Which passphrase opens a vault I have restored?
Backup & export · Help center · Current as of 2026-10-10
Short answer
The file itself is opened with the backup password you chose when you made it, which may be different from any vault passphrase. Restoring from the lock screen creates a new vault and asks you to set a new passphrase for it on this device; restoring into a vault you already have replaces its contents and leaves that vault’s existing passphrase alone.
Three secrets, and which is which
| Secret | What it opens | Recoverable? |
|---|---|---|
| Account password | The sync service, so a device can fetch the ciphertext. | Yes, by email reset. |
| Vault passphrase | The vault on a device. | No. |
| Backup password | One backup file, and nothing else. | No. |
People often set the backup password to the vault passphrase of the day and then change the vault passphrase later. The file keeps the password it was made with, because it is sealed and nothing goes back to re-seal it.
The two ways to restore
- From the lock screen. Choose to restore a backup, pick the file, give the backup password, name the vault and set a new passphrase of at least 12 characters. The result is an additional vault on this device with a passphrase of its own.
- From Settings, under Data. Choose Restore backup, give the backup password, and confirm. This replaces the contents of the vault you are in, which keeps the passphrase it already had.
If it refuses the file
"That is not a KeyNesta backup file" means the file is not an encrypted .keynesta backup — a plain export is a different thing and goes through import instead. "Wrong backup password, or the file is damaged" means the password did not authenticate the contents; there is no way to tell which of the two it was, and no way around it. Start from what can and cannot be recovered.
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