account; recovering it means deleting that account, which has its own fee. Write the new secret down carefully, and test it.

Ignore anyone who offers to recover a lost secret. Xaman says “No one can recover an account secret.” Our article on crypto recovery scams explains how those offers work.

Xaman backup checklist

• My secret is written on paper, offline, in the correct order.
• My public r-address is written next to it.
• I have tested the backup once, on a device I trust.
• No photo, screenshot or cloud copy of the secret exists.
• I will keep my old phone until the new one works.

What to check next

Find your written secret today and confirm it’s where you think it is. Then write your r-address beside it. Check Xaman’s help center at help.xaman.app before a phone change, since screens and button labels can change between versions.

Sources

• Xaman Help Center: Got a new phone?
• Xaman Help Center: I’ve lost my account secret
• Xaman Help Center: Importing with Secret Numbers
• Xaman Help Center: Self-Custody 101
• XRP Ledger docs: Cryptographic Keys
• Xaman Help Center: How to test your Account Secret
• Xaman Help Center: Account present on another device
• XRP Ledger docs: Accounts