Wallet file

How to restore wallet from a file? What type is the wallet file?!

You would see the wallet file as .dat extension. Usually, you can find it in the directory where you installed your software. Or usually in the APPDATA (if you are using windows)

Code:

\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Electrum\wallets (or %APPDATA%\Electrum\wallets)

Quote from: crwth on December 24, 2020, 11:08:59 AM

You would see the wallet file as .dat extension. Usually, you can find it in the directory where you installed your software. Or usually in the APPDATA (if you are using windows)

There's no extension for Electrum's wallet file.

For Windows:

The place where Electrum stores it's wallet file will depend on whether you're running it as a portable version or an executable/installer and if it's the former, the data folder should be stored in the same directory as your portable exe and the wallet files are inside the data folder.

If you want an easier way, go to File>Open and see the directory where the wallet files are stored. I would recommend for you to just back up the seed (if you want to save a backup) or to use File>Save Backup to backup the wallet file.

If you want to restore the wallet file, the initialization screen will give you a choice to create a new "Default_wallet" or choose your own wallet file.

Like ranochigo said, there is no extension to an Electrum wallet file. It's location depends on your OS, and which version of Electrum you used.

By default Electrum will name the first wallet created "default_wallet," the next will be named "wallet_1," then "wallet_2," so on and so forth. You can use your OS shell explorer to search for files with those names. Don't forget to search for hidden files.

If you installed Electrum on your system the files will be located in the following locations:

Windows: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Electrum\wallets
Mac: /Users/<user>/.electrum/wallets

Keep in mind if you are trying to import a wallet created in an old version of Electrum to a newer version, you will no longer be able to open the wallet file in the older version. Electrum updates the wallet that you import to the newest wallet version (currently 33 as I type this).

Simply by opening it using electrum.

What files and data do you have?
Do you have the actual wallet file? Do you have a password (if encrypted)? Do you have the mnemonic code (the 12 words)?

Quote from: Nacimix on January 06, 2021, 04:01:23 AM

I have .rar file to restore wallet from it ..should i use old version or must extract the .rar file?!

Extract it. Electrum has never used any compressed format to backup their wallet files. It should be backwards compatible, please download and verify the latest Electrum version before using it.

Quote from: Nacimix on January 06, 2021, 04:01:23 AM

I have .rar file to restore wallet from it ..should i use old version or must extract the .rar file?!

Since this happens regularly these days I have to point it out:
Did you compress this file yourself and does the wallet belong to you? Or did you download/buy this from someone on the internet promising you there is free money in it? If it is the later, I would be very careful since these things contain malware and are designed to steal your money not give you money!

Quote from: Nacimix on January 06, 2021, 04:01:23 AM

I have .rar file to restore wallet from it ..should i use old version or must extract the .rar file?!

The only way you can make a RAR file is if you installed and used WinRAR to compress your wallet.dat into an archive. Is this how you did it, or did you receive the RAR file through another way?

Is there only a wallet.dat inside or are there other miscellaneous files inside? Especially if there's a Windows installer or program in the archive.

If any of these tick yes then you may have actually downloaded malware and should delete it immediately for your system's safety.

Quote from: Nacimix on January 06, 2021, 04:01:23 AM

I have .rar file to restore wallet from it ..should i use old version or must extract the .rar file?!

You did buy that wallet, didn't you? Otherwise i wouldn't see any reason to compress the file.
Please note that every bought or downloaded wallet file is a scam. If you bought it for whatever reason, there is no BTC/money in it.

If it however is your wallet, i wonder why you ask whether to extract it..
Check the filetype inside and report back.. And if you found the wallet on the internet or received it from a stranger, delete it. It is either malware or just worthless to spend time on.

Quote from: bob123 on January 06, 2021, 11:27:13 AM

I spoke with OP on telegram he said that he downloaded it from somewhere, he didn't create it.

The rar file had two files inside one called old wallet and one called new wallet, and both files were created in 2019.

This case is closed, I believe these are fake wallets.

Quote from: NotATether on January 06, 2021, 06:11:05 PM

Quote from: bob123 on January 06, 2021, 11:27:13 AM

Ah so that's why he didn't reply to my comment above, I guessed correctly. You should have warned him about the possibility of his system being infected with some malware that he also downloaded alongside that file that could potentially steal any coins that he might have!

it's a plain text file containing json content. should be human readable using a plain text editor like notepad.

WTF is going on here, really? This isn't the only newbie account to show up in recent days to dump this "Can't open my wallet file" and then disappear. The .rar is a dead giveaway. Wallet.dat files aren't so large that people would need to compress them to back them, and then to use WinRAR is counter intuitive. Who's going to use non-open source compression to archive their bitcoin?

If any of these questions are from legitimate people, then they've either been scammed into buying a worthless wallet.dat file, or they've fallen victim to malware.

They dump this shitpost and we all run in trying to help this newbie and that newbie in an attempt to retrieve nothing. The only response this thread and any like it should get is "Don't download wallet.dat files form the internet! Nobody is giving away free money, you dumbass!"

Yes, I'm grumpy because I ran out of Copenhagen, and I've been too busy to run to the store. Angry