Import Errors
When the App Refuses What You Are Storing
Three errors account for nearly all of them: a seed phrase that fails the BIP39 checksum, a device with no space left, and a scan interrupted before the write completed. The first two are the app protecting you rather than malfunctioning.
"Your seed phrase is invalid"
The app validates every mnemonic against the BIP39 standard before storing it, and refuses anything that fails. That refusal is deliberate: an error caught while you are typing costs thirty seconds, and the same error caught years later during a recovery costs everything.
Check, in this order:
Spelling. Every word must come from the BIP39 wordlist exactly. recieve is not a word; receive is.
Word order. The phrase is an ordered sequence, not a set. The same words in a different order are a different phrase - and often a valid one belonging to somebody else's empty wallet.
Completeness. 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 words. Eleven words will never validate.
The language. BIP39 wordlists exist in several languages and they are not interchangeable. A French phrase will not validate against the English list.
Whether it is BIP39 at all. Electrum uses its own scheme, Monero uses a 25-word format, and some wallets have their own. None of these validate against BIP39 - see below.
Background in What is BIP39?.
Storing Something That Is Not BIP39
Use a secure note instead of the Mnemonic Phrase option.
An Electrum seed, a Monero phrase, a raw private key or any other recovery material goes in as free-form text: same secure element, same PIN, same offline guarantees, without the format check - see Creating Secure Notes.
One trade-off worth knowing: a note accepts anything, so it verifies nothing. You lose the checksum safety net, which means transcribing with the care it would otherwise have provided.
"No space left" or a Red Exclamation Mark
Your device holds 8 KB shared across every secret. When it is full, attempting a new entry produces an NFC toast with a red exclamation mark and a memory error.
Check current usage at the top of Card's Information: firmware version, number of secrets, bytes used and bytes available - see Device Settings.
In practice that is around a hundred passwords, depending on how much label and detail you attach to each. Seed phrases and long notes consume noticeably more than a short password entry.
To free space:
- Delete entries you no longer need - see Deleting a Password
- Trim long notes, since free text is the biggest consumer
- Move rarely used secrets to a second device, which is worth having anyway
Note that OTP credentials and passkeys live in separate applets with their own limits - 50 and 90 respectively - and do not consume password manager memory.
The Import Was Interrupted
If the card moved during the final scan, the write may or may not have completed.
Check before retrying. Open the secrets list and look for the entry. Importing the same secret twice is harmless but leaves a duplicate you will have to clean up.
To avoid it: rest the phone on a table, hold the card against it, and keep it there until the app confirms - see Connection and NFC Issues.
The Entry Saved but Looks Wrong
You cannot edit it. The secure element can create and delete, never modify in place. Correcting an entry means copy the details, delete it, create it again - see Editing a Password.
Check you are not looking at an older entry. Secrets are listed newest first, and a duplicate from an interrupted import will sit at the top while the original is further down.
The Entry Is Not in the List
Sort order. Newest first, always. A secret added a while ago is further down than you expect.
Search only appears when the list is long. The search bar shows up once your secrets no longer fit on one screen - see Organizing Passwords.
Wrong device. With two identical cards this is more common than it sounds. Name them in Card's Information.
FAQ
Why does the app say my seed phrase is invalid?
It failed BIP39 validation - usually a misspelled word, words in the wrong order, an incomplete phrase, or the wrong language wordlist. The check exists to catch transcription errors while you can still fix them.
Can I store a non-BIP39 seed phrase?
Yes, as a secure note rather than a Mnemonic Phrase. Electrum seeds, Monero phrases and raw private keys all go in as free text, with the same protection but without the format check.
What does the red exclamation mark mean when I add a secret?
The device has no memory left. It holds 8 KB shared across all secrets - check usage at the top of Card's Information and delete entries you no longer need.
How many passwords fit on a Seedkeeper?
Around a hundred, depending on how much label and detail you store with each. Long notes and seed phrases consume considerably more than a short password entry.
I imported a secret and it looks wrong. Can I edit it?
No. The secure element cannot modify stored data, only create or delete. Copy the details, delete the entry, and create it again with your corrections.
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Still stuck?
If none of the above resolved it, open a support ticket and tell us what you tried - the steps you followed and what happened instead. We read every one, and a clear description usually gets you a straight answer rather than a round of questions.
Open a support ticket