Your backup key’s status, and deleting it
WalletWallet holders·Updated
What the status of your backup key means, and what deleting it does.
Where to look
In Wallet options, and in Settings › Passkeys under “Keys added in Swaps”.
What the status means
- “Not added”: choose “Add”.
- “Added, not confirmed”: choose “Confirm” and sign once with your backup key.
- “Confirmed”: your backup key signed once for this wallet, and Tempo shows it. The time beside it is when Swaps last read Tempo.
- “Couldn’t read the network”: choose “Try again”.
Swaps can’t check a confirmed key again. If you delete the passkey in your password manager, Swaps still shows “Confirmed”: it is still a key of your wallet on Tempo, and a copy kept elsewhere, or one restored from Deleted, can still sign. Delete it in Swaps too, then add a new one.
Delete it
Choose “Delete”. Swaps asks “Delete backup key?” and says what stays: “This wallet goes back to one passkey.”, or, with a device key, “Your wallet key and one device key stay.”
Type the key’s name exactly as shown, then choose “Delete passkey”.
Approve with your wallet key in the prompt (while it is recorded as lost or stolen, another key of this wallet approves).
Swaps says “Backup key deleted” only once Tempo no longer shows the key.
- No money moves, and Swaps pays the network fee.
- It can’t be undone. “If you then lose your wallet key, there’s no backup to move your funds.”
- Your wallet’s home offers a backup key again.
Replace it
Delete it, then add a new one. If payments in are paused, don’t delete it yet: Swaps can’t add a new one until they reopen. Swaps pays for up to three adds on one wallet. If you got back in with your backup key, do both on the page where you got back in, before you reload it: after a reload Swaps may ask for your wallet key.
If deleting stops
- “Couldn’t confirm it on Tempo. Check again in a moment.” The result isn’t known yet: check the status again.
- “It’s your last working key. Nothing was deleted.”
Written by Swaps team. Updated 4 Nov 2026. Screens from Swaps. Names, amounts and times are examples.