Electrum 2FA problem

[bagongo]

Hello,

I am new to crypto world. Electrum is the first wallet I installed with my machine and I am experimenting with it.
When I installed my electrum wallet I am pretty sure I haven’t activated the 2FA mode, in fact I don’t have anything related with electrum on my authenticator.
So far I have used it only to deposit some BTC on it.
Now at my first to send some cash to an another wallet I am prompted to use my 2FA to procede with the transaction.
I don't have any way to autenticate so what should I do?
Restore from seed?
Should I try to install another electrum wallet from seed on other machine to preserve the one I already have on my machine to be safe?
Should I save my private key before restoring?

Thanks for the attention!

[Rath_]

What version of Electrum do you have?

When I installed my electrum wallet I am pretty sure I haven’t activated the 2FA mode, in fact I don’t have anything related with electrum on my authenticator.

You are probably referring to Google Authenticator. Electrum uses a third-party service - TrustedCoin for 2FA wallets.

Restore from seed? Should I try to install another electrum wallet from seed on other machine to preserve the one I already have on my machine to be safe? Should I save my private key before restoring?

There is no need to export anything or use a different computer. Try recovering your wallet using your seed. Use a different name for your new wallet file. It is very likely going to generate the same wallet. 2FA can't be disabled unless you have the second seed which should have been given to you when you were creating your 2FA wallet which you claim you hadn't chosen.

#Edit: Electrum derives 2 out of 3 private keys from the seed, so recovery might help. Sorry about that!

[bagongo]

What version of Electrum do you have?

Version 3.3.8

You are probably referring to Google Authenticator. Electrum uses a third-party service - TrustedCoin for 2FA wallets.

I am specifically prompted to insert my Google Authenticator code

Try recovering your wallet using your seed. Use a different name for your new wallet file. It is very likely going to generate the same wallet.

Do you mean I should create a new wallet within the application with seed original seed I have? Would this operation keep the former wallet I have on the app (to be safe)?


Thanks for your help!

[hosseinimr93]

Do you mean I should create a new wallet within the application with seed original seed I have? Would this operation keep the former wallet I have on the app (to be safe)?

Create a new wallet. Select "standard wallet" and then "I already have a seed". Enter you seed phrase. Since the seed you enter is related to a 2FA wallet, Electrum will ask you to keep the 2FA or disable it. If you select disable, you will have a new wallet with same addresses but without 2FA. All your balance will be shown in this wallet and you can easily spend your coins.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I am specifically prompted to insert my Google Authenticator code

That's right. Electrum would then send the code from Google Authenticator, along with your transaction, to Trusted Coin, who would also sign the transaction for you.

2FA can't be disabled unless you have the second seed which should have been given to you when you were creating your 2FA wallet which you claim you hadn't chosen.

That's not accurate. When you create a 2FA wallet with Electrum, you only generate a single seed. That seed is enough to recover your wallet entirely.

Do you mean I should create a new wallet within the application with seed original seed I have?

Create a new wallet, and name it something different to your current wallet. Select "Wallet with two-factor authentication", click next on the 2FA screen, select "I already have a seed", enter you seed, then choose to "Disable" your 2FA. Your wallet will be restored with 2 of the 3 private keys needed to sign transactions.

Once you've done this, it would be advisable to create a standard wallet without 2FA and send any funds from your disabled 2FA wallet to your standard wallet.


Beaten by hosseinimr93 while I was typing.

[bagongo]

Thank you all! It worked!

To be clear for anyone interested: you can go on and create a standard wallet AND seed with a 2FA wallet seed, then optionally disable the 2FA when asked if you want to do so.

Thanks again guys!

[HCP]

I highly recommend that you create a new standard wallet with a completely new seed but without 2FA and move all your funds from your restored 2FA wallet to the new wallet.

At present you restored wallet is technically a 2-of-3 multisig wallet, it's just that it now contains 2 lots of private keys so it can self-sign transactions without needing to use TrustedCoin. By creating a new "standard" wallet with a normal seed and moving your funds to it, you will prevent any issues that might arise in the future... such as requiring a specific private key for a specific address or the ability to properly sign messages etc... which will not be possible with the restored 2FA wallet.

[Abdussamad]

you will also save on transaction fees if you switch to a single sig standard wallet.