# EC2 Key Pair Troubleshooting

* **EC2 stores the public key (**`.pub`**) and you store the private key (**`.pem`**)**.\\

* You **use the private key, instead of a password, to securely access your instances**.\\

* **Anyone who possesses your private keys can connect to your instances**, so it's important that you store your private keys in a secure place.

## What happens when you delete your EC2 key pair?

* When you delete a key pair, **you are only deleting the EC2 copy of the public key**.\\

* Deleting a key pair **doesn't affect the private key on your computer or the public key on any instances that already launched using that key pair**.\\

* You can't launch a new instance using a deleted key pair, but you **can continue to connect to any instances that you launched using a deleted key pair, as long as you still have the private key file**.

## Connect to your Linux instance if you lose your private key <a href="#replacing-lost-key-pair" id="replacing-lost-key-pair"></a>

* **If you lose the private key for an EBS-backed instance**, you can regain access to your instance.\\

* Stop the instance.

* Detach its root volume/copy its AMI and attach it to another instance.

* Modify the `authorized_keys` file with a new public key.

* Move the volume/AMI back to the original instance.

* Restart the instance.
