How do I set up Trust Wallet?
Last reviewed: August 2026
In one line
When you're done you'll have one wallet, one 12-word seed phrase, and a different address per network (one for Bitcoin, one for Ethereum and its compatible networks, one for Solana). Of the whole process, the only thing you can't fix later is the moment the app shows you the 12 words: if you don't write them down properly that day, nobody can give them back to you.
| Step | What you end up with | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Install from the official store | The real app, not a copy | 2 min |
| 2. Create a new wallet with a seed phrase | Your wallet exists | 1 min |
| 3. Write down and verify the 12 words | You can recover it if you lose the phone | 5 min |
| 4. Passcode and biometrics | Nobody who grabs your phone can send | 1 min |
| 5. Find your address on a network | You can now receive | 1 min |
| 6. Send yourself a $1 test | You've confirmed it all works | 5 min |
Before you install
Trust Wallet is a phone wallet: it keeps your keys on the device, and it's yours, not a company's. Two scams start right here:
- The fake app. Install it only from the App Store or Google Play, going in through the link on trustwallet.com. Never from a link someone sent you or from an ad in the search engine: the copies look identical and send your seed phrase to the scammer.
- The "support agent". Trust Wallet has no people who message you. Anyone who contacts you on Telegram, WhatsApp or social media claiming to be support, whatever they ask for, is a scam.
The steps
Tick them off as you go. They're saved in your browser.
1. Install
Download from your phone's store, going in through trustwallet.com. Before you tap "Install", check that the developer says Trust Wallet (on Android the developer shows as Trust Wallet or DApps Platform Inc.) and that it has millions of downloads. An app with thousands of downloads and the same logo is a copy.
2. Create a new wallet
Open the app and tap Create new wallet. It offers two kinds:
| Option | How it's recovered | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Secret phrase (seed phrase) | With 12 words you write down yourself | Pick this one. It's the one this whole guide explains how to back up |
| Swift | With a passkey tied to your Apple or Google account | More convenient, but your recovery depends on that account and on the app still existing |
If you already have a Swift wallet, that's not a mistake: you can create a second one with a seed phrase from Settings → Wallets → add, and use that one as your main wallet.
3. Write down the 12 words
The app asks for a backup. Choose manual backup, not iCloud or Google Drive: a cloud backup is a digital copy, and a digital copy is what this guide asks you never to have. If you already chose the cloud one, you can do the manual backup later from Settings → your wallet.
The app shows you 12 words. Write them on paper, in order, with the number next to each. How to store that paper, why a photo doesn't count, and what to do if you lose it are in Backing up your seed phrase. Read it before going on if this is your first wallet: it's the only step on this page with no way back.
4. Verify
The app asks you to tap the words in the right order. It's not a formality: it's the only time anyone will check that your copy works before you need it for real. If you get it wrong, go back and fix the paper, not your memory.
5. Passcode and biometrics
Settings → Security. Set an app passcode (different from your phone's) and turn on fingerprint or face unlock. This protects an unlocked phone left on a table; it protects nothing if someone has your 12 words. The seed phrase is the wallet, the passcode is only the door to this one installation.
6. Find your address on each network
Tap Receive and search for the coin or the network. Trust Wallet is multi-chain: the same wallet, with the same seed phrase, has a different address on each family of networks.
| Network | Your address | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | Its own | starts with bc1 |
| Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Avalanche… | The same for all of them (they're EVM networks) | starts with 0x |
| Solana | Its own | letters and numbers, 32–44 characters |
| Tron | Its own | starts with T |
What decides where the money lands isn't just the address but the network. Your 0x address is the same on Ethereum and on Polygon, but USDT sent over Polygon shows up under Polygon, not under Ethereum. If you don't see a token someone sent you, it's almost always that you're looking at another network, or that it needs enabling with "Add token". Which network to ask for, and why, is in Which network do I use?.
Copy it, don't type it
Copy the address with the button, or show the QR code. Never type it by hand or read it out over the phone. How to share your address without it being swapped along the way is in Someone is sending me crypto.
7. Send yourself a $1–2 test
Before receiving real money, ask whoever is paying you (or send from the exchange where you bought) $1 or $2 on the same network you'll use afterwards. If it arrives, you know the address, the network and the app are right. What to check before every send is in How to send crypto.
Optional: import a wallet you already had
If you already have a seed phrase from another app (MetaMask, Phantom, another Trust Wallet install), there's no need to create a new one: Add wallet → Import and type the 12 or 24 words. You'll see the same addresses and the same balance.
Only in an app you already installed from the store, never on a website
No legitimate web page asks for your seed phrase, not to "sync", not to "validate", not to "claim" anything. A wallet types its words into the app you downloaded, and nowhere else. Typing it into a site is step one of almost every scam.
What Trust Wallet does NOT do
- It's not a safe. It's a hot wallet: the keys live on a phone connected to the internet. For what you can't afford to lose, a hardware wallet.
- It can't undo a send. Neither can anyone else. A send to the wrong address or network is final; that's why the test step exists.
- Its support never asks for your seed phrase. Not by chat, not by form, not "to verify your account". Anyone asking for it is a scammer, no exceptions.
- It doesn't keep your words for you. If you lose the phone and never wrote them down, the money is still on the blockchain but nobody can move it again.
If you came here looking for something else:Someone is sending me crypto · Create a wallet in another app · Back up the seed phrase