Wallet suddenly empty

[Prutser112]

Hello Bitcoin community,

I am totally new to Bitcoin and at the moment i am a bit shocked.

Recently I downloaded the Bitcoin Core wallet onto my Macbook and installed/synchronized all.
Received some coins in that wallet and closed it.

Opened the wallet next day again, and.... it's gone. no more BTC, no more transaction, no more address, all empty.
The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesn't read the content of the wallet.dat file as it looks like.

I want my BTC to show up again.

Does anybody know how to put back a wallet.dat file in a Bitcoin Core wallet on a Macbook?

In my desktop there is now two files: wallet.dat and Wallet copy.dat?

How do I get this wallet to work again?

Help!!

[cr1776]

Back up both the "wallet.dat" and the "Wallet copy.dat" somewhere else so you have 1 or 2 extra copies of them before you do anything else.   Also, backup any wallet.dat stored in here:
~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/
(see https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory#Mac )

Make sure you have 2 backups of each - better to be safe.


The next step will be to figure out what happened exactly. 

1.There isn't an external drive on this MacBook, is there?

2. Also, can you explain what you mean by "The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesnt read the content of it as it looks like."

3.  Do you know how those two files got on the Mac Desktop?  That is not where Bitcoin Core stores them without some user intervention.

Hello Bitcoin community,

I am totally new to Bitcoin and at the moment i am a bit shocked.

Recently I downloaded the Bitcoin Core wallet onto my macbook and installed/synchronised all.
Received some coins in that wallet and closed it.

Opened the wallet next day again, and.... it's gone. no more BTC, no more transaction, no more address, all empty.
The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesnt read the content of it as it looks like.

I want my BTC to show up again.

Does anybody know how to put back a wallet.dat file in a Bitcoin Core wallet on a Macbook?

In my desktop there is now two files: wallet.dat and Wallet copy.dat?

How do I get this wallet to work again?

Help!!

[Prutser112]

Back up both the "wallet.dat" and the "Wallet copy.dat" somewhere else so you have 1 or 2 extra copies of them before you do anything else.   Also, backup any wallet.dat stored in here:
~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/
(see https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory#Mac )

Make sure you have 2 backups of each - better to be safe.


The next step will be to figure out what happened exactly. 

1.There isn't an external drive on this MacBook, is there?

2. Also, can you explain what you mean by "The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesnt read the content of it as it looks like."

3.  Do you know how those two files got on the Mac Desktop?  That is not where Bitcoin Core stores them without some user intervention.

Hello Bitcoin community,

I am totally new to Bitcoin and at the moment i am a bit shocked.

Recently I downloaded the Bitcoin Core wallet onto my macbook and installed/synchronised all.
Received some coins in that wallet and closed it.

Opened the wallet next day again, and.... it's gone. no more BTC, no more transaction, no more address, all empty.
The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesnt read the content of it as it looks like.

I want my BTC to show up again.

Does anybody know how to put back a wallet.dat file in a Bitcoin Core wallet on a Macbook?

In my desktop there is now two files: wallet.dat and Wallet copy.dat?

How do I get this wallet to work again?

Help!!

Hello CR1776,

Thanks for your reply.

Immediately, while trying to make the recommended back ups, I am lost...

You write: Also, backup any wallet.dat stored in here: ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/

This path I can't follow, cause there is no support folder?

When I do a search for wallet.dat files on this mac, I find those 2 files under Applications/shared.
I now only hope I have the correct files backed up?
I took the ones I found on my desktop to back up.

I can't make these files visible?

Another problem is that I installed a Multibit wallet which is not used.
But this program created also .dat files and I can't distinguish which files belong to multibit and which ones to Bitcoin core...

This keeping value stored in digital wallets is certainly not something for people who are not familiar with digital tech.
I get sick and nauseous from what I all try and fail with, always in doubt cause of lack of knowledge.

Anyway, now I have maybe?? backed up the correct files...

To point:

1:

What do you mean by an "external drive"?, the only drive that I can point to as external is my Time machine.
Do you mean that by "external drive"?

