âAnchor (Desktop) Account Set Up
Last updated
Last updated
Anchor Wallet by Greymass is one of the most utilized tools in the EOS Ecosystem. It offers a robust suite of features for engaging with the network on several levels. In addition to basic tools like account creation and transaction signing, Anchor also offers tools for things like governance and resource management.
You can learn more about Anchor by heading over to greymass.com/anchor. Much of the information in this guide was provided by the Greymass Support Portal. We recommend heading there if you want to learn more about navigating Anchor, including checking out their guide on iOS and Android account set up.
Keep reading for a step-by-step walkthrough on how to get up and running on the EOS Network with Anchor for Desktop.
Head to greymass.com/anchor and scroll down to where the page says "Anchor for Desktop". Then, download the appropriate installer by selecting your operating system, as seen in the image below.
Once the installer has been downloaded, run it and follow the on screen prompts to install it on your computer.
Once installed, open Anchor on your computer and select the "Set Up Account" button.
On the next screen, you'll be prompted to enter a password. This password can not be recovered, so it's important that you ensure you keep a copy of your password in a safe place offline, in case you ever forget it.
Note: This password is unique only to Anchor on this particular device. For instance, if you were to access this account on a different device (Desktop, iOS, Android), you would need to set a different password for that specific device.
Anchor has the ability to access accounts on multiple networks, notably most EOS-based chains. For the purposes of this tutorial and to engage with projects on the EOS Network, you'll want to select "EOS".
Note: For the purposes of this tutorial, the rest of the images will show account creation on the Jungle Testnet. However, for normal use cases be sure to select for the EOS Network.
Greymass offers a portal for creating a new user account with a credit card payment. If you would prefer a free account, we recommend following our guides on how to set up an account with TokenPocket or Wombat Wallet.
To continue with the Greymass portal, navigate to create.anchor.link in your web browser. From here, select "Create New Account" and on the following screen select "EOS" as the network to create an account on.
Next, follow the onscreen prompts to complete the account creation with the credit card checkout process.
Upon completing payment, you'll be presented with the screen below. Choose the "Launch Anchor on this Device" option and if prompted a second time by your browser, choose to "Open Anchor Wallet".
Once Anchor opens, you'll be prompted to create an account name. You can choose to create a "Random Name" or enter your own. When creating a custom name in Anchor, you need to keep in mind the following criteria:
Can use no more than 8 characters
Will include " gm" at the end
Names with particular words will not be created
It's also important to note that your account name will be public. So don't include any information that you'd like to keep private in the account name.
Once you've chosen an account name, select "Next".
On the next screen you can verify that all the information is correct, then select "Create". This will bring up a verification message that will load on screen for around a minute. Once this is complete, your account will be created and ready to use in Anchor!
This step is extremely important! Before proceeding, take a moment to backup your account somewhere safe. If you skip this step, you will not be able to recover your account in case of an emergency, resulting in a loss of all funds held within that account.
To backup your account, simply select the "Create Backup" option when prompted onscreen, then choose the "Print Certificate" or "Save Certificate" option on the next screen. Once this is complete, there are still several more steps to complete to ensure your account is fully backed up.
On the next screen, you will be presented 6 words that you will enter into the spaces provided on the bottom of the Owner Key Certificate that you just saved. Be sure to do this now, before moving onto the next step. Once you're done, select "Continue".
Note: While making sure the spelling is correct, the order of the words is of equal importance. Make sure you are matching the number to the left of the word to the matching space on your certificate.
After backing up the 6 words and selecting "Continue" you'll be presented with a screen asking you to verify the 6 words. Select the proper words that you just wrote down while taking into account the spelling and proper order. Then click "Continue", read the notice on Key Certificate Security presented on the next page and select "Complete Backup".
At this point your account is set up and ready to use! It's worth double checking that everything is functioning by:
Test logging into something like Unicove.com
Testing your owner certificate by recovering your device on another device
Once you're certain that your account is set up properly and you're backup certificate is accurate you can start using it!
It's extremely important when going through this process that you back up both your passphrase for Anchor in Step 2 and backup you account certificate in Step 6. Without these, you can permanently loose access to your account.
For additional support with Anchor, head to the Greymass Suport Portal here: https://support.greymass.com/support/home
You can also reach out to them directly at support@greymass.com.
