Back it up.
Prove you can recover.

What belongs in a recovery plan

Rise describes a 12-word mnemonic for newly created wallets. Separately imported private-key accounts may require separate backups. Keep the original secrets offline, alongside a public inventory of addresses, account indexes, derivation notes and any authentication-key rotation records. A password alone is insufficient to recreate blockchain access.

Address derivation is part of recovery

Aptos commonly uses a BIP-44 path such as m/44'/637'/0'/0'/0'. Multi-account clients can vary the account index. Accepting a mnemonic is not proof of successful recovery: compare every complete address and confirm the expected account scheme. Restoring only the first address can leave later accounts undiscovered.

Test before you need it

Use a low-value test account and a clean, authentic client. Verify addresses without funding them, inspect current authentication and only then prove signing with a tiny transfer. Include current fungible assets, collectibles and protocol positions in your check.

• Write down the expected public addresses and account indexes.

• Restore only inside a verified wallet application.

• Compare addresses and current on-chain authentication keys.

• Check assets and protocol positions independently.

• Confirm a small outbound transaction before relying on recovery.

Importing and transferring are different migrations

Importing the existing seed preserves the same secret and its exposure history. Creating a new account establishes new signing material but requires gas and asset-by-asset transfers, staking exits and protocol updates. After key rotation, the original phrase may no longer authorize the permanent address. Inventory every position before choosing a migration path.