Lost access to my Internet Identity, can't restore with 12 words recovery phrase

Developers
1

Hi guys, I bricked my ubuntu laptop and had to reinstall. Now I’m not being able to login to my internet identity.

###1. When I try logging in to https://identity.ic0.app/ I get this error:

Operation canceled
The interaction with your security device was canceled or timed out. Please try again.

My passkey should be stored to my mobile phone and should be intact, correct? Why can’t I log in?

###2. I tryied recovering with a pass phrase but I’m required to enter a 24 words phrase but I only have a 12 words phrase? What’s going on here, 12 words is the only back up of a phrase that I have and I can’t use it to restore my identity?

###3. I tried logging in from my phone and getting the same error there:
Operation canceled
The interaction with your security device was canceled or timed out. Please try again.

So no way to log in right now, please, help!

Thanks!

2

Hi @aminkov ,

Regarding issue #1.

Where was the passkey? If it was on the phone, in that case yes, it should be intact. What phone do you have?

Could you share some screenshots? What do you see right after you try to log in with your identity number? Do you see a QR code? Do you use it? Could you describe in detail your steps? Thanks!

Regarding issue #2

Could it be that the recovery phrase is from something else? Internet Identity always used 24 words.

Regarding issue #3

Similar to the comments in #1. What phone do you have?

Sorry to hear the inconvenience. I hope we’ll fix it!

3

Hi, thanks for the reply!

My phone is Xiaomi 13T Pro (Android) .

Here are the steps I do:

  1. go to: https://identity.ic0.app/
  2. I select “Use Existing” option to log in with my ID
  3. I type in my ID an d click on login
  4. A pop up appears - Use existing pass key for identity on identity.ic0.app
  5. My phone is listed there, I select it and I authenticate with a fingerprint on my phone (this was how I used to log in before)
  6. After I authenticate on my phone, I get this error (screenshot
    Screenshot from 2025-03-06 10-21-40
    Screenshot from 2025-03-06 10-21-401842×920 54.8 KB

    ):

Are you sure that the pass phrase has always been 24 words? I created my Id long ago and I’ve backed up a 12 words phrase… That’s weird…

4

Ok, the good news is that I managed to find my recovery phrase and restore my funds, PHEW! IT’s indeed 24 words my backup files were messy. Not sure why I couldn’t login with my original pass key but overall, this can be considered resolved, I have a new key now! Thanks for the help!

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