Never confirmed transaction, how to get it back in the wallet ?

[-Alex68-]

Hi,

I've done a transaction without any fee 22 days ago, and of course it never get confirmed. Now I wonder how I can get it back in my wallet.
All the information I have is the amount, date, the receiver address and the transaction ID : 51b59008bdd688eefcfe29ac82ca8494f5ec7709a9c106ab72f54cbf1470cf58-000
However, this is not recognized on blockchain.info.
I used Bitcoin-Qt 5.2.1 (next versions are no more compatible with my OS), and it is fully synchronized, but it is still showing "not confirmed".

Do you have any idea about what I should do ?

Thank you !

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[merelcoin]

Strange,

I cannot find this transaction in blockchain.info or blockr.io.
Nevertheless, your wallet probably keeps on broadcasting the transaction, you can fix this by starting your wallet with the zapwallet argument. It'll rescan the chain, and only pickup the confirmed tx's.
You could also attempt to create a double spend with a higher fee using the same inputs you used for the stuck transaction.

[killerjoegreece]

what os are you on? your client might be way too outdated to work in the network.

[achow101]

Because the transaction is very old and remained unconfirmed, the network dropped the transaction. Block explorers don't show it anymore because they "forgot" it.

The solution is to start bitcoin core with the -zapwallettxes option. How to do this depends on your OS. As merelcoin said, it will clear the unconfirmed transactions from your wallet and allow you to resend the coins.

[cr1776]

what os are you on? your client might be way too outdated to work in the network.

The "Bitcoin-Qt 5.2.1" isn't a bitcoin version, it may be a Qt version though.  As stated above, it would be useful to know which version of Bitcoin you are using.  It would be 0.something.

[-Alex68-]

Thank you all for your quick answers.

This is indeed Qt version 5.2.1, Bitcoin Core version 0.10.2, running with Mac OS X version 10.6.8
Could you explain me how to use this zapwallet option ?

[achow101]

Thank you all for your quick answers.

This is indeed Qt version 5.2.1, Bitcoin Core version 0.10.2, running with Mac OS X version 10.6.8
Could you explain me how to use this zapwallet option ?

Open the terminal. Type

Code:

bitcoin-qt -zapwallettxes

Hit enter. Bitcoin Core will start and it will do everything it needs to do. Once its fully up, you should see that the unconfirmed transaction is gone. Shut it down and start Bitcoin Core normally.

[-Alex68-]

Thank you, I tried it but this is not the right command.

I manage to open Bitcoin Core typing

Code:

open -a Bitcoin-qt

But if y try to insert the option, I get the following error message :

Code:

$ open -a Bitcoin-qt -zapwallettxes
open: unrecognized option `-zapwallettxes'
Usage: open [-e] [-t] [-f] [-W] [-R] [-n] [-g] [-h] [-b <bundle identifier>] [-a <application>] [filenames] [--args arguments]
Help: Open opens files from a shell.
      By default, opens each file using the default application for that file.  
      If the file is in the form of a URL, the file will be opened as a URL.
Options: 
      -a                Opens with the specified application.
      -b                Opens with the specified application bundle identifier.
      -e                Opens with TextEdit.
      -t                Opens with default text editor.
      -f                Reads input from standard input and opens with TextEdit.
      -R, --reveal      Selects in the Finder instead of opening.
      -W, --wait-apps   Blocks until the used applications are closed (even if they were already running).
          --args        All remaining arguments are passed in argv to the application's main() function instead of opened.
      -n, --new         Open a new instance of the application even if one is already running.
      -g, --background  Does not bring the application to the foreground.
      -h, --header      Searches header file locations for headers matching the given filenames, and opens them.

I have also tried

Code:

$ open -a Bitcoin-qt --args zapwallettxes

which opens Bitcoin Core but it doesn't seem to change anything.

[achow101]

Thank you, I tried it but this is not the right command.

