> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://elephas.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Save and Use Your Team Recovery Kit

> The Team recovery kit is your only way back into your Elephas Team's documents if every approved computer is lost. How to store it, replace it, and use it.

The Team recovery kit is a spare key to your team's documents: an encrypted file plus a code. Nobody else has a copy, not even Elephas. If every approved computer is lost and the kit is gone too, your team's documents cannot be opened again.

<Info>
  For Team **Owners**, and anyone the Owner makes a **Recovery Authority**. Members never need the kit.
</Info>

## What the kit is

| Part | What it is | Where to keep it |
| - | - | - |
| **The Recovery File** | An encrypted `.elephas-recovery` file, saved during setup | A safe place you can reach without your computer, such as an encrypted drive or a password manager that stores files |
| **The recovery code** | The code that unlocks the file, shown once | Somewhere different from the file, such as a printed sheet in a locked drawer |

The file alone is useless without the code, and the code alone is useless without the file. That is why Elephas asks you to keep them in two separate safe places.

## Before you start

* You are the Team Owner, or you hold Recovery Authority on this computer.
* The Team workspace is open, and you are in **Team Settings › Recovery**.

## Steps

### Save the kit during setup

You save the kit once, as part of [setting up the Team](/docs/teams/set-up-a-team-workspace). Setup cannot finish without it: **Complete Setup** stays locked until the file is saved and you confirm you wrote down the code.

### Make a new kit if you lost the file or the code

If you lost your kit but still have a computer that holds the Team's recovery key, make a new one.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Recovery">
    Go to **Team Settings › Recovery**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export a new package">
    Under **Import or export a recovery package**, choose **Export existing recovery key** and save the new file.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Record the new code">
    Elephas shows a **New Recovery Code**. Write it down and keep it apart from the new file.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If this computer holds no recovery key, Elephas says so: "This device holds no recovery key for this Team, so it cannot export a package. Use a device that is a Recovery Authority, or import a package here first."

### Check a kit still works

In **Team Settings › Recovery**, follow the four steps under **Import or export a recovery package**: **Choose the encrypted package**, **Enter the recovery code**, **Acknowledge what recovery means**, then **Verify or import it**. Choose **Verify package** to check the file and code match without installing anything. Elephas confirms: "Recovery package verified. Nothing was installed."

## How it works

### A new kit does not cancel the old one

Exporting makes a new file and a new code for the same recovery key. In the app's words: "It does not cancel earlier packages: any older package with its code still works." Use export when a kit was lost. If you think a kit was stolen or copied, exporting a new one does not help. That needs a key rotation, which is a separate, Team-wide operation. Contact support.

### What happens without the kit

| What you still have | What happens |
| - | - |
| The kit, or a computer that is a Recovery Authority | You can recover the Team's keys and make a new kit |
| Neither | Team recovery is impossible. Members and computers that already hold Brain keys keep working, but if they are lost too, the documents cannot be opened again |

Elephas cannot rebuild a lost kit. It cannot email you a new code, and support cannot relink your account to the keys. This is the price of encryption that Elephas itself cannot open.

### Recovery Authority

A Recovery Authority is someone whose approved computers hold the Team's recovery key. The Owner's first computer is one. Once your team has more than one administrator, give Recovery Authority to a second trusted person, so the Team does not depend on one computer.

In **Team Settings › Recovery**, under **Recovery Authority operations**, enter that person's Team Principal ID, choose **Grant Recovery Authority**, then **Distribute approved device wraps** so their approved computers receive the key.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Recovery package refused">
    The file and code do not match, or the file belongs to another Team. Check you picked the right file and typed the code exactly.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Setup was interrupted and my saved kit is no longer valid">
    If setup restarted, the earlier kit was replaced before it took effect. Save the new kit Elephas shows you and delete the old file. See [Set up a Team workspace](/docs/teams/set-up-a-team-workspace).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I lost the kit and every approved computer">
    Elephas cannot restore Team recovery in this case. Contact support to discuss your billing and next steps. See [Contact support](/docs/troubleshooting/contact-support).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Set up a Team workspace" href="/docs/teams/set-up-a-team-workspace" />

  <Card title="Security overview" href="/docs/privacy-and-security/security-overview" />

  <Card title="Roles and permissions" href="/docs/teams/team-roles-and-permissions" />

  <Card title="Team devices" href="/docs/teams/manage-team-devices" />
</CardGroup>


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.