How to Export or Recover a Privy Wallet
By Shawn Michael Thomas II, Founder of Simple Easy Transactions · Published ·
How do I export or recover a Privy wallet? To export a Privy wallet, sign in to the app that created it and choose its export option: Privy opens its own window where you copy the private key, which Privy assembles on a different origin so neither the app nor Privy can see it. To use the wallet again on a new device, sign in with the same login method. Privy says it cannot recover an account whose only login method is lost, so an exported key, stored safely, is your backup.
AT A GLANCE
Export the private key vs Sign in again.
| Question | Export the private key | Sign in again |
|---|---|---|
| What it gives you | The key itself, which controls the wallet's address | The same wallet, through the app |
| Who sees the key | Only you; Privy assembles it on a different origin from the app | No one; you never handle it |
| What you need | To be signed in, in a web browser | Access to your login method, such as your email inbox |
| If you lose that email | The exported key still controls the wallet | Privy says no recovery is possible when the only login method is lost |
| The main risk | Anyone who gets the key can move everything at that address | Losing the login method locks you out |
HOW EACH ONE WORKS
How each one works.
Export is Privy's feature, not the app's. Privy's export documentation says exportWallet “will open a modal where your user can copy the full private key for their embedded wallet”, and that the key is assembled on a different origin from the app's, so “neither you nor Privy can ever access your user's private key.”
Two conditions apply. You have to be signed in with a wallet already created, or the export fails, and Privy says export “is only available in web environments” where it can rely on strict browser security. So export from the wallet's web page in a browser.
Privy's supported-chains page lists private key export, to retrieve the raw private key for non-custodial use or migration, among the wallet features it offers.
Recovery is simpler than it sounds: the login is the wallet. Privy's login-method guide puts it plainly: “Account access is wallet access.” An app can tell Privy to create a wallet only for users who do not have one, so signing in again with the same email on a new phone or computer opens the wallet you already have.
The hard case is losing the login itself. Privy's guide to supporting users says that when a user has lost their only login method, “No recovery is possible”, and lists recovering such a user among the things Privy cannot do. Privy recommends that apps offer another login option or multi-factor authentication for that reason.
A private key is the whole wallet. Keep it offline, never paste it into a website or a chat, and never send it to anyone: no genuine support team needs it.
FIELD NOTES
What I've learned building this.
- SET Private Wallets open with your email. Since October 4, 2026 you can also add a passkey from the wallet's Backup sign-in section, as a second way in to the same wallet. Until you add one, your email inbox is the one login method, and if you lose it an exported key is the only backup.
- You add the passkey, and sign in with it, on the wallet's own page at wallet.simpleeasytransactions.com, not inside this site's frame: Privy documents nothing about passkeys in a cross-origin frame. A passkey never opens a new account; every SET wallet starts with an email.
- In the wallet, each address has an Export key button next to Copy. It opens Privy's export window, and the key never reaches SET's server.
- Signing in again with the same email opens the wallet you already have: the app asks Privy to create a wallet only for an account that has none.
- The wallet shows one address for Ethereum, Base, Polygon and Avalanche, so that one exported key covers all four networks.
- SET will never ask for your private key.
HOW TO CHOOSE
How I'd choose.
- Add a passkey from the wallet's Backup sign-in section, so losing your inbox does not lock you out.
- Export your key once, soon after you open the wallet, and store it offline.
- Sign in again for everyday access on a new phone or computer; you do not need the key for that.
- If you lose access to your email, work with your email provider to recover the inbox first: Privy says it cannot recover an account whose only login method is lost.
QUESTIONS
Questions people ask.
Can SET recover my wallet if I lose my email?
No. Privy says it cannot recover a user who has lost their only login method. If you added a passkey from the wallet's Backup sign-in section, you can still sign in with it. A private key you exported earlier also still controls the wallet's address.
Will SET or Privy see my private key when I export it?
No. Privy's export documentation says the key is assembled on a different origin from the app's, so neither the app nor Privy can access it. SET will never ask for your private key.
Can I export my key from a phone app?
Privy says key export is only available in web environments, where it can rely on strict browser security. Export from the wallet's web page in a browser.
SOURCES
Where these facts come from.
Sources checked on . Providers change their products and rules, so the linked pages are the final word.