[SOLVED] How to get BTC from Bitcoin-qt wallet into Electrum wallet

[LoydBraun]

I have my wallet.dat file created with Bitcoin-qt, and I have my new Electrum install. I DO NOT have Bitcoin-qt anymore, and it'll take weeks to get a new install "in sync", as it'll have to download the entire blockchain. How do I move my old BTC to the new Electrum wallet?

It appears as though I need to "sweep" the BTC using the private keys located in my original qt wallet.dat file, sending everything to an address in my new Electrum wallet. But how do I get the private keys from the qt wallet.dat file? I don't know what to do. Any guidance here would be much appreciated. Please be as specific as possible - pretend you're responding to a 4 year old. Thanks in advance.

[SOLVED] Answer found here: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/7536/how-do-i-export-my-private-keys-from-my-bitcoin-qt-client

[1715304900]

1715304900

[1715304900]

1715304900

[1715304900]

1715304900

[1715304900]

1715304900

[shorena]

I have my wallet.dat file created with Bitcoin-qt, and I have my new Electrum install. I DO NOT have Bitcoin-qt anymore, and it'll take weeks to get a new install "in sync", as it'll have to download the entire blockchain. How do I move my old BTC to the new Electrum wallet?

It appears as though I need to "sweep" the BTC using the private keys located in my original qt wallet.dat file, sending everything to an address in my new Electrum wallet. But how do I get the private keys from the qt wallet.dat file? I don't know what to do. Any guidance here would be much appreciated. Please be as specific as possible - pretend you're responding to a 4 year old. Thanks in advance.

[SOLVED] Answer found here: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/7536/how-do-i-export-my-private-keys-from-my-bitcoin-qt-client

Instead of dumpprivkey I suggest you use dumpwallet[1] to make sure you have all private keys and dont miss any btc. You use it the same as dumpprivkey, but with a path where the file should be. Depending on your OS, this could be (Win):

Code:

dumpprivkey c:\mykeys.txt

or (Linux)

Code:

bumpprivkey /home/user/mykeys.txt

The import in electrum works like this:

#1 File -> New/Restore
#2 Pick a name, confirm with ok
#3 Select "Restore a wallet or import private keys" and "Standard wallet", confirm with next
#4 enter the private keys one in each line and follow the rest of the instructions (it should ask for a password and scan for the balance)


[1] https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-reference#dumpwallet

[LoydBraun]

shorena, Just wanted to thank you again for your help. You explained it perfectly above. While I don't have a lot in BTC, it IS a lot to me, so this was very important to me. It made a big difference to have access to you and this forum.