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Files · The MetaMask vault

The MetaMask «vault»: where it is and what it contains

When MetaMask asks for your password, what it is trying to open is an encrypted file holding your recovery phrase. That file is called the vault and it lives in your browser’s profile folder, on your own computer. There is no copy on any server: that is the only one.

September 28, 2026 · 5-minute read

What it contains exactly

It contains your recovery phrase, encrypted with your password, along with information about how it was encrypted. Nothing else. It does not contain your coins — those are on the chain — nor your history, which MetaMask fetches each time you open it.

And it contains one value that decides your case: how many rounds of calculation a password attempt takes. In wallets created years ago that number was about sixty times lower than today’s, so an old vault is far more workable. I cover it in passwords in 2013 versus today.

Where it lives

Inside your browser’s profile folder, in an extension-data subfolder identified by a long string of letters that is MetaMask’s identifier. The files inside have names like a series of digits with a .log or .ldb extension.

You don’t need to find it yourself for your case to be workable, and in fact the safest thing is not to go hunting by hand. What you do need is to not destroy it. Copying the entire browser profile folder, without picking out individual files, is enough.

What destroys a vault

  • Uninstalling the extension or the browser.
  • Running a cleanup or system «optimisation» tool.
  • Creating a new browser profile and deleting the old one.
  • Reinstalling the operating system without copying the profile first.
  • Resetting the computer to factory settings.
  • Letting the browser sync and overwrite the profile from another device.
Any of those six turns a recoverable case into an impossible one, and they are exactly what people do while looking for help. Before reading one more article, copy your browser’s profile folder to a USB stick and to one other place.

One more place to look

If you installed MetaMask in another browser, on another computer or on your phone, there is another vault there with the same phrase. It may carry a different, older password — possibly one you remember. It is worth checking before giving anything up.

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