Direct answer: the PIN is the password to unlock a hardware wallet. It is not the "key" to your assets. The real key is the 24-word recovery phrase.
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So if your executor only has the hardware wallet and no PIN, as long as they have the complete 24-word recovery phrase, the assets can 100% be recovered. On the other hand, if they only have the hardware wallet and no recovery phrase, the hardware wallet is just a piece of plastic. It holds nothing.
Below are two situations and how to handle them.
Case A: You have the hardware wallet but do not know the PIN (the executor needs to recover the assets)
This is the most common situation: the executor has the device but does not know or has forgotten the unlock PIN.
[What to do]: Reset the device, then restore the wallet with the recovery phrase.
[How to do it]: The PIN is a local password and cannot be recovered, but you can bypass it by resetting the device. Different brands have different reset triggers:
Ledger: Enter the wrong PIN 3 times and the device resets to factory settings.
OneKey / imKey: Enter the wrong PIN 5 or 10 times, depending on firmware version, and the device resets. After reset, the device will show a "Restore from recovery phrase" option, which means restore from recovery phrase. Select it, then enter the 24 recovery words one by one as shown on the screen, and set a new PIN.
[Done when]: After restoring, the receiving address shown on the device matches your original wallet address. That means the recovery phrase is correct and the assets are back.
Important: If you are using a OneKey hardware wallet and the device is still unlocked, but you cannot remember the PIN, you can try connecting it to the OneKey App or another compatible software wallet such as OKX Web3 Wallet or Rabby and transfer the assets out directly. You do not need to reset the device first.
Case B: You have the hardware wallet but no recovery phrase (the executor only has the device)
This is the worst case. If the executor only knows "this is the hardware wallet left for them," but you never gave them the recovery phrase, or the recovery phrase and hardware wallet were lost together, the assets are completely locked.
[What to do]: Check whether there is another backup of the recovery phrase. If not, recovery is impossible.
[How to do it]: There is no way to bypass the recovery phrase and recover the assets. Official documentation from several hardware wallet makers clearly states: if you have neither the PIN nor the recovery phrase, the assets can never be recovered.
[Done when]: If you find the recovery phrase, follow "Case A." If you truly cannot find it, there is nothing left to save.
Why is this absolute? Hardware wallet makers such as Ledger and OneKey do not store your private keys, and they have no power to reset or recover your recovery phrase. The PIN is only a local "door lock" on the device. The recovery phrase is the only way to restore assets from the blockchain.
Common mistake: executors confuse "PIN" with "recovery phrase"
This is the most frequent misunderstanding. An executor gets the hardware wallet, sees the PIN prompt on the screen, and thinks: "No PIN means I cannot open the wallet, so the assets are stuck."
In reality, the PIN exists to stop someone who picks up your device from using it directly. It does not control the assets themselves. As long as you have the recovery phrase, the device can be reset many times, and the PIN can be set again many times.
So in your inheritance list, you must clearly explain this. Do not let the executor waste days or even weeks stuck at "guessing the PIN." They may enter the wrong PIN too many times, cause a reset, and then panic because they think the wallet is broken.
Risk warning
If the executor stores the hardware wallet and the recovery phrase in the same place, such as the same safe, the plan is half broken. Anyone who gets into that safe does not need your PIN. They can use the recovery phrase to restore the wallet on any device and transfer all your assets away. So it is safe for the executor to only receive the hardware wallet, but never let them receive the recovery phrase at the same time.
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How to verify after recovering assets
After restoring assets, take these two verification steps:
Check the address: After recovery, go to the "Receive" page on the hardware wallet and carefully compare the displayed address with the address you gave when the assets were deposited. If it is different, a recovery word may have been entered incorrectly, such as a misspelled word. Restore again.
Small test transfer: Do not move large amounts all at once. First send 10 USDT to an exchange or another wallet. After the transaction succeeds and is confirmed on-chain, move the rest. This is the standard process after restoring a hardware wallet.
