It does
- Display balances and price history across your accounts
- Prepare sends and receives for you to approve on the device
- Install and update the apps that live on the device
- Back up encrypted account settings, not your keys
Start here
Get started with your Ledger hardware wallet
Everything you need to go from sealed box to first transfer — charging the device, initialising it, writing down your recovery phrase and installing Ledger Live. About twenty minutes, no technical background required.
- Works on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS & Android
- One-time setup
- Your keys never leave the device
Before you begin
Have these four things within reach. You will only do this once per device, so it is worth clearing a quiet half hour and doing it without interruptions.
- Your device and its USB cable — use the cable from the box; charging cables for other gadgets often carry power only.
- A phone or computer to run Ledger Live, kept on a private network you trust.
- The recovery sheet from the box — the blank card that came with your device is designed to store your phrase for years.
- Ten minutes alone — nobody should be watching over your shoulder while a seed phrase is on screen.
Setup walkthrough
Five steps, in this order
Follow them in sequence. Skipping step three — writing the phrase down by hand — is the single most common reason people lose access to funds later.
-
1
Charge it and switch it on
Connect the device to power with the supplied cable and hold the top button until the screen lights up. A fresh device often arrives partly charged; a full charge takes roughly an hour, and you can carry on setting it up while it tops up.
-
2
Choose “Set up as new device”
Scroll with the buttons on the device itself and confirm the option on screen. If the device asks you to restore an existing phrase instead, stop — that would mean it is not blank, and a wallet you did not initialise is not safe to use. Ask the seller to exchange it.
-
3
Write down your recovery phrase — by hand
The screen shows twenty-four words, one at a time. Copy each onto your recovery sheet in order, then verify them when the device asks. Paper and pen, never a photo, a note app, a cloud document or a password manager.
-
4
Set a PIN code
Pick four to eight digits you will remember and enter them on the device. Avoid a birthday, a repeated digit or the same code as your phone. Three wrong attempts in a row wipe the device — that is a feature, not a fault: it keeps a stolen wallet useless.
-
5
Install Ledger Live and add your accounts
Install the companion app, connect the device when prompted, and approve the pairing on the device screen. Add the accounts for the assets you actually hold, then receive a small test amount before moving anything substantial.
Companion app
What Ledger Live does — and what it cannot do
Ledger Live is the desktop and mobile app that shows your balances and prepares transactions. Available for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus iOS and Android with Bluetooth pairing.
It never does
- Ask for your twenty-four words
- Hold your private keys on the computer or phone
- Sign anything without you confirming on the device screen
- Recover funds for you if your phrase is lost
Download only from the official publisher. Search for the app in your operating system’s store and check the developer name, or go directly to the manufacturer’s site. Adverts above search results are a well-known way to deliver a fake wallet app.
The part that matters
Your recovery phrase: four rules
Those twenty-four words are your wallet. Whoever has them owns the funds, with or without the device.
Never type them into anything
Not a website, an email, a chat message, a screen-share, a support form or a “wallet verification” app. No legitimate company — the manufacturer included — will ever ask for them. Every request is an attempt at theft.
Keep them off every connected device
No photographs, no screenshots, no cloud notes, no email to yourself. A phrase stored digitally can be copied from anywhere in the world, and you will never know it happened.
Store two copies, offline
Put the recovery sheet somewhere fire-resistant and private, and keep a second copy in a separate location — a trusted relative’s safe or a bank box. One copy is one accident away from permanent loss.
Understand what happens if you lose it
Lose the phrase and a broken device means the funds are gone for good; there is no reset. Show it to the wrong person and the funds can be taken in seconds. Treat it as cash.
Compatibility
What you can hold
One device secures thousands of assets through the apps you install on it, each signed off on the device screen. The exact list grows over time, so check the current support list before you buy for a specific token.
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Solana
- XRP
- Cardano
- Polkadot
- Litecoin
- USDC & USDT
- ERC-20 tokens
- NFTs
- Staking
Help
When something goes wrong
My device will not switch on.
Try a different USB port or wall adapter and hold the button for a few seconds. If the screen stays black on a known-working cable, the battery may be fully flat — leave it charging for an hour before trying again. Still nothing? Contact the seller; do not open the case.
Ledger Live does not detect the device.
Use the cable from the box, plug it directly into the computer rather than through a hub, and make sure the device is unlocked before you connect. On macOS or Windows, close other wallet software that may already be holding the connection.
I forgot my PIN.
Enter it wrong three times and the device resets itself, clearing the PIN. You then restore your wallet from the recovery phrase — which is exactly why the phrase exists. With no phrase and no PIN, the funds on that device cannot be recovered by anyone.
Can I move to a new phone or computer?
Yes. Install Ledger Live on the new device and pair the same hardware wallet with it. Your accounts come back because the keys live on the device, not in the app.
Should I buy a used device?
A device from a stranger will already have a phrase that someone else wrote down. If you do end up with one, reset it fully and initialise it as new so the phrase is one only you have seen.
Ready to set up?
Take the five steps in order, keep your recovery sheet offline, and send a small test amount first. That is the whole routine.