Looking for simple wallet/client restore instructions for all types of wallets.

[13Charlie]

I'm new to Bitcoin and I'm trying to get started with the best possible habits. I've been reading up on all the noob stuff that I can find. I have compiled a list of some of the "best practices"
All of the threads that I have read about wallets say that you need to back them up on a regular basis. Some of them are also very specific about how to do this, but not how to recover.

I am having a lot of trouble locating simple instructions on how to restore a wallet from a backup (for noobs).
I know that each client/wallet will have it's own set of instructions, but I'm not deeply invested in any particular wallet yet.
I'm hoping that you, the Bitcoin community can reach out and help me locate the recovery instructions for restoring from any and all types of backups.

So I've spent a few bucks on some coins so that I can practice moving my coins and backing them up and restoring wallets from a backup.
Once I am comfortable that I can create a backup and actually restore it, I will then buy myself a larger amount of Bitcoins.

It would also be appreciated to hear about the wallet of your preference based on the above.

[1714110182]

1714110182

[1714110182]

1714110182

[1714110182]

1714110182

[1714110182]

1714110182

[jim618]

For MultiBit the easiest way to back up a wallet is to make an encrypted export of the private keys.
There is a section in the help describing this:

https://multibit.org/help_backupWalletUsingPrivateKeys.html

There are also more detailed help screens on importing and exporting private keys. If you click on the 'Help Contents' link in the page above you see all the help topics.

[13Charlie]

Thanks Jim, this is exactly the kind of stuff that I am looking for.
I will download and play around with MultiBit tomorrow.

[DannyHamilton]

The recovery process will depend on the backup method you use.

If you back up the private keys (to paper or otherwise), then the recovery process will be to install a new wallet client, and import the keys.  Most of the wallet clients have their own instructions on how to import private keys, and the nice thing about this is that a private key from one wallet can be imported into just about any other wallet.

So, if your chosen client were to stop being supported, you could just import the private keys into the next client you choose.

The reference client (Bitcoin-Qt) makes it pretty complicated to import private keys (and the last time I used it it the import was a bit buggy).  If you plan to use the reference client, then you can find the "wallet.dat" file (where it is stored depends on the type of operating system you use) and make a copy of the file that you store somewhere safely.  To recover this backup, all you have to do is:

• Shutdown Bitcoin-Qt
• Replace the existing wallet.dat with the backed up one (might want to make a copy of the existing one first "just in case")
• Start Bitcoin-Qt