How To Set Up Ledger Nano S

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss Ledger Nano S, and how we can set it up.

Ledger Nano S - Cryptocurrency hardware wallet

Ledger Hardware Wallets

Ledger wallets are hardware cryptocurrency wallets manufactured by Ledger, a French business located in Paris. The corporation has offices in San Francisco, California, in the United States. In 2014, eight specialists with experience in embedded security, cryptocurrency, and entrepreneurship founded Ledger. Ledger's hardware wallets are device-based, which means they keep private keys on storage devices such as USB drives, making it harder for hackers to obtain the key from an accessible location. Ledger has two hardware wallets available: the Ledger Nano S and the Ledger Nano X. These wallets additionally employ a 24-word backup recovery phrase that may be used to gain access to a user's cryptocurrency in the event that the device carrying the private key is lost.

Ledger Nano S

Ledger Nano S is a hardware wallet with advanced security features for storing cryptographic assets and safeguarding digital payments. It connects to any computer via USB and has a secure OLED display that allows you to double-check and approve each transaction with a simple press of its side buttons.

Ledger Nano S features

Support for Multiple Currencies
You may use the Ledger Nano to store several cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, in the same wallet.
Panel Display
It has an integrated display panel that allows you to examine and validate your transactions.
Secured
Its robust security mechanisms ensure that your wallet will never be compromised.
Support for Multiple Apps
The Ledger Nano S also supports a variety of partner apps, including additional cryptocurrency wallets and crypto utilities like FIDO® U2F, GPG, and SSH.
Backup Simplicity
You may also quickly back up your ledger with the Ledger Nano S.

Important information provided by Ledger

Your crypto assets are stored on the blockchain. You need a private key to access and manage them.
Your private key is stored with your Nano. You must be the only one to owe it to be in control of your money.
Your Nano works as a "cold storage" wallet. This means that it never exposes your private key online, even when using the app.
Ledger Live allows you to buy, sell, manage, exchange, and earn crypto while remaining protected. You will validate every crypto transaction with your Nano.

How to set up Ledger Nano S?

Note: I will be using the Ledger Live application to explain the process of how we can set it up. Ledger Live can be downloaded here.

Before starting with the process, follow the following suggestions

Plan 30 minutes and take your time.
Grab a pen to write with. Write down your passphrase on the sheets provided, for future reference (make sure to keep them in a safe place).
Stay alone, and choose a safe and quiet environment.

Step 1

Connect your Ledger Nano S using the USB OTG cable to your PC.

Select Nano Model

Next, we will use the right button which is at the top to move forward and the left button to move backward.

Step 2

Set up a pin code for your Ledger Nano S. Make sure to set a good PIN, which is easy for you to remember and hard for others to guess.

Ledger Nano S PIN

Things to keep in mind while setting the PIN

Always choose a PIN yourself.
Always enter PIN out of sight.
You can change your PIN if needed.
Three wrong PIN entries in a row will reset the device.
Never use PINs like 000000, 123456, etc.
Never share your PIN with anyone else. Not even with Ledger.
Never use a PIN you didn't choose yourself.
Never store your PIN on a computer or phone.

Step 3

After setting up the PIN. Next, you need to set a Passphrase or recovery phrase.

Ledger Nano Recovery Phrase

How does a recovery phrase work?

Your recovery phrase operates as a one-of-a-kind master key. It is used by your ledger device to generate private keys for each asset you hold. Any wallet may compute the identical private keys from your recovery phrase to regain access to your crypto.

How to keep your recovery phrase safe?

Never enter it on a computer, smartphone, or any other device. Don't take a picture of it.
Never share your 24 words with anyone.
Always store it in a secure place, out of sight.
Ledger will never ask for your recovery phrase. If any person or application asks for it, assume it is a scam.

Congratulations!!!!! You are done setting up your Ledger Nano S.

Conclusion

In this article, I discussed what Ledger Nano S is and how we can set it up. You can use Ledger Nano S, to store some of your important crypto data.

Hope you found this article useful.

I will continue writing more content on Ledger Nano S. Next, I will write about Ledger Live, official Ledger Nano GUI application.