2:

By: "The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesn't read the content of it as it looks like.",

I meant: The file wallet.dat is still physically available on this mac but the program Bitcoin Core doesn't recognize it, or cant find the file.
              In this wallet.dat file the content of the wallet is stored I suppose? a piece of Blockchain?
              So If this file is still there, why doesn't Bitcoin Core program read it??
              Could the file be in the wrong location? I did not tell the mac to put the wallet.dat file on the desktop, Bitcoin Core done that by itself.
              The time I opened the wallet and the BTC's were still there, the wallet.dat file was also located on Desktop.
              So before the program found the file in first instance and then later not any more. For me hard/not to explain.

3:

I have not a clue why Bitcoin Core put them there, I did not move them nor instruct to put them there.
Maybe somewhere is noted that this is my standard file location?

Pls help further to get my coins back, I feel sick.

[achow101]

Immediately, while trying to make the recommended back ups, I am lost...

You write: Also, backup any wallet.dat stored in here: ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/

This path I can't follow, cause there is no support folder?

The folder is called "Application Support". It should be there by default on all Macs.

When I do a search for wallet.dat files on this mac, I find those 2 files under Applications/shared.
I now only hope I have the correct files backed up?
I took the ones I found on my desktop to back up.

I can't make these files visible?

Back those up, just in case.

Another problem is that I installed a Multibit wallet which is not used.
But this program created also .dat files and I can't distinguish which files belong to multibit and which ones to Bitcoin core...

Multibit does not use wallet.dat files

What do you mean by an "external drive"?, the only drive that I can point to as external is my Time machine.
Do you mean that by "external drive"?

An external drive means anything that is used for storage that isn't any of the internal hard drives. This could be a network share, a USB flash drive, a USB hard drive, your Time machine, etc.

2:

By: "The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesn't read the content of it as it looks like.",

I meant: The file wallet.dat is still physically available on this mac but the program Bitcoin Core doesn't recognize it, or cant find the file.
              In this wallet.dat file the content of the wallet is stored I suppose? a piece of Blockchain?
              So If this file is still there, why doesn't Bitcoin Core program read it??
              Could the file be in the wrong location? I did not tell the mac to put the wallet.dat file on the desktop, Bitcoin Core done that by itself.
              The time I opened the wallet and the BTC's were still there, the wallet.dat file was also located on Desktop.
              So before the program found the file in first instance and then later not any more. For me hard/not to explain.

This is not how Bitcoin Core, or most software for that matter, work. Software do not just search the entire computer for certain filenames (unless they are viruses). They will only look for the filename in specific folders, folders that usually the software made itself. Because the wallet.dat files were not in the data directory (which should be ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin), it does not see those files.

When you first started Bitcoin Core, you should have seen something that asked where you wanted the data directory. Did you change that to something other than the default location?

Did you, at any point, go to Settings and click on the button for "Reset options"? (Don't do that now, we just need to know).

Can you please provide the contents of the debug.log file? If you go to Help > Debug Window in Bitcoin Core, you should see a button labeled "Open" under something like "debug file". Click that and it should open the debug.log file. Copy the entire contents into a post here. If it does not fit, go to http://pastebin.com/, make a new paste, and post the link here.

[cr1776]

...
I have not a clue why Bitcoin Core put them there, I did not move them nor instruct to put them there.
Maybe somewhere is noted that this is my standard file location?
...

If you didn't put them there, where did you download Bitcoin Core?  Did someone else have access to the computer?

knightdk did a great job answering your questions and if you have downloaded the real version of Bitcoin Core, it behaves as he explained as to where it puts (or allows you to put) the wallet.dat.

[Shiroslullaby]

If the wallet.dat file is on the Desktop, I would see if something was changed in the install location during setup.
Or maybe they were accidentally moved and that is causing an issue because they are no longer in the correct directory.

Otherwise, I would start checking to make sure no one had access to the computer, or that you don't have a virus and someone moved the folders after they accessed your computer remotely.

[Prutser112]

Immediately, while trying to make the recommended back ups, I am lost...

You write: Also, backup any wallet.dat stored in here: ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/

This path I can't follow, cause there is no support folder?

The folder is called "Application Support". It should be there by default on all Macs.

