diff --git a/convex-core/src/main/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39.java b/convex-core/src/main/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39.java
index 0dffa8240..1b737b60a 100644
--- a/convex-core/src/main/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39.java
+++ b/convex-core/src/main/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39.java
@@ -210,6 +210,9 @@ public class BIP39 {
 	
 	public static final int BITS_PER_WORD=11;
 	
+	public static final String DEMO_PHRASE="sing bomb stay manual powder hard north mixture sausage lunch retreat desert";
+	public static final String DEMO_PASS="hello1234567890ZZ";
+	
 	/**
 	 * Map of words to integer values
 	 */
@@ -244,14 +247,7 @@ public class BIP39 {
 	 * @return Blob containing BIP39 seed (64 bytes)
 	 */
 	public static Blob getSeed(List<String> words, String passphrase) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, InvalidKeySpecException {
-		if (passphrase==null) passphrase="";
-
-		// Normalise words and convert to char array
-		String joined=Utils.joinStrings(words, " ");
-		joined=Normalizer.normalize(joined, Normalizer.Form.NFKD);		
-		char[] pass= joined.toCharArray(); 
-		
-		return getSeedInternal(pass,passphrase);
+		return getSeed(mnemonic(words),passphrase);
 	}
 	
 	public static AKeyPair seedToKeyPair(Blob seed) {
@@ -365,7 +361,7 @@ public static List<String> createWords(byte[] entropy, int n) {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Gets the individual words from a mnemonic String. Will trim and normalise whitespace, convert to lowercase
+	 * Gets the individual words from a mnemonic String. Will trim and normalise whitespace
 	 * @param mnemonic Mnemonic String
 	 * @return List of words
 	 */
@@ -376,9 +372,7 @@ public static List<String> getWords(String mnemonic) {
 		ArrayList<String> al=new ArrayList<>();
 		for (int i=0; i<ss.length; i++) {
 			String w=ss[i].trim();
-			
 			if (!w.isBlank()) {
-				w=w.toLowerCase();
 				al.add(w);
 			}
 		}
@@ -390,10 +384,33 @@ public static String normaliseFormat(String s) {
 		s=s.toLowerCase();
 		return s;
 	}
+	
+	public static String normaliseAll(String s) {
+		// to lowercase and standard whitespace
+		s=normaliseFormat(s);
+		
+		List<String> words=getWords(s);
+		
+		int n=words.size();
+		for (int i=0; i<n; i++) {
+			String w=words.get(i);
+			if (LOOKUP.containsKey(w)) continue; // legit word, continue
+			
+			String ext=extendWord(w);
+			if (ext!=null) {
+				words.set(i, ext);
+			}
+			
+			words.set(i, w.toUpperCase()); // An unexpected word, highlight in uppercase
+		}
+		
+		String result = mnemonic(words);
+		return result;
+	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Create a mnemonic String from a list of words, separated by spaces
-	 * @param words  List of words for mnemonic
+	 * @param words List of words for mnemonic
 	 * @return Combined mnemonic string
 	 */
 	public static String mnemonic(List<String> words) {
@@ -417,5 +434,14 @@ public static String checkWords(List<String> words) {
 		}
 		return null;
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Extends an abbreviated form of a BIP39 word to a full word e.g. 'SHAL' => 'shallow'
+	 * @param abbr
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static String extendWord(String abbr) {
+		return ABBR.get(abbr.trim().toLowerCase());
+	}
 	
 }
diff --git a/convex-core/src/test/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39Test.java b/convex-core/src/test/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39Test.java
index e1f441c65..51f8f9e81 100644
--- a/convex-core/src/test/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39Test.java
+++ b/convex-core/src/test/java/convex/core/crypto/BIP39Test.java
@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@ public void testFromEntropy() {
 