I manage to open Bitcoin Core typing

Code:

open -a Bitcoin-qt

But if y try to insert the option, I get the following error message :

Code:

$ open -a Bitcoin-qt -zapwallettxes
open: unrecognized option `-zapwallettxes'
Usage: open [-e] [-t] [-f] [-W] [-R] [-n] [-g] [-h] [-b <bundle identifier>] [-a <application>] [filenames] [--args arguments]
Help: Open opens files from a shell.
      By default, opens each file using the default application for that file.  
      If the file is in the form of a URL, the file will be opened as a URL.
Options: 
      -a                Opens with the specified application.
      -b                Opens with the specified application bundle identifier.
      -e                Opens with TextEdit.
      -t                Opens with default text editor.
      -f                Reads input from standard input and opens with TextEdit.
      -R, --reveal      Selects in the Finder instead of opening.
      -W, --wait-apps   Blocks until the used applications are closed (even if they were already running).
          --args        All remaining arguments are passed in argv to the application's main() function instead of opened.
      -n, --new         Open a new instance of the application even if one is already running.
      -g, --background  Does not bring the application to the foreground.
      -h, --header      Searches header file locations for headers matching the given filenames, and opens them.

I have also tried

Code:

$ open -a Bitcoin-qt --args zapwallettxes

which opens Bitcoin Core but it doesn't seem to change anything.

You don't need the open command. Bitcoin-qt by itself is an executable and can be executed from the terminal.

[-Alex68-]

Hm... I have the feeling that I can't use the terminal well enough, it doesn't recognize the commande bitcoin-qt.
I can go in the right folder Applications where there is the .app file and open it, or use the command open, but I don't manage to execute it in another way...

[vlamer]

I think this will be confirmed after a few blocks ..
https://blockchain.info/tx/51b59008bdd688eefcfe29ac82ca8494f5ec7709a9c106ab72f54cbf1470cf58

[achow101]

Hm... I have the feeling that I can't use the terminal well enough, it doesn't recognize the commande bitcoin-qt.
I can go in the right folder Applications where there is the .app file and open it, or use the command open, but I don't manage to execute it in another way...

Ok, so I haven't used a mac in a while so what I said was probably not right as that was for linux (which is similar to os x). A quick google search turns up this:

Code:

open Bitcoin-Qt.app --args -zapwallettxes

Try that and see if it works.

[-Alex68-]

I think this will be confirmed after a few blocks ..
https://blockchain.info/tx/51b59008bdd688eefcfe29ac82ca8494f5ec7709a9c106ab72f54cbf1470cf58

Wow, so something happened since blockchain.info found it yersterday, even if nothing is changed in Bitcoin Core.
What happened exactly ? It seems that

Code:

open Bitcoin-Qt --args zapwallettxes

has updated the transaction. However, it has submitted it without possibility of adding some fee. I may found myself in the same situation than previously, waiting for a long time.
Anyway, now it seems that I'm able to update the transaction. Hopefully, it will be accepted at one point. Thank you for this piece of code.

Thank you for your help. If anyone knows some details about the mechanism of transaction acceptance, and about "clients", I would be happy to get an insight into this.

[ranochigo]

I think this will be confirmed after a few blocks ..
https://blockchain.info/tx/51b59008bdd688eefcfe29ac82ca8494f5ec7709a9c106ab72f54cbf1470cf58

Wow, so something happened since blockchain.info found it yersterday, even if nothing is changed in Bitcoin Core.
What happened exactly ? It seems that

Code:

open Bitcoin-Qt --args zapwallettxes

has updated the transaction. However, it has submitted it without possibility of adding some fee. I may found myself in the same situation than previously, waiting for a long time.
Anyway, now it seems that I'm able to update the transaction. Hopefully, it will be accepted at one point. Thank you for this piece of code.

Thank you for your help. If anyone knows some details about the mechanism of transaction acceptance, and about "clients", I would be happy to get an insight into this.

What version of Bitcoin Core are you running? AFAIK, -zapwallettxes was only added in Bitcoin Core 0.9.0. If you have any version below that, doing so would just open the client again and it would rebroadcast the transaction since it was the default behavior.

