Why Does Ledger Ask Me to Approve Public Key Exports?

Ledger treats extended public keys (xpubs) as privacy-sensitive information. That’s why when you connect your Ledger to Guarda, you’ll see an “Export Public Key?” prompt on your Ledger device.

Public keys cannot be used to spend your cryptocurrency, but they allow compatible applications to discover your wallet addresses and balances if someone takes it upon oneself. For that reason, Ledger requires your approval before exporting them. If your Ledger asks for confirmation, approve the request on the device manually to allow Guarda to import your accounts.

But the safest options are often not the most convenient ones. If you connect your Ledger to Guarda a lot and don’t want to deal with approving export every single time, you can enable auto approval:

1. Open the Bitcoin app on your Ledger.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Select Public key export approval.
4. Choose either:
   • Manual approval — confirm every export on the device (recommended for maximum privacy).
   • Auto approval — automatically approve public key exports for greater convenience.

Changing this setting affects only public key exports. Your private keys never leave the Ledger device.