A recovery phrase is secret material used by a supported recovery process to regain access to encrypted content; it does not recreate a missing copy of that content.
A key and a copy solve different problems
Imagine a locked archive and its opening instructions. Keeping the instructions helps if you forget how to open the archive, but it does not replace an archive that was destroyed. Similarly, a phrase can be essential for decryption while still being useless without the required vault data or backup.
Write down what your app's phrase actually recovers. It may unlock an existing local vault, restore an exported backup, or apply to a particular cloud recovery process. Do not assume that a phrase from one platform can restore every other platform's data.
Handle it as an access secret
A phrase stored in a screenshot beside the encrypted file may defeat the separation you intended. Do not paste it into a website, send it to support, or enter it into a tool that claims to verify its strength. A checklist can assess whether you have a safe storage arrangement without collecting the phrase itself.
In NullVault
The iOS app has per-vault 24-word recovery phrases. Android and iOS have distinct recovery scopes described on the recovery feature page. Local use has no conventional NullVault account reset that can recreate a lost secret.
Test recovery with non-sensitive content before relying on it. Read where to store a backup recovery phrase and recovery phrase versus encrypted backup. The readiness checker asks about your arrangements without needing your recovery words.