This guide explains how to extract your 24 recovery words from a microSD card backup file using the BitBox backup recovery tool. This is a high-risk emergency procedure.

You should only follow this guide as a last resort if your BitBox02 is lost, stolen, or broken, and you do not have a written copy of your 24 recovery words. This process involves exposing your backup to a computer, which carries security risks.

Warning: Critical Security Precautions

• Use an Offline Computer: This entire process must be done on a computer that is completely disconnected from the internet. A machine running Tails OS is a great option.
• Prepare a New Wallet: Before you begin, have a new, secure hardware wallet ready to receive your funds.
• Your Words are a Secret: Once extracted, anyone who sees your 24 recovery words can steal your crypto. You must move your funds to a new, secure wallet immediately.

Step-by-step recovery guide

Follow these steps carefully on a computer that is and will remain completely offline.

1. Prepare your secure setup:
   1. Have your new, secure wallet ready (ideally another hardware wallet).
   2. On a trusted computer (can be online for this step only), download the latest bitbox-recovery.AppImage from the BitBox GitHub repository 
   3. Transfer the downloaded file (e.g., via a clean USB stick) to the computer you will use for the recovery, which must now be taken offline.
2. Go completely offline: 
   1. Disconnect the recovery computer from the internet (unplug Ethernet, disable Wi-Fi). 
   2. Do not reconnect it until your funds are safe in the new wallet.
3. Run the recovery tool: 
   1. Launch the bitbox-recovery.AppImage file on the offline computer.
4. Insert your microSD card: 
   1. Plug the BitBox02 microSD card containing your backup into the offline computer.
5. Select the backup file: 
   1. Click "Choose file" in the recovery tool and navigate to your microSD card.
   2. Select the wallet backup file (it usually has a .backup extension).
6. Retrieve your recovery words: 
   1. The tool will display your 24 BIP-39 recovery words. 
   2. Write them down accurately in the correct order. 
   3. Double-check them. Store this written copy securely.
7. Import into a new wallet: 
   1. Use the 24 recovery words you just wrote down to restore access to your funds in your new, secure wallet application (such as Electrum).
8. Secure your funds immediately: 
   1. As soon as your funds appear in the new wallet, create a transaction to send them to a brand new address generated by that new wallet. 
   2. This is crucial because exposing your recovery words on any computer, even offline, is a security risk. 
   3. Consider those words compromised and move your assets to a wallet generated from a fresh, secure seed phrase.