Ledger Nano S restore from seed: Is using the Ledger 2 buttons to enter the seed the only way?

Question

A hardware wallet sounds like a great idea but to my utter horror it appears that if the ledger is lost/breaks/inaccessible and I want to restore it I have to:

1. Get another ledger or compatible hardware wallet AND
2. Type in the recovery seed on the actual hardware and with Nano S that means using 2 buttons to type the words which sounds like an impossible task for me

Is there a way to use Windows to enter the words? I'm reluctant to put any coins on the ledger and be so secure that I can't access my funds.

Also, is it possible to restore to a non-hardware wallet and if yes, what happens in case of multiple accounts/coins seeing that the recovery seed is for the wallet not accounts/apps/coins.

Answer 1

Quoting the Ledger help docs:

The 24-word recovery phrase of your Ledger device is a backup of your private keys, including those for Monero. You can restore your 24-word recovery phrase on any Ledger hardware wallet, install the Monero app and manage your coins.

In case you need emergency access to your Monero without having access to a hardware wallet, you can restore your wallet as a Monero software wallet with 25 recovery words following the Electrum seed format. Please find instructions to save your 25-word recovery seed here.

So no, using a device is not the only way to access.