"My Account Key isn't working"
If you think you've lost your Account Key because you are receiving "Sign-in failed" notifications, the first thing to do is make sure you are entering your Account Key correctly. You can do this by tapping or clicking the "eye" icon to show your Account Key, making it easier to check for possible typos.
If this does not solve the problem, try to think back to when you signed up for your Peerio account — did you write your Account Key down and store it somewhere safe? Did you have some trick to help you remember it?
"I have lost my Account Key"
Unfortunately, if you have lost your Account Key, there is nothing we can do to recover your account.
Peerio's security depends on you being the sole owner of your Account Key — the private key used to encrypt and decrypt your data. In other words, if you give your Account Key to someone, you are giving them full access to your account. Peerio was designed so that we cannot remove, modify, or access your passphrase under any circumstances — making your data truly yours, private and secure from third parties.
This also means that you must keep your Account Key somewhere safe.
"How do I keep my Account Key safe?"
In order of security, these are the best options for securing your Account Key:
- Write your Account Key down on paper (or print out the PDF generated by Peerio's desktop app). Store this paper somewhere secure. "On paper" is important! Do not record your Account Key in plaintext anywhere online (e.g. an email).
- Use an encrypted password manager. Consider using a password manager. A good password manager will be encrypted, open-source, and professionally audited. An offline password vault is generally safer than an online password manager. We do not recommend cloud-based password managers for high-risk users.
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Comments
3 comments
So I lost it, now what?
will this is odd, cause I rebooted my machine and the pass phrase I wrote down (AND emailed to myself as backup) is not being accepted.
Hi Simon,
Can you tell us a bit more about the issue you're having? Are you receiving an error message? Please feel free to message support@peerio.com to get more private assistance.
Also, we strongly recommend against keeping your passphrase stored online in plaintext (e.g. emails, un-encrypted cloud storage services, etc), as these locations are significantly more vulnerable than your desktop or an encrypted solution.
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