Bitcoin Forum

I guess my question is: how long does it take for Bitcoin I sent from my Electrum wallet to appear in the History tab?

It's been 20 minutes now.

I'm using wallet version 4.0.4.

A few things to note that might be related:

- on the addresses list tab, the address of the wallet from which I sent the Bitcoins says "receiving" under the Type.

- I chose the max fee (confirm within next block).

- I cannot check the transaction ID on a blockchain explorer because Electrum hasn't even generated a transaction ID yet. It still says "unknown".



Thanks.

Your transaction might not be successfully sent. Are you sure that your wallet is connected? The transaction must appear on the history right after you click send. It will mark as pending on the history tab. Try to restart your wallet and check whether your wallet is connected. You will see the green circle on the bottom left/right if your wallet is connected.

Sending screenshot will make your issue solve faster so that we can have a better grasp on your concern. You can upload the image on imgur.com.

It is instant. If it doesn't show up, then you have only created the transaction, but you have not yet broadcast it to the network.

This is fine. This just means you are spending from a non-change address.

This is also fine.

Open up the transaction and look for the "Finalize" button at the bottom left. Once the transaction has been finalized, it will generate a TXID. You can then use the new "Sign" and "Broadcast" buttons at the bottom right to, well, sign and then broadcast the transaction.

Some more details:

- this electrum wallet I have is linked to a pre-existing Bitcoin address I had (I used the Bitcoin address' private key which I retrieved through Bitcoin Core and inserted it during the setup process for this Electrum wallet).

But here's a picture of the send tab:

- https://imgur.com/a/ndyXIt9



And here's a picture of the history tab:

- https://imgur.com/a/WYVfvGu


NOTE: I have not successfully sent any transactions through this Electrum wallet yet. Any recent transactions you see in the history tab were sent through my separate Bitcoin Core wallet, and I believe just updated into the Electrum wallet.

Thanks for the clear responses.

I clicked "finalize" but I never clicked "sign"...or "rebroadcast" for that matter.

This is what it looked like after I clicked "finalize":

- https://imgur.com/a/WUi9DPq


Do I have to click "sign" in order for the transaction to complete successfully?

Yes, you must click on “sign”, followed by “broadcast” for the transaction to be complete. When you click on Sign, it will ask you for your wallet password if there is one so that Electrum is able to sign the transaction. The Broadcast button is disabled until the transaction is signed. When you click on it, it sends the transaction to the network.

"Finalize" essentially tells Electrum you are happy with the inputs, the outputs, their respective amounts, and the fee you have selected, and to "finalize" the transaction to stop it being edited any more. The transaction is saved locally as an unsigned transaction, but cannot be broadcast yet because it is yet to be signed.

"Sign" tells Electrum to use the private keys for the input address (provided you have them) to sign the transaction. If the private keys are on a hardware wallet you will need to connect it, and if the wallet file is password protected you will need to enter the password.

"Broadcast" is the final step, and tells Electrum to send your final and signed transaction out to the network. Once it has been broadcast, then it will be added to the mempool for the potential to be mined.

So in your case, now the transaction is finalized, you must sign it (and enter any password you have set up when prompted), at which point the "Broadcast" button will be enabled and you can broadcast it to the network.

There's a simpler way to send transactions without going through the "advanced preview".
You just have to disable "Advanced preview" in the settings: "Tools->Preferences->'Transactions' tab".

That way, it'll be signed and broadcast automatically after you click "send" under the "confirm transaction" dialogue box when you clicked "send" in the send tab.
But if you want to open the advanced preview, you can click "Advanced" in the same dialogue box.