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Version: 0.16.0

Import a Wallet

If you already have a Tezos or EVM secret, you can restore it into TezosX Wallet. The Welcome screen's kind choice (Michelson runtime / EVM runtime) decides which import form you get; the flow validates the secret, encrypts it locally, and derives your identity.

Three import paths​

PathInputResult
Recovery phrase (Tezos)BIP-39 mnemonic, 12 / 15 / 18 / 21 / 24 wordstz1 account at HD index 0; the phrase becomes the vault's wallet seed
Tezos secret keyedsk… Base58 secret keyStandalone tz1 account (no derivation path — the key is the account)
EVM private key64-character hex, with or without the 0x prefixStandalone 0x account

All mnemonic words must be from the English BIP-39 wordlist.

Steps​

  1. Open the extension popup
  2. On the Welcome screen, pick the account kind, then click I have a recovery phrase (Tezos) or I have a private key (EVM)
  3. For Tezos imports, a toggle switches between Recovery phrase and Private key (edsk…) modes
  4. Paste your secret into the text area
  5. Enter a new local password (minimum 8 characters) and confirm it
  6. Click Import wallet

The wallet validates the secret before proceeding. If a mnemonic word is invalid or the checksum fails — or an edsk… / hex key doesn't decode — an error is shown inline. Your secret never leaves the device.

What happens internally​

mnemonic  ──isValidMnemonic()──►  validated
password  ──PBKDF2-SHA256 (600 000 iterations)──►  derivedKey
payload   ──AES-256-GCM──►  ciphertext  ──►  chrome.storage.local
mnemonic  ──BIP-39 seed──►  SLIP-10 ed25519 (m/44'/1729'/0'/0')
                         ──►  { tz1, publicKey }  (signing key derived on demand)

The validation uses @scure/bip39's validateMnemonic(mnemonic, wordlist). The derivation path is m/44'/1729'/0'/0' — the standard Tezos account path (BIP-44 coin type 1729), at HD index 0.

The three paths map to the keyring methods importFromMnemonic, importFromSecretKey, and importFromEvmPrivkey in packages/core/src/background/keyring.ts.

Only a phrase import seeds derived accounts

An imported recovery phrase is stored as the vault's wallet seed, so Add account can later derive more accounts from it (see Multi-account vaults). An edsk… or EVM private-key import creates a standalone account with no wallet seed — the derived-account cards stay hidden until a phrase-backed account exists.

Derived addresses​

After a Tezos import you will see two addresses on the Home screen:

AddressFormatPurpose
tz1…Base58Check, 36 charsMichelson runtime — used for signing operations
EVM alias0x… hex, 42 charsTezos X EVM runtime — shown to dApps as eth_accounts

The EVM alias is derived deterministically from your tz1 address via the Tezlink tez_getTezosEthereumAddress RPC call. It is not a separate key — it is a representation of the same underlying ed25519 key pair on the EVM runtime side.

An imported EVM private key yields a single 0x address — a native EVM account, not an alias.

Password scope​

The password you set during import is specific to this device. It protects the locally encrypted vault. It is not your Tezos wallet password (if you had one) and is not stored anywhere.

You can set a different password than the one you used on another device — only the secret must match. To change the password later, use Settings → Change password — it re-seals the vault without touching your secrets or addresses, no re-import needed (see Settings).

Import is also where forgot-password recovery lands: the Unlock screen's Forgot password? Reset & re-import path erases the encrypted vault — the password is the only key to it — and returns here so you can start over from your recovery phrase. Only seed-derived accounts come back at their original addresses; separately imported edsk… or EVM private keys are not covered by the phrase and must be re-imported on their own. See Password lifecycle.

See also​