Armory: paper backups, encrypted wallets, old cold storage

Don’t try to “update” or “import” old Armory files into a new wallet without copying them first. The original format is unusual and a botched import can scramble derivation. Always work from copies.

What Armory backups look like

Armory used its own root-key format (not BIP39). Backups came as: a printed paper backup (two lines of human-readable codes), an encrypted .wallet file, or a SecurePrint / fragmented backup split across multiple sheets. Any one of these is enough on its own.

The clean cases

• Paper backup intact, no SecurePrint — we transcribe and restore directly.
• Encrypted .wallet file + remembered password — decrypt and sweep.
• SecurePrint paper backup + remembered SecurePrint code.
• All fragments of a fragmented backup, even if SecurePrint code is lost when N-of-N is recovered.

The hard cases

• One line of a two-line paper backup is missing or destroyed.
• Forgotten passphrase on an encrypted wallet — partial-memory recovery.
• Fragmented backup missing one shard.
• Old offline machine that won’t boot — forensic key extraction.

Most of these are recoverable. Armory’s key derivation is deterministic and well-documented; the work is targeted password search or scanning recovered storage for the root key blob. Funds never leave your control during the process.