That is the password prompt window which is mislabeled. You actually have to trigger the real new wallet creation wizard to create a new wallet. There are two ways you can do that:

1) Run electrum with the -w switch giving it a path to your new wallet file (which it'll help you create):


2) Another way is to rename the electrum data directory which is one level up from where the wallet file is located:

http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/faq.html#where-is-my-wallet-file-located

Electrum will notice that you have no wallet file in your data directory and trigger the new wallet creation wizard.

What device are you using electrum on? Also what version of electrum?

On the latest version installed on a PC if you go to wallet menu > password and there is no "current password" field there then that means your wallet is not encrypted. If it does ask for the current password then your wallet is encrypted.

There are two levels of encryption - secrets only and whole wallet file. With secrets only the seed and/or any imported private keys are encrypted which means you can view the wallet file but not spend from until you provide the password. With whole wallet file encryption the whole file is encrypted and you can't even view transactions or balances without decrypting it first by supplying the password. So it could be that you only have secrets only encryption.

BTW "secrets only" and "whole wallet file" encryption are not terms used in the Electrum user interface. I made those up to describe what options you have.

You can see examples of supported key formats here (WIF and mini private key only):

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key#Base58_Wallet_Import_format

OMG no wonder people get so confused. IMO only the installer version should be displayed on the download page and the others should be tucked away under a "more options" link.

nope. you didn't note down the seed and you deleted the wallet file. your bitcoins are gone.

Are you sure about this? I believe the portable one creates the wallet file in the same folder as the executable.

click on the orb icon in the bottom right of the window and choose another electrum server. you can also do this via tools menu > network.

What happens when you go to wallet menu > seed? Is that greyed out too?

The only type of standard wallet with no seed is a wallet created using imported private keys. That is what you have. If you want a deterministic wallet then you should create a new wallet and then move your bitcoins to it:

https://bitcoinelectrum.com/creating-an-electrum-wallet/

no there isn't.

you're 2fa wallet can be restored from seed. the seed is only displayed at the time of wallet creation so if you haven't written it down create a new wallet and move your funds there. otherwise if you ever lose your phone you won't be able to recover your 2fa wallet and will lose money.

what does it say in the electrum window title bar? It should mention the wallet file and wallet type there.

your sig says ledger and your post says trezor

yes but you could also just set a password in electrum to encrypt the wallet and then use file menu > save copy to backup the wallet file. you don't really need the whole data directory.

seed option is greyed out for watch-only wallets and 2fa wallets. is your wallet a 2fa wallet?

gtk about the mini private keys

That private key is not his. It is the one from the wiki article I've linked above. He posted it here to tell me that his key was in that format (WIF).

You should create your own thread but the answer to your question is that, yes, you should use the same wallet software on every device.

Both compressed and uncompressed private keys are supported by Electrum. In fact electrum's own private keys are compressed.

Perhaps you mean something else by compressed and uncompressed private keys? The private keys themselves are not compressed or uncompressed. It's the public keys that are compressed or uncompressed. The private keys are encoded in a slightly different way to signify that the compressed or uncompressed public key should be used. The page below explains it but the gist of it is that uncompressed private keys begin with 5 and compressed ones with L or K:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key#Base58_Wallet_Import_format

I don't know whether electrum supports things like mini private key. It does not support bip38 private keys. Those have to be decrypted prior to use in electrum.

It takes keys in wallet import format which is what you posted above and which i linked to above too. The problem is that you are typing them in incorrectly. Check again that you are getting it all exactly right. If you still can't get it to work try again in a day or so (we sometimes notice details we missed after taking a break).

Alternatively if you have a web cam you could try scanning in the QR code for the private key. You can try clicking on the little qr code icon in the bottom right of the field on the keystore screen. IT doesn't work for me but might work on your system.

well your post was far too long and not very clear about what you wanted to do. i thought you wanted to create a wallet you could spend from. a watch-only wallet will not allow you to spend from. i'm just stating that so there is no misunderstanding going forward.

to create a watch-only wallet begin the process of creating a new wallet by using file >new/restore or just running electrum if you have no wallet already then select "watch bitcoin addresses" and after that it becomes self-explanatory. so instead of selecting "standard wallet" you select "watch bitcoin addresses".

you don't use the address to create a wallet that you can spend from in electrum. you use the private key and the private key alone.

here's a detailed guide: https://bitcoinelectrum.com/importing-your-private-keys-into-electrum/