Export your wallet key

Every Arca wallet has a private key behind it. In Arca, that key is the signer tied to your login. It secures your Smart Account, which is the address you share to receive funds. Arca handles the key for you automatically, so you never have to think about it for normal use. But if you want an advanced backup or you are deleting your account, you can export the key. This guide explains what that means and when to do it.

Most people never need to export. If you only use Arca day to day, you can skip this guide.

What the key is

A private key is a long string of characters that lets someone sign for a wallet. In Arca, the exported key belongs to the signer address shown in Wallet Details. That signer controls your Smart Account, where your Arca balance lives.

Arca stores your key securely and uses it in the background when you approve a transaction. When you export it, you get a copy of that same string. From that moment on, there are two copies of it: one inside Arca and one in whatever app or file you put it in.

When to export

A few reasons to export:

You want an advanced recovery option. The exported key can sign for your Arca Smart Account, but a regular wallet app may show the signer address first, not the Smart Account address where your Arca balance lives.
You are deleting your Arca account. If you are about to delete and want to keep the balance, export first. Once you delete, your Arca login is gone, and anything in the wallet is only reachable through the exported key.
You want a personal backup outside the normal login recovery. Arca’s sign-in recovery works for nearly everyone. Some users prefer to also keep a key somewhere as a backup they control directly.

When not to export

You just want to use Arca normally.
You are curious and want to “see” your key. Viewing it on a screen creates a risk that it gets captured. Only view it when you have a reason.
You do not have a safe place to store the exported key yet. Wait until you do.

How the export works

The export lives in Settings > Security > Keys & Recovery. Tap Export Key.

Arca opens a secure export page in your phone’s browser (on the Arca web app). The page walks through a few confirmations, including a reminder that only you should see the key, and then shows it.

The flow is deliberately on the web, not inside the mobile app. This makes it easier to copy the key to wherever you need it and reduces the chance that it leaks through a screenshot or an app-level capture.

Storing your key

Treat the exported key like a safe-deposit box key. Anyone with it can move your funds.

Good places to keep it:

A reputable password manager (1Password, Bitwarden, and similar).
Encrypted storage on a device you control.
Printed and stored somewhere physically secure, like a home safe.

Bad places to keep it:

Plain text in your notes app.
A screenshot in your camera roll.
A message to yourself in any chat app.
Any cloud drive without end-to-end encryption.

If the key leaks, someone else may be able to control the signer behind your wallet. There is no way to cancel a key after it has been exported.

Using the key outside Arca

The exact steps depend on the app or recovery tool. The general flow:

Open the other wallet app and pick Import wallet.
Choose Import with private key.
Paste the exported key.
The app imports your signer address.

Important: Arca uses a Smart Account. A basic wallet app may not automatically show the Smart Account balance at the same address you use to receive funds in Arca. If you are exporting because you plan to leave Arca fully, test your recovery setup carefully before deleting your account.

If you want out of Arca fully

After you have exported and confirmed that you can recover access outside Arca, you can delete your Arca account from Settings > Security > Delete Account. The app warns you that any remaining balance is inaccessible through Arca without the exported key, so make sure you tested the recovery path first.

The short version

You do not need to export for normal use.
When you want to, the button lives in Settings > Security > Keys & Recovery.
The key is powerful. Store it as carefully as you would store a bank card.
Never share it with anyone, ever. Arca will never ask you for it.