Polkadot-JS UI: What are the Different Account Types? Print
Modified on: Mon, 30 Oct, 2023 at 4:54 PM
‼️ IMPORTANT
Polkadot-JS UI is a web wallet meant for power users and developers. For everyday use, there are several user-friendly wallets funded by the Polkadot Treasury that support a plethora of features and platforms. Discover them on Polkadot's homepage.As you may have noticed, each account on the Accounts page on Polkadot-JS UI has a type. These types denote what "kind" of account it is, as well as where it is stored.
This article presents the different account types and what they mean.
ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW
It is recommended that you create, restore, or add all your accounts in the Polkadot extension, instead of on Polkadot-JS UI directly.
The exceptions are the multisig and proxied account types, which can only exist on Polkadot-JS UI directly.TABLE OF CONTENTS
Accounts
These accounts have been created or restored directly on Polkadot-JS UI.
Click on the arrow down icon next to the account to see the details: its balance, tags, links to explorers, and its account type. The type denotes the cryptographic algorithm that was used during the account creation. Each algorithm generates a different account from the same mnemonic phrase.
The default is Schnorrkel (sr25519), and unless you changed the "Advanced creation options" when you created your account, the accounts created directly on Polkadot-JS UI would have a type of sr25519.
Extension
This is probably the most common account type. It denotes accounts that exist in the Polkadot extension or other compatible browser extensions. These accounts can have either been created or restored in the extension using a mnemonic phrase or be a different type of account added to the extension, like a Ledger account or an account on Parity Signer.
Also, next to the name of your account, you'll see in parentheses the name of the extension it has been injected from. It will be (EXTENSION) if it's the Polkadot extension; otherwise, it will be the name of the specific extension.
Hardware
As the name suggests, this type denotes Ledger accounts added directly on Polkadot-JS UI.
Via QR
This type denotes accounts that have been added through a QR code directly on Polkadot-JS UI, like from Polkadot Vault (rebrand from Parity Signer).
Proxied
These are accounts that have proxies: other accounts that can issue transactions on behalf of the proxied one.
A proxied account will have this blue icon next to it, denoting that it has a proxy set up. To learn how to create proxies, please check this article.
Multisig
As the name suggests, these are multisig accounts. To learn how to create and use a multisig account, please check this article.
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