When I do a search for wallet.dat files on this mac, I find those 2 files under Applications/shared.
I now only hope I have the correct files backed up?
I took the ones I found on my desktop to back up.

I can't make these files visible?

Back those up, just in case.

Another problem is that I installed a Multibit wallet which is not used.
But this program created also .dat files and I can't distinguish which files belong to multibit and which ones to Bitcoin core...

Multibit does not use wallet.dat files

What do you mean by an "external drive"?, the only drive that I can point to as external is my Time machine.
Do you mean that by "external drive"?

An external drive means anything that is used for storage that isn't any of the internal hard drives. This could be a network share, a USB flash drive, a USB hard drive, your Time machine, etc.

2:

By: "The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesn't read the content of it as it looks like.",

I meant: The file wallet.dat is still physically available on this mac but the program Bitcoin Core doesn't recognize it, or cant find the file.
              In this wallet.dat file the content of the wallet is stored I suppose? a piece of Blockchain?
              So If this file is still there, why doesn't Bitcoin Core program read it??
              Could the file be in the wrong location? I did not tell the mac to put the wallet.dat file on the desktop, Bitcoin Core done that by itself.
              The time I opened the wallet and the BTC's were still there, the wallet.dat file was also located on Desktop.
              So before the program found the file in first instance and then later not any more. For me hard/not to explain.

This is not how Bitcoin Core, or most software for that matter, work. Software do not just search the entire computer for certain filenames (unless they are viruses). They will only look for the filename in specific folders, folders that usually the software made itself. Because the wallet.dat files were not in the data directory (which should be ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin), it does not see those files.

When you first started Bitcoin Core, you should have seen something that asked where you wanted the data directory. Did you change that to something other than the default location?

Did you, at any point, go to Settings and click on the button for "Reset options"? (Don't do that now, we just need to know).

Can you please provide the contents of the debug.log file? If you go to Help > Debug Window in Bitcoin Core, you should see a button labeled "Open" under something like "debug file". Click that and it should open the debug.log file. Copy the entire contents into a post here. If it does not fit, go to http://pastebin.com/, make a new paste, and post the link here.

Hello Knightdk,

With a little searching I found "application support", hidden folders..., there is nothing Bitcoin Core related in that folder.
So nothing to back up.

Multibit made me a backup file btw, called: wallet 12 backup.dat.

So there is an external hdd, it makes regular copies of the system.
How does this relate to none opening wallet?

which should be ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin

Unfortunately there is no such folder in Application Support named Bitcoin.
Now what to do?

I was not asked to where the files should be moved or in which data directory.

No, i did not reset options.
Only thing I did in between install and the failing wallet, was clean up desktop, by name.

Concerning posting the log file data here, I don't know what private data it holds, so i don't wanna put it online.
What to me looks like abracadabra could hold vital info.

No way I can reconnect the .dat wallet file back to the correct place on my mac?

[Omegasun]

Hello Bitcoin community,

I am totally new to Bitcoin and at the moment i am a bit shocked.

Recently I downloaded the Bitcoin Core wallet onto my Macbook and installed/synchronized all.
Received some coins in that wallet and closed it.

Opened the wallet next day again, and.... it's gone. no more BTC, no more transaction, no more address, all empty.
The wallet.dat file is still present but the wallet doesn't read the content of the wallet.dat file as it looks like.

I want my BTC to show up again.

Does anybody know how to put back a wallet.dat file in a Bitcoin Core wallet on a Macbook?

In my desktop there is now two files: wallet.dat and Wallet copy.dat?

How do I get this wallet to work again?

Help!!

do you try to synchronize your wallet?. many people complained about bitcoin core wallet. maybe you avoid to use that. there are so many online wallet out there. try coinbase , blockchain or xapo. they are trusted wallet

[Prutser112]

...
I have not a clue why Bitcoin Core put them there, I did not move them nor instruct to put them there.
Maybe somewhere is noted that this is my standard file location?
...

If you didn't put them there, where did you download Bitcoin Core?  Did someone else have access to the computer?

knightdk did a great job answering your questions and if you have downloaded the real version of Bitcoin Core, it behaves as he explained as to where it puts (or allows you to put) the wallet.dat.

