A 12-word secret recovery phrase, also known as a seed phrase, is a set of words that acts as a backup for your cryptocurrency wallet. It is used to restore access to your wallet in case of loss or damage to your device. To use the recovery phrase, you would typically go through the setup process for a new wallet and select the option to restore using a recovery phrase. Then, you would enter the 12 words in the correct order, and your wallet will be restored with all the funds and transaction history associated with it.