Watching-only wallet on Electrum using Ledger Nano S

[Maus0728]

Greetings,

Is there any way to create a watching-only wallet on Electrum without plugging in the Ledger Nano S. It is quite difficult to always plug in the Ledger Nano if you just wanted to view the transaction and the addresses of your account. I've also researched some similar guide regarding this.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/comments/7wepo2/watchingonly_on_electrum_w_segwit/ - I've tried this but there is option showing "no" button

[2] https://bitcoinelectrum.com/creating-a-watch-only-wallet/ - I think this possible if I will just plug in the Ledger and get the MPK from Wallet Menu => Wallet information and then create another standard wallet and open it using only master key.

Just want to confirm this is the correct way if it involves a hardware wallet.

[Chikito]

Watching-only wallet for only see your Bitcoin balance right?. you can do without electrum or your ledger, only need xpub key or you can insert bitcoin address only. you must learn and use https://www.blockonomics.co , just sign up your email to notify you when received or withdraw your Bitcoin, and for sure that website doesn't need your mnemonic seed and private key.

[NeuroticFish]

Just want to confirm this is the correct way if it involves a hardware wallet.

As long as you re-create from the master public key, you are doing it correctly.
Your [2] looks very good to me.

Also if you want to just check the balances, a very easy approach is on your phone, at least if it's Android.
Install Mycelium, plug in the Ledger to have your wallet in, then you'll have the option to check the balance whenever you want without the hardware wallet on your phone. Of course, you'll be able to spend only with the Ledger connected again.

[o_e_l_e_o]

[2] https://bitcoinelectrum.com/creating-a-watch-only-wallet/ - I think this possible if I will just plug in the Ledger and get the MPK from Wallet Menu => Wallet information and then create another standard wallet and open it using only master key.

Yes. As NeuroticFish has said, this method will work.

Note that if you import using an extended public key, your watch only wallet will only be able to view the addresses from that specific account - you can't add additional addresses or extended public keys from other accounts. If you have different accounts using different derivation paths, or if you have separate P2WPKH and P2SH-P2WPKH accounts, for example, then you will need to create a separate watch only wallet for each account using each account's individual extended public key.

If, on the other hand, you import individual address rather than an extended public key, you can import addresses from different accounts, different derivation paths, and even different address types, all to the same watch only wallet. This is a good solution if you have a small number of addresses across multiple accounts you want to watch, but since you aren't importing an extended public key, the watch only wallet will be unable to generate additional addresses. Any new addresses you use which you want to watch will need to be added to the watch only wallet manually.

[Lucius]

Maus0728, perhaps the simplest way to have complete insight into your transactions and balance is to use Ledger Live (for desktop & mobile). That way you can always see the current state of your wallets without using Nano S. Ledger Live actually acts as a watch-only wallet until you connect your Nano S to make a transaction, add/remove app or firmware upgrade. Of course when it comes to privacy, there is a password option so no one but you can open Ledger Live.

I personally use Electrum as UI with my Nano S/X, and Ledger Live as a watch-only wallet.

[Hateculd75]

Electrum use is not an advantage when trying to import a watch-only wallet because the wallet focuses more on security than the interface, notifications.

Open the Ledger Wallet Chrome bitcoin app
Click on your account, it’s called “My account” by default
Click ”Account Settings” in the top right corner.
Click “Export” next to “Extended public key” (xpub)
now you can use Sentinel or any app to scan that QRCode

[o_e_l_e_o]

Open the Ledger Wallet Chrome bitcoin app

Support for the Chrome apps has been discontinued for a long time. They do not work with any firmware versions since 1.5.5 which was released in January 2019, and they hadn't been actively developed for months before that. Using them means you are exposing yourself to risks and vulnerabilities in their code, and also exposing yourself to risks and vulnerabilities by using old firmware on your hardware device. This is not a recommended approach.

You can get your extended public key from Ledger Live by opening the relevant account, clicking on the "Edit account" icon in top right, and clicking on "Advanced Logs".

[HCP]

By design, any wallet created for a hardware wallet in Electrum is a "watching-only" wallet, as they do NOT contain any private keys. The issue you are running into is the wallet file being encrypted using the hardware wallet device as the "key".

During Wallet creation in Electrum (Standard Wallet -> Use a hardware device etc), simply UNCHECK the "Encrypt Wallet File" option:



This will allow you to open the wallet file WITHOUT the device being connected and unlocked. You'll be able to view addresses/balances etc... you just won't be able to send any transactions/sign any messages.