Newbie: How do I use my wallet from 4 years ago?

[Vella]

Hi, 4 years ago I bought some bitcoin but never used it.  When I logged in to Coinbase today it said my account balance was 0 - it didn't have my transaction in it.  But I have a wallet on my laptop.  How do I see what's in my wallet?  I can't find the answer on their help system.  I think I need help from a person....

[phips28]

Did you buy on Coinbase and transferred it to your local wallet?

[Vella]

I honestly have no recollection of how I did it.  I just know I have a coinbase account and a wallet keys file on my laptop.

[Taras]

What is the "wallet keys" file like? Is it called wallet.dat, or is it some kind of text file you can open in Notepad?

[Vella]

it's not wallet.dat.  When I open it in notepad, its a long string of numbers and letters

[Taras]

How many letters are in the string, and what is the first letter? Is there anything in the string other than numbers or letters?

[B!t_Kong]

I can't find the answer on their help system.  I think I need help from a person....

I think you have part of the answer to your problem right there.

Have you communicated  with Coinbase directly? Good Luck!

[phips28]

it's not wallet.dat.  When I open it in notepad, its a long string of numbers and letters

Could be a private key or the public address

[Vella]

There are 240 characters:  letters, numbers, a few / and a few +, starts with U ends with =

Coinbase is only answering lockout and delayed payment questions.