If possible, you can easily rescript a new transaction and broadcast it.
I have structured the transaction below that is the same to your transaction except that it has a fee of 0.0001BTC. To sign it, go to Help>Debug window> Console. Next, type this

Code:

signrawtransaction 01000000038089459d3da4d66582976708f355cc01e4c0ab34a23171675398b8804038e23a000000001976a914c99905b5b8fe89534aa92a853c4f870705f44a3688acffffffffec00966da20b352049c37851ec5fead4972735c171c419a3f057268b9db29166010000001976a914c7755c1f717e7d2a58bf719f6bdf236a9da8dc0788acffffffff7a1c57e3068196c891f96fbc9f4b8e03d01000e7899689b3d4499c8e7104ef13000000001976a914fdd9410c089878ba9820b2b22296584a1df67d9488acffffffff017c220304000000001976a914a8b6401ea34d0f36bf768b9aa224bc4113a35f7a88ac00000000

  into the console, copy the output and use coinb.in/#broadcast to broadcast it. *Before you broadcast, please go to coinb.in/#verify and paste the signed TX to double check that the addresses matches.

[vlamer]

lucky it has been confirmed,

[Alesia]

Hi Guys,

I'm having the same problem (an unconfirmed transaction since 7 days) but cannot even open bitcoin-qt with the terminal on mac

"The file /Users/Charles 1/Bitcoin-Qt.app does not exist"

So how could I run the zapwallettxes ?

[Alesia]

Hi Guys,

I'm having the same problem (an unconfirmed transaction since 7 days) but cannot even open bitcoin-qt with the terminal on mac

"The file /Users/Charles 1/Bitcoin-Qt.app does not exist"

So how could I run the zapwallettxes ?

I did open /Applications/bitcoin-qt.app --args zapwallettxes which opens Bitcoin Core but nothing changes

[achow101]

Hi Guys,

I'm having the same problem (an unconfirmed transaction since 7 days) but cannot even open bitcoin-qt with the terminal on mac

"The file /Users/Charles 1/Bitcoin-Qt.app does not exist"

So how could I run the zapwallettxes ?

I did open /Applications/bitcoin-qt.app --args zapwallettxes which opens Bitcoin Core but nothing changes

First of all, do not hijack someone else's thread. You have your own issue, make your own thread next time.

Secondly, you don't have to use zapwallettxes anymore. Instead, open up bitcoin core and go to Help  > Debug Window and click on the console tab. Then in the box at the bottom, type

Code:

 abandontransaction <txid>

Where <txid> is the transaction ID of the transaction you want to double spend.

[Alesia]

Hi Guys,

I'm having the same problem (an unconfirmed transaction since 7 days) but cannot even open bitcoin-qt with the terminal on mac

"The file /Users/Charles 1/Bitcoin-Qt.app does not exist"

So how could I run the zapwallettxes ?

I did open /Applications/bitcoin-qt.app --args zapwallettxes which opens Bitcoin Core but nothing changes

First of all, do not hijack someone else's thread. You have your own issue, make your own thread next time.

Secondly, you don't have to use zapwallettxes anymore. Instead, open up bitcoin core and go to Help  > Debug Window and click on the console tab. Then in the box at the bottom, type

Code:

 abandontransaction <txid>

Where <txid> is the transaction ID of the transaction you want to double spend.

I didn't want to hijack I just thought it would be easier since it's the same problem.

Anyway thanks for your time and reply I did : abandontransaction 1d150ad498c23524dcb60198d41676f3b44060fc37ac2d7e76f8625be4e5562c-000

But I had : Transaction not eligible for abandonment (code -5)

[achow101]

I didn't want to hijack I just thought it would be easier since it's the same problem.

Anyway thanks for your time and reply I did : abandontransaction 1d150ad498c23524dcb60198d41676f3b44060fc37ac2d7e76f8625be4e5562c-000

But I had : Transaction not eligible for abandonment (code -5)

Remove the -000 part, it isn't actually part of the transaction ID.