I didnt put them there, maybe a setting in macbook?

Downloaded bitcoin core from bitcoin.org.
No one else has access to this pc.

Any idea how to get bitcoin core to recognize wallet content again?

[achow101]

which should be ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin

Unfortunately there is no such folder in Application Support named Bitcoin.
Now what to do?

Well that is a problem. That is the default data directory for Bitcoin, and when it first runs, it should make the folder there. However, because Bitcoin Core did run, that means that the data is going elsewhere.

Since you mentioned that the wallet.dat file was on your desktop, do you also see any folders named "blocks" "database" or "chainstate" on the desktop? Any files named peers.dat, banlist.dat, or debug.log? It may be possible that the desktop somehow became Bitcoin Core's data directory.

Concerning posting the log file data here, I don't know what private data it holds, so i don't wanna put it online.
What to me looks like abracadabra could hold vital info.

I guarantee you that the debug.log file contains absolutely no information that puts any of your Bitcoin at risk. It is intentionally designed to be shared with others in order to diagnose issues. The only "vital information" are the paths to the data directory and the wallet, which is what we are looking for right now. If you don't feel comfortable posting them publicly, feel free to PM me the file.

No way I can reconnect the .dat wallet file back to the correct place on my mac?

The issue is that we cannot do so without knowing the data directory. Right now the only way (that I can think of) to find the data directory is to use the debug.log file.

[cr1776]

Concerning posting the log file data here, I don't know what private data it holds, so i don't wanna put it online.
What to me looks like abracadabra could hold vital info.

I guarantee you that the debug.log file contains absolutely no information that puts any of your Bitcoin at risk. It is intentionally designed to be shared with others in order to diagnose issues. The only "vital information" are the paths to the data directory and the wallet, which is what we are looking for right now. If you don't feel comfortable posting them publicly, feel free to PM me the file.

This is correct.  The log file is innocuous. The private keys are the things you should never share with anyone and consequently you should never share the wallet.dat file with anyone.

[Shiroslullaby]

If you look at the forum, you can see knightdk helping a lot of people with technical issues.
I'm almost 100% sure he can be trusted.
The log file shouldn't show anything that would put your BTC at risk so I would definitely PM him the info if you need some additional help.

[Prutser112]

which should be ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin

Unfortunately there is no such folder in Application Support named Bitcoin.
Now what to do?

Well that is a problem. That is the default data directory for Bitcoin, and when it first runs, it should make the folder there. However, because Bitcoin Core did run, that means that the data is going elsewhere.

Since you mentioned that the wallet.dat file was on your desktop, do you also see any folders named "blocks" "database" or "chainstate" on the desktop? Any files named peers.dat, banlist.dat, or debug.log? It may be possible that the desktop somehow became Bitcoin Core's data directory.

Concerning posting the log file data here, I don't know what private data it holds, so i don't wanna put it online.
What to me looks like abracadabra could hold vital info.

I guarantee you that the debug.log file contains absolutely no information that puts any of your Bitcoin at risk. It is intentionally designed to be shared with others in order to diagnose issues. The only "vital information" are the paths to the data directory and the wallet, which is what we are looking for right now. If you don't feel comfortable posting them publicly, feel free to PM me the file.

No way I can reconnect the .dat wallet file back to the correct place on my mac?

The issue is that we cannot do so without knowing the data directory. Right now the only way (that I can think of) to find the data directory is to use the debug.log file.

Hello Knightdk,

There is also other folders on the desktop, Log files, debug.log, peers.dat.

I tried to post the content of the debug log file, it contains more then 64.000 characters and can't be posted for that reason.
(limitation to the forum software.)
How can I send the log file?

[achow101]

Hello Knightdk,

There is also other folders on the desktop, Log files, debug.log, peers.dat.

That should confirm my suspicion that the data directory is your desktop. That is a problem though and I still need to see the log.

I tried to post the content of the debug log file, it contains more then 64.000 characters and can't be posted for that reason.
(limitation to the forum software.)
How can I send the log file?

Go to http://pastebin.com/. Paste it into the box, click "create a new paste" and then share the link of that paste.

[Prutser112]

Hello Knightdk,

There is also other folders on the desktop, Log files, debug.log, peers.dat.

