A rejected recovery code almost always comes down to one of four things. Check them in order.
A recovery code belongs to one specific vault. If you have more than one NestVault account — or you’re signed in as a family member rather than the vault owner — the code won’t match. Sign out, then sign back in with the email address of the account the code was created for.
Dashes, spaces, and letter case are ignored, so don’t worry about formatting. Do check lookalike characters: the code never contains the digits 0 or 1 — if you wrote down a 0 or 1, it’s the letter O or I (or a stray mark). The code is 48 characters using letters A–Z and digits 2–7.
Generating a new recovery code invalidates the old one immediately. If that happened on your account, the error message will tell you the date the code was rotated — e.g. “…may have been replaced when your recovery code was rotated on March 12, 2026.” If you see that, the printed copy in your drawer is the superseded one; look for a newer printout, or unlock with your vault password and generate a fresh code.
If you see “Recovery isn’t available on your account yet,” your vault predates recovery codes. Sign in with your vault password and you’ll be prompted to upgrade — a recovery code is generated at that point.
If none of these fit and you don’t have your vault password either, we’ll say it plainly rather than string you along: we cannot unlock the vault for you. You’re welcome to email us and we’ll help you rule things out.