# My recovery phrase leaked. What do I do?

Treat the vault as burned. A phrase cannot be changed or rotated, because the phrase is the key everything is encrypted under - so the fix is moving to a fresh vault. First, in the old account, export everything: Settings > Import & Export > Export > "PrivacyNotes backup (.zip)".

Sign out, create a new vault (new 12 words), and bring the export back in via Settings > Import & Export > Restore > "Full backup (.zip)". Then delete the old account from any device still signed into it: Settings > Account > "Delete account & data...". That removes its synced data and shuts out anyone holding the old phrase. If you signed in with Google, Apple, or GitHub, delete the old account first, then sign in with that same login again to start the fresh vault.

Two things to handle first: cancel any active storage add-on, which deletion requires, and note that Pro stays with the account it was bought on rather than moving to the new vault. Then keep the new phrase in a password manager and nowhere else, which is the whole of the prevention.

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Source: https://privacynotes.app/help/phrase-compromised