Update won't recognise seed

[Blowout]

I have just updated my computer and now i cannot get to my BTC . I had to reinstall electrum and now my wallet name is missing and it won't recognise seed.

The message is showing.......... "This wallet is watching - only. This means you will not be able to spend bitcoins with it. Make sure you own the seed phrase or the private keys, before you request Bitcoins to be sent to this wallet"

I can see my balance and it it correct but i just can't transfer them.

The seed isn't recognised and i didn't know anything about keys before i created this wallet although my password is still good.

I also know my wallet address. This can also be confirmed from the BTC exchange that the last BTC was sent from.

Are my BTC retrievable?

Thanks

[OmegaStarScream]

A watch-only wallet doesn't have a seed, so if you have one, just make a new wallet and follow these steps: https://bitcoinelectrum.com/restoring-your-standard-wallet-from-seed/

If you've already tried that before and you weren't able to click "next" on the 4th step, it means your seed is incorrect and sadly, without it, you can't retrieve your BTC.

[Blowout]

Is it possible to retrieve the seed from my hard drive using recover software? i still have all the files on the old hard drive but can't seem to find/ see the electrum app that was on the desktop that would open up with the original wallet.

Is is possible to recover all of the original electrum data and open my wallet as i do still have the original data.

[jackg]

What type of electrum install are you running? Is there a chance you've loaded the wrong type of application?

I'm guessing it's windows based on the update messing it up... Try going to:
%appdata%\roaming\electrum_data
And
%appdata%\local\electrum_data

And also check your downloads and documents folders. If you can find a wallets folder then it might be in there, you should be able to recognise it by name.

Edit: if you know where the file is, copy its name and the paths in the startup wizard and let it load from there...

[Blowout]

ok thanks i am using Catalina on iMac

[BitMaxz]

ok thanks i am using Catalina on iMac

For mac, I think you will need to go in this path ~/.electrum to find the wallet file. Check that folder and maybe your old wallet file with a different name is there.

Follow this method below to find the folder.

On Mac:

Open Finder
Go to folder (shift+cmd+G) and type ~/.electrum

Can you check your seed phrase and refer on this list https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt
Check the keyword/phrases and maybe one of the keywords is wrong spelling.

[DireWolfM14]

Is it possible to retrieve the seed from my hard drive using recover software? i still have all the files on the old hard drive but can't seem to find/ see the electrum app that was on the desktop that would open up with the original wallet.

Is is possible to recover all of the original electrum data and open my wallet as i do still have the original data.

If you still have the data on your old hard drive, you should be able to find your wallet file.  But you really really should back up the seed phrase off line, preferably written on a piece of paper and stored somewhere safe and secure.  Electronic data can be corrupted, physical hard drives are subject to failure, old passwords could be forgotten.  It's best to have a sure and reliable back up.

[Blowout]

Yes, i did and that's the problem, i have typed in the seed carefully and accurately and yet it refuses to recognise the seed.

I write down all the seeds to various other wallets etc I can prove by logging into various exchanges that the wallet and BTC belongs to me but i simply cannot move it.

[HCP]

I have just updated my computer and now i cannot get to my BTC . I had to reinstall electrum and now my wallet name is missing and it won't recognise seed.

Yes, i did and that's the problem, i have typed in the seed carefully and accurately and yet it refuses to recognise the seed.

I write down all the seeds to various other wallets etc I can prove by logging into various exchanges that the wallet and BTC belongs to me but i simply cannot move it.

Was the seed mnemonic (12 words) originally created in Electrum? Or did you get it from a different wallet originally (eg, multibitHD, Exodus, Jaxx, Coinomi, Mycelium etc) and then import it into Electrum?

If the seed was originally created by a wallet other than Electrum, you need to click the "Options" button on the seed entry screen and tick the "BIP39 seed" box.

[Blowout]

it was the original electrum seed that was made when the wallet was created.

[HCP]

it was the original electrum seed that was made when the wallet was created.

Then the logical conclusion is that you have transcribed the seed incorrectly. Either you have written down an incorrect word (quite easy to do given the similar words in the BIP39 wordlist like kid, kit, kite etc)... or you have words in the incorrect order (tends to occur more if you are writing them in multiple columns/rows as opposed to a single string of words)

Either that, or it simply wasn't an original Electrum seed.

You can either use the "seedrecover" functionality in the btcrecover package to try and find the incorrect word(s)... or you can try and recover your original wallet file from your other hard drive.

You would need to check in the "/home/USERNAME/.electrum" folder on the old drive for your wallet file.

[Blowout]

Thanks for that but i copy and pasted the seed in order to prevent any mistakes.

I will of course tinker with the seed words that could have an alternative spelling but i think there is probably some corruption at play here.

The seed was 100% electrum as i hadn't generated any other seed at that time.

