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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Accounts |
| 3 | +authors: "Tim McMackin" |
| 4 | +last_update: |
| 5 | + date: 3 January 2025 |
| 6 | +--- |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +From the user's perspective, a Tezos account is much like an account that you might have on a web application or computer system. |
| 9 | +You can use a Tezos account to do many things, including: |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +- Store and work with tez, the native currency token of the Tezos system |
| 12 | +- Store and work with other [tokens](/architecture/tokens) |
| 13 | +- Uniquely identify yourself to online applications |
| 14 | +- Send transactions to Tezos, such as sending tokens to another account or calling a [smart contract](/smart-contracts) |
| 15 | +- Sign messages to prove that they came from your account |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +From a technical standpoint, a Tezos account is a unique identifier on the blockchain that allows a user to encrypt transactions in a way that proves that those transactions came from them. |
| 18 | +In this way, using a Tezos account is how you prove your identity to the Tezos system and to applications that use Tezos. |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +This page discusses user accounts. |
| 21 | +As described in [Accounts](/architecture/accounts), other types of Tezos accounts include [smart contracts](/smart-contracts) and [Smart Rollups](/architecture/smart-rollups). |
| 22 | +For technical information on user accounts, see [Accounts and addresses](https://tezos.gitlab.io/active/accounts.html) in the Octez documentation. |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +Tezos users use wallets to manage their accounts; see [Wallets](/using/wallets). |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +## Account addresses |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +A Tezos account address uniquely identifies an account. |
| 29 | +Most Tezos user account addresses start with `tz1`, as in `tz1QCVQinE8iVj1H2fckqx6oiM85CNJSK9Sx`, but they can also start with `tz2`, `tz3`, or `tz4`, depending on the cryptographic method used to create them. |
| 30 | +They consist of 26 characters and include only letters and numbers. |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +:::note |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +Tezos account addresses are case-sensitive. |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +::: |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +Technically, what users refer to as the "account address" is the hash of the public key of the account. |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +## Public and private keys |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +Cryptocurrency accounts rely on key pairs like other computer accounts rely on passwords. |
| 43 | +The keys secure the account and allow only the account owner to use the account. |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +Keys come in pairs: |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +- The account's **private key** allows a user to encrypt, or "sign," messages and transactions. |
| 48 | +- The account's **public key** allows Tezos and other users to verify that a message or transaction was signed by the account's private key. |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +User generally don't deal with these keys directly. |
| 51 | +In most cases, their wallet application stores the keys and protects them with a password. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +## Account security |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +:::warning |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +You must keep your private key secret. |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +The private key (also known as the secret key) is the only thing that another user needs to impersonate your account on Tezos and send transactions on your behalf. |
| 60 | +If another user gets your private key, they can access your account and send its tez and other tokens to another account. |
| 61 | +If your wallet provides a recovery phrase, you must keep it secret too, because malicious users can use it to recreate your private key. |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +::: |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +To keep their private keys safe, users use [wallets](/using/wallets), which are applications that store private keys and use them to sign transactions on your behalf. |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +Of course the wallet application may also require a password, and therefore you must also keep this password secret. |
| 68 | +Many wallet applications provide a way to recover the account if you lose the wallet application or the device that it is on. |
| 69 | +Some wallets provide recovery codes in the form of a series of words, others recreate accounts from private keys, and others have proprietary recovery methods. |
| 70 | +You must also keep this recovery information secret. |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +Malicious users and apps may try to get your private key, wallet password, or recovery information. |
| 73 | +For example, spam email and malicious apps may request this information or tell you that you need to "verify it" by entering it. |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +The only time that you need to give anyone your private key or recovery information is when you set up or restore an account in a legitimate wallet application. |
| 76 | +Any other request for this information is most likely a scam. |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +## Creating accounts |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +Any wallet application can create, manage, and help you back up Tezos accounts. |
| 81 | +See [Wallets](/using/wallets). |
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