SecurityEncryption

Account Fingerprint Phrase

tip

Are you looking to unlock your vault with a fingerprint reader? If so, check out

this article
instead.

Each Bitwarden account has a "fingerprint phrase" associated with it. Your account's fingerprint phrase is permanent and composed of five random english words that appear in a specific order, for example:

Bash
alligator-transfer-laziness-macaroni-blue

What is my fingerprint phrase used for?

Your fingerprint phrase is an important security feature that helps securely identify a Bitwarden user when encryption-related operations, like sharing credentials, are performed. Some Bitwarden procedures, like adding a new user to an organization or confirming a

login with device request
, will ask you to verify that the fingerprint phrase matches your own or another user's.

Verify your fingerprint during relevant operations by coordinating with the Bitwarden user using a secondary form of communication, such as phone or messaging.

Validating fingerprint phrases ensures that end-to-end encryption is securely initiated and that the Bitwarden server you are communicating with has not been maliciously tampered with.

Where can I find my fingerprint phrase?

You can find your account's fingerprint phrase from any Bitwarden client application:

  • Web app: Settings → My account

  • Desktop apps: Account → Fingerprint Phrase

  • Browser extensions: Settings → Account Security → Fingerprint Phrase

  • Mobile apps: Settings → Account security → Account fingerprint Phrase

  • CLI: Using the command bw get fingerprint me

Do I need to write down my fingerprint phrase?

Not knowing your fingerprint phrase will never result in you being locked out of your vault, so it's not critical to write down or store your fingerprint phrase in a secure location, however some users may choose to do so.

tip

Recovery codes
, on the other hand, are used for two-step login and should always be stored outside of Bitwarden in a way that makes sense for you. This will ensure that you are not locked out of your account in the event that you
lose your two-step login secondary device
.

Can I change my fingerprint phrase?

While you can't change your current account's fingerprint phrase, you can

delete the account
and start a new one to generate a new phrase.

Our fingerprint phrases are generated from the

Electronic Frontier Foundation's long word list
, which has been "manually checked and [the EFF has] attempted to remove as many profane, insulting, sensitive, or emotionally-charged words as possible".