PolkaGate is a Polkadot wallet developed and maintained by PolkaGate Foundation. It is an open-source browser extension available for Mozilla Firefox and Chromium-based browsers, funded by the Kusama Treasury. PolkaGate is compatible with many DApps and tools in the ecosystem.


In this article, we'll show how to restore your Polkadot account in PolkaGate with either its mnemonic phrase or JSON backup file and password.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

If you have any questions about PolkaGate, or run into any issues and require further assistance, feel free to ask our AI chatbot or contact us.

Alternatively, you can contact the PolkaGate team directly and receive specialised assistance from the team that developed the wallet. You can contact PolkaGate support on Element or at [email protected]


TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to restore an account in PolkaGate


‼️ IMPORTANT

PolkaGate is a non-custodial wallet, which means that only you have access to your accounts. For this reason it is imperative that you keep your mnemonic phrase and backup file with a password safe. Without either of these, it is impossible to restore your account if you ever lose access to it.

With its mnemonic phrase


1. Click on the PolkaGate icon next to your URL bar. If you've set a login password, you'll need to enter it and unlock the wallet first:



2. If you don't have any accounts yet, just click "Import from recovery phrase":



Otherwise, click on the menu button in the top right corner of the extension, click "Import account," and then choose "Import from recovery phrase":



3. The extension will open in a new tab. Enter your mnemonic phrase (typically, it's 12 or 24 words) here.


ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

Your mnemonic phrase will appear invalid until all words are entered. If your mnemonic phrase is still invalid after you enter all the words, check this article for troubleshooting steps.


4. Name your account. The name is only used locally for your convenience and doesn't appear on-chain.


5. Set a good password for your account and confirm it, then click "Import."


6. That's it! Your restored account will appear in the list of your accounts in PolkaGate.

With its JSON backup file and password


1. Click on the PolkaGate icon next to your URL bar. If you've set a login password, you'll need to enter it and unlock the wallet first:



2. If you don't have any accounts yet, just click "Restore from file":



Otherwise, click on the menu button in the top right corner of the extension, click "Import account," and then choose "Restore from JSON file":



3. The extension will open in a new tab. Upload your JSON backup file here:



4. Once your file is uploaded, enter the password for it:



ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

If your JSON backup file is for a specific account, like the example above, its password typically matches the account password.

If you have a batch JSON backup file that can contain multiple accounts, its password is unrelated to the passwords for the accounts in it, even if it contains just one account. It is the password you set when you created the file.


5. Click the "Restore" button, and you're done! Your restored account will appear in the list of your accounts in PolkaGate.