---
title: "Backup Codes"
description: "Recovery codes for accessing your account when you can't use your authenticator."
canonical_url: "https://docs.sealmetrics.com/security-privacy/account-security/backup-codes"
lang: "en"
date_generated: "2026-09-14T13:48:10.438Z"
source_hash: "72da9b9437d90e4de4d5b7923752674db15a25fb7005bd33d4d500b6bc9488ac"
content_type: "trust-and-legal"
owner: "legal"
llm_priority: "critical"
source_file: "security-privacy/account-security/backup-codes.mdx"
publisher: "Sealmetrics"
---

# Backup Codes

Canonical page: https://docs.sealmetrics.com/security-privacy/account-security/backup-codes

Backup codes are one-time use codes that let you access your account when you can't use your authenticator app.

## What Are Backup Codes?

Backup codes are:
- 10 unique codes generated when you enable 2FA
- Each code can only be used once
- Your safety net when your phone is lost, broken, or unavailable
- Independent of your authenticator app

## When to Use Backup Codes

Use a backup code when:
- Your phone is lost or stolen
- Your phone is dead and you can't charge it
- You're traveling without your usual device
- Your authenticator app was deleted
- You got a new phone and forgot to transfer 2FA

## Viewing Your Backup Codes

Backup codes are shown **only once** — when you first enable 2FA, and again each time you regenerate them. For security, Sealmetrics does not let you re-view an existing set later.

In **My Account → Security**, the **Two-Factor Authentication** section shows how many codes you have left (for example, "8 of 10 codes remaining"), but it does not list the codes themselves or which specific codes were used.

```
Two-Factor Authentication
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Backup Codes
8 of 10 codes remaining

[Regenerate Codes]
```

If you can't find the codes you saved, generate a new set with **Regenerate Codes** (see below).

## Using a Backup Code

### At Login

1. Enter your email and password
2. On the 2FA screen, click **Use a backup code instead**
3. Enter one of your backup codes
4. Click **Verify**

```
Use Backup Code
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Can't access your authenticator?
Use one of your backup codes to sign in.

Enter backup code:
[mno90-pqr12        ]

[Verify]

← Back to authenticator code
```

### After Using a Code

Once a backup code is used, it can't be used again. The remaining-codes count in **My Account → Security** decreases accordingly. When you're running low, regenerate a fresh set so you always have codes available.

## Regenerating Codes

Generate new codes when:
- You've used several codes
- You think codes may be compromised
- You want to replace your current codes as a precaution

### How to Regenerate

1. Go to **My Account → Security**
2. In **Two-Factor Authentication**, click **Regenerate Codes**
3. Enter your current 6-digit 2FA code
4. Save the new codes

```
Regenerate Backup Codes
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ This will invalidate ALL existing codes,
   including unused ones.

Current unused codes: 7
These will stop working.

Enter your 2FA code to confirm:
[______]

[Cancel] [Regenerate]
```

### After Regenerating

```
New Backup Codes Generated
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Your previous codes have been invalidated.
Save these new codes securely.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  new11-code22                           │
│  abc33-def44                            │
│  ghi55-jkl66                            │
│  mno77-pqr88                            │
│  stu99-vwx00                            │
│  yza11-bcd22                            │
│  efg33-hij44                            │
│  klm55-nop66                            │
│  qrs77-tuv88                            │
│  wxy99-zab00                            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

[Download] [Copy] [I've Saved Them]
```

## Storing Backup Codes Safely

### Good Storage Options

| Method | Pros | Cons |
|--------|------|------|
| Password manager | Encrypted, accessible | Single point of failure |
| Physical printout in safe | Offline, secure | Can be lost/destroyed |
| Encrypted USB drive | Portable, secure | Can be lost |
| Bank safe deposit box | Very secure | Inconvenient access |

### Storage Best Practices

1. **Never store in plaintext** on your computer
2. **Keep separate** from your password
3. **Store in multiple locations** (e.g., password manager + printed backup)
4. **Don't take photos** on your phone (could sync to cloud)
5. **Label clearly** so you know what they're for

### What NOT to Do

- ❌ Email codes to yourself
- ❌ Store in notes app without encryption
- ❌ Keep only one copy
- ❌ Store in same place as password
- ❌ Share with others

## Running Low on Codes

There's no automatic alert when you're down to your last few codes. Check the remaining count in **My Account → Security** periodically, and regenerate a new set before you run out so you always have a way back into your account.

## Troubleshooting

### "Invalid Backup Code" Error

1. Check for typos (especially 0 vs O, 1 vs l)
2. Ensure you haven't already used this code
3. Verify codes haven't been regenerated since you saved them
4. Try a different code

### All Codes Used

If you've used all 10 codes:
- You must have access to your authenticator to generate new codes
- If you can't access your authenticator, contact support

### Lost All Codes and Authenticator

Contact support for account recovery:

1. Email security@sealmetrics.com
2. Subject: "2FA Account Recovery"
3. Include:
   - Your account email
   - Proof of identity
   - Recent account activity you remember
4. Recovery takes 2-5 business days

## Related

- [Two-Factor Authentication](./two-factor-auth) - Setting up and using 2FA
- [Session Management](./session-management) - Manage your active sessions