That should confirm my suspicion that the data directory is your desktop. That is a problem though and I still need to see the log.

I tried to post the content of the debug log file, it contains more then 64.000 characters and can't be posted for that reason.
(limitation to the forum software.)
How can I send the log file?

Go to http://pastebin.com/. Paste it into the box, click "create a new paste" and then share the link of that paste.

Hello Knightdk,

I send it to you by mail.

[achow101]

Hello Knightdk,

I send it to you by mail.

Got it.

So the data directory that Bitcoin Core is using (for some reason) is /Users/test/Desktop. This is where you should put your wallet.dat file. If you have multiple wallet.dat files, make sure that you use the one that has the older creation date as that should be the one with your Bitcoin.

I highly recommend that you copy the data directory files to the default directory. First, go to Settings > Options and then click Reset Options in Bitcoin Core. Then shut it down. Then copy the following folders and files from /Users/test/Desktop to /Users/test/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin:

Code:

blocks
chainstate
database
banlist.dat
bitcoin.conf
debug.log
db.log
peers.dat
wallet.dat

If some of those files don't exist, that is fine. The only files and folders that matter here are blocks and wallet.dat. If the Bitcoin folder doesn't exist, make it.

When you next start Bitcoin Core, it should be using the default data directory. To check if it is, open the debug.log file and look for the line with today's date and "Using data directory". The path listed should be the default one (/Users/test/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin)

[Prutser112]

Hello Knightdk,

I send it to you by mail.

Got it.

So the data directory that Bitcoin Core is using (for some reason) is /Users/test/Desktop. This is where you should put your wallet.dat file. If you have multiple wallet.dat files, make sure that you use the one that has the older creation date as that should be the one with your Bitcoin.

I highly recommend that you copy the data directory files to the default directory. First, go to Settings > Options and then click Reset Options in Bitcoin Core. Then shut it down. Then copy the following folders and files from /Users/test/Desktop to /Users/test/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin:

Code:

blocks
chainstate
database
banlist.dat
bitcoin.conf
debug.log
db.log
peers.dat
wallet.dat

If some of those files don't exist, that is fine. The only files and folders that matter here are blocks and wallet.dat. If the Bitcoin folder doesn't exist, make it.

When you next start Bitcoin Core, it should be using the default data directory. To check if it is, open the debug.log file and look for the line with today's date and "Using data directory". The path listed should be the default one (/Users/test/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin)

Thanks a lot, I am gonna give it a try.
Let you know if it works or if I fail.

[Prutser112]

Hello Knightdk,

I send it to you by mail.

Got it.

So the data directory that Bitcoin Core is using (for some reason) is /Users/test/Desktop. This is where you should put your wallet.dat file. If you have multiple wallet.dat files, make sure that you use the one that has the older creation date as that should be the one with your Bitcoin.

I highly recommend that you copy the data directory files to the default directory. First, go to Settings > Options and then click Reset Options in Bitcoin Core. Then shut it down. Then copy the following folders and files from /Users/test/Desktop to /Users/test/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin:

Code:

blocks
chainstate
database
banlist.dat
bitcoin.conf
debug.log
db.log
peers.dat
wallet.dat

If some of those files don't exist, that is fine. The only files and folders that matter here are blocks and wallet.dat. If the Bitcoin folder doesn't exist, make it.

When you next start Bitcoin Core, it should be using the default data directory. To check if it is, open the debug.log file and look for the line with today's date and "Using data directory". The path listed should be the default one (/Users/test/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin)

Hello Knightdk,

There is nowhere the file 'blocks' on my desktop? continue anyway?

[achow101]

Hello Knightdk,

There is nowhere the file 'blocks' on my desktop? continue anyway?

That is a problem, but sure, continue anyways. Did you happen to delete anything between the time when this problem happened and now?

[Prutser112]

Hello Knightdk,

There is nowhere the file 'blocks' on my desktop? continue anyway?

That is a problem, but sure, continue anyways. Did you happen to delete anything between the time when this problem happened and now?

No, nothing was deleted.
I just checked even my waste bin, no Blocks file there.

I try without blocks file.