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Set up a hardware wallet step by step

How to set up a Ledger or BitBox safely: check the package, run the genuine check, create a new wallet, write down the words, and test with a small amount.

Illustration: a check mark icon in a rounded tile, with the title Set up a hardware wallet

Key points

  • Set up the device yourself, as a new wallet. A real device never comes with a recovery phrase or PIN already set.
  • Install the maker’s app only from its own website or the official app stores.
  • Write down the recovery words before you send any coins, then test with a small amount first.

Before you start

You need about half an hour, a pen, the recovery card from the box, and a quiet place where nobody watches your screen. Do not set up the device in a shop or with someone else’s help.

The steps

  1. Check the package. If it looks opened or altered, do not use the device. Ledger advises contacting its support in that case.
  2. Install the maker’s app from the maker’s own website or the official app stores: Ledger Wallet for Ledger, the BitBoxApp for BitBox.
  3. Connect the device and run the genuine check. Ledger’s app sends a challenge to the device, and the device’s secure chip must sign it. This proves the chip is genuine.
  4. Set a PIN or password on the device itself.
  5. Create a new wallet. Never restore a phrase that came with the device. Ledger states that a genuine device “never comes with a recovery phrase or PIN code pre-configured.”
  6. Write down the recovery words in the order the device shows them, by hand, on the card. BitBox uses 24 words by default. Check every word twice.
  7. Confirm the words on the device, if it asks you to.
  8. Choose your backup: at BitBox, the written words, a microSD card, or both. BitBox states that the microSD file is not encrypted.
  9. Receive a small amount first. Check the receiving address on the device screen, not only on the computer.
  10. Store the words safely, apart from the device. The guide Store your recovery phrase safely shows how.

After the setup

Send larger amounts only after the small test worked. Keep the device’s software up to date through the maker’s app. The guide Firmware updates for hardware wallets explains why.

Next step

The guide Buy a hardware wallet safely shows what to check before the device is even in your hands.

The figures in this guide come from the archive and change with every data update. As of November 13, 2026.

Check it with the archive's data

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