 	}
 	
+	@Test
+	public void testExtendWord() {
+		assertEquals("shallow",BIP39.extendWord("SHAL"));
+		assertEquals("zoo",BIP39.extendWord(" zoo "));
+		assertEquals("list",BIP39.extendWord("list"));
+		assertEquals("capital",BIP39.extendWord("capi"));
+	}
+	
 	@Test
 	public void testSeed() throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, InvalidKeySpecException {
 		List<String> tw1=List.of("blue claw trip feature street glue element derive dentist rose daring cash".split(" "));
diff --git a/convex-gui/src/main/java/convex/gui/keys/KeyGenPanel.java b/convex-gui/src/main/java/convex/gui/keys/KeyGenPanel.java
index 18a521056..ef05d6b17 100644
--- a/convex-gui/src/main/java/convex/gui/keys/KeyGenPanel.java
+++ b/convex-gui/src/main/java/convex/gui/keys/KeyGenPanel.java
@@ -87,10 +87,42 @@ private void updatePass() {
 	private void generateBIP39Seed() {
 		String s = mnemonicArea.getText();
 		String p = new String(passArea.getPassword());
+		List<String> words=BIP39.getWords(s);
+
+		String warn=checkWarnings(s,p);
+
+		if (warn.isBlank()) {
+			warningArea.setForeground(Color.GREEN);
+			warningArea.setText("OK: Reasonable mnemonic and passphrase");
+		} else {
+			warningArea.setForeground(Color.ORANGE);
+			warningArea.setText("WARNING: "+warn);
+		}
+		
+		try {
+			Blob bipSeed=BIP39.getSeed(words,p);
+			seedArea.setText(bipSeed.toHexString());
+			deriveSeed();
+		} catch (Exception ex) {
+			String pks = "<mnemonic not valid>";
+			if (s.isBlank()) pks = "<enter valid private key or mnemonic>";
+			masterKeyArea.setText(pks);
+			warningArea.setText("");
+			derivedKeyArea.setText(pks);
+			privateKeyArea.setText(pks);
+		}		
+	}
+	
+	private String checkWarnings(String s, String p) {
+		String warn ="";
+
+		// Check for demo phrases
+		if (s.equals(BIP39.DEMO_PHRASE)) warn+= "Demo mnemonic (for testing only). ";
+		if (p.equals(BIP39.DEMO_PASS)) warn+= "Demo passphrase (for testing only). ";
+
 		List<String> words=BIP39.getWords(s);
 		String badWord=BIP39.checkWords(words);
 		
-		String warn="";
 		int numWords=words.size();
 		if (numWords<BIP39.MIN_WORDS) {
 			warn+="Only "+numWords+" words. ";
@@ -100,7 +132,11 @@ private void generateBIP39Seed() {
 		}
 		
 		if (badWord!=null) {
-			warn +="Not in standard word list: "+badWord+". ";
+			if (BIP39.extendWord(badWord)!=null) {
+				warn += "Should normalise abbreviated word: "+badWord+". ";
+			} else {
+				warn +="Not in standard word list: "+badWord+". ";
+			}
 		}
 		if (p.isBlank()) {
 			warn+="Passphrase is blank! ";
@@ -118,29 +154,9 @@ private void generateBIP39Seed() {
 		if (!s.equals(BIP39.normaliseFormat(s))) {
 			warn+="Not normalised! ";
 		}
-
-		if (warn.isBlank()) {
-			warningArea.setForeground(Color.GREEN);
-			warningArea.setText("OK: Reasonable mnemonic and passphrase");
-		} else {
-			warningArea.setForeground(Color.ORANGE);
-			warningArea.setText("WARNING: "+warn);
-		}
-		
-		try {
-			Blob bipSeed=BIP39.getSeed(words,p);
-			seedArea.setText(bipSeed.toHexString());
-			deriveSeed();
-		} catch (Exception ex) {
-			String pks = "<mnemonic not valid>";
-			if (s.isBlank()) pks = "<enter valid private key or mnemonic>";
-			masterKeyArea.setText(pks);
-			warningArea.setText("");
-			derivedKeyArea.setText(pks);
-			privateKeyArea.setText(pks);
-		}		
+		return warn;
 	}
-	
+
 	private void updatePath() {
 		try {
 			String path=derivationArea.getText();
@@ -259,7 +275,7 @@ public KeyGenPanel(PeerGUI manager) {
 		add(formPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
 
 		{ // Mnemonic entry box
-			addLabel("Mnemonic Phrase","BIP39 Mnemonic phrase. These should be random words from the BIP39 standard word list.");	
+			addLabel("Mnemonic Phrase","BIP39 Mnemonic phrase. These should be 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 random words from the BIP39 standard word list.");	
 			mnemonicArea = makeTextArea();
 			mnemonicArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
 			mnemonicArea.setLineWrap(true);
@@ -410,7 +426,7 @@ public KeyGenPanel(PeerGUI manager) {
 		{ // Button to Normalise Mnemonic string
 			JButton btnNormalise = new ActionButton("Normalise Mnemonic",0xf0ff,e -> { 
 				String s=mnemonicArea.getText();
-				String s2=BIP39.normaliseFormat(s);
+				String s2=BIP39.normaliseAll(s);
 				mnemonicArea.setText(s2);
 				updateMnemonic();
 			});