Thank you for your suggestion using the seed recover option, i will certainly give it a go.

May thanks

[Blowout]

i took a look but it looks very complicated and i don't think i can recover the seed.

 I really wouldn't know where to start using the code suggested.   

I think im going to have to admit defeat. 

Thanks again

[HCP]

Thanks for that but i copy and pasted the seed in order to prevent any mistakes.

Just out of curiosity, how old is this Electrum seed? I can't think of any reason why a copy/pasted seed from Electrum would be rejected by Electrum.

I think im going to have to admit defeat. 

If you still have access to your old data, then you should be easily able to recover the wallet file.

If the amount "stuck" in your wallet is substantial, it would definitely be worth your while trying to get btcrecover working. It may look complicated, but it's not impossible. Someone could probably walk you through the steps of getting it setup and running.

Alternatively, do you have any trusted friends/associates who may be able to help?

[Blowout]

I only set this up less than a year ago.  The amount isn't a kings randsom , currently 0.030873 which equates to £209.00.

Sadly i don't know anyone that knows anything as highbrow as this stuff. i might enquire online locally and see if a Wizz might pop up but where i live  its very unlikely.!!

[jackg]

Yeah there's also a risk of getting scammed if you go to someone direct in person.

Did you find your ~/.electrum folder?

@HCP it's probably out of scope but there could be a chance a clipbload virus changed the seed or a chance of something else happening (i.e an old version of the wallet with some vulnerabilities or something)... A few words on the seed phrases might look similar if something like this is hurridly done, I've copied down a wrong word in the past...

[BitMaxz]

i took a look but it looks very complicated and i don't think i can recover the seed.

 I really wouldn't know where to start using the code suggested.   

I think im going to have to admit defeat. 

Thanks again

I have some question in my mind check below

Can you post the version of the Electrum that you reinstall?
Where did you download and how did you install the Electrum?
How many keywords/phrases in your seed backup?
Have you tried to search for a wallet file(usually default_wallet or wallet) on the entire drive?

Answer these questions will help us have the idea of how to fix your issue.

[Blowout]

I've used the wallet with out problem the whole time I've had it. The problem started last week when my iMac drive went sons and i did a fresh install . I backed up my drive beforehand and im currently in the process of restoring it. 
Im hoping i can restore the original app with the associated files and launch the app, and open the wallet with password. Wishful thinking huh?

I only ever downloaded the electrum app from the bonafide site and the app has updated once since with no problem. Downloaded file to computer and launched automatically , if that makes sense.

Te seed was a 12 word seed and im waiting for the deep scan to complete before i search for the recoverable files.

[jackg]

I've used the wallet with out problem the whole time I've had it. The problem started last week when my iMac drive went sons and i did a fresh install . I backed up my drive beforehand and im currently in the process of restoring it. 
Im hoping i can restore the original app with the associated files and launch the app, and open the wallet with password. Wishful thinking huh?

I only ever downloaded the electrum app from the bonafide site and the app has updated once since with no problem. Downloaded file to computer and launched automatically , if that makes sense.

Te seed was a 12 word seed and im waiting for the deep scan to complete before i search for the recoverable files.

Depending on what happened to the drive you probably can restore it if it wasn't a crash and was an IO error or something, it might be helpful to send it to adisk repairer but they'll probably charge you a similar amount to recover it (~£160 afaik - unless they've dramatically reduced their pricing).

If you can do it yourself then it's probably the best way tot go, remember to copy stuff across don't try editing things on the backup drive itself as that can cause a lot more problems for files in case they need to be recovered later on and you overwrite something while it's plugged in.

[BitMaxz]

I've used the wallet with out problem the whole time I've had it. The problem started last week when my iMac drive went sons and i did a fresh install . I backed up my drive beforehand and im currently in the process of restoring it. 
Im hoping i can restore the original app with the associated files and launch the app, and open the wallet with password. Wishful thinking huh?

You told us from the beginning that you just updated the computer. What exactly you did? You installed a fresh Mac OS or you did update the OS?

I only ever downloaded the electrum app from the bonafide site and the app has updated once since with no problem. Downloaded file to computer and launched automatically , if that makes sense.

What do you mean about bonafide site? Do you mean that you download the Electrum wallet from bonafide site?
If you did then you might be installed a fake Electrum wallet.

Te seed was a 12 word seed and im waiting for the deep scan to complete before i search for the recoverable files.

If you are sure that the backup 12 word seed is correct well, maybe the electrum is not compatible with the latest update of your OS.
Other Mac users experience different issues every time they update their Mac PC. So, it might be a compatibility issue.

Can you try to install an Electrum wallet on Windows OS or Linux based OS to test and import the 12-word seed and maybe it will work? If not maybe I am right that you've been installed a fake Electrum wallet.