Unpopular opinion: writing down your backup codes on paper beats any password manager for the stuff you actually can't recover

Evan Green · 2026-10-02T19:45:03.536294+00:00

I locked myself out of my main email on a Tuesday night in March and spent 2 hours trying every recovery trick before remembering I had printed the backup codes a year earlier and taped them inside a book on my shelf. The password manager was right there on my phone but it didn't help since I couldn't get into the vault without the email for the 2FA. Everyone online says go digital or go home, but paper doesn't get phished, doesn't sync to a server, and doesn't ask for a master password when you are already locked out. I keep one sheet in a fireproof box and one at my parents' place in Tucson. What is your backup plan for the one account that would actually ruin your week if you lost it?

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Unpopular opinion: writing down your backup codes on paper beats any password manager for the stuff you actually can't recover | Cybersecurity Tips - Thought Shares