Currently trying to recover an Electrum wallet and am stuck on synchronizing

[mtv48]

I installed Electrum portable on 3.2.2 (the same version my old wallet was on as I was told to do on a video) and entered my seed. I created a new password and it seemed to go fine. But in my wallet, it just says synchronizing in the bottom left, and nothing is being displayed. What's the problem here?

[1714216497]

1714216497

[1714216497]

1714216497

[1714216497]

1714216497

[1714216497]

1714216497

[NathanielParker]

new password can be created??? I thought only private keys are valid.

[mtv48]

I don't really know, I'm very new to this. I set up this wallet years ago. Most of the videos and guides I came across just said to create a new wallet, select "I have a seed.", put in the seed and you were able to create whatever password.

[OcTradism]

I installed Electrum portable on 3.2.2 (the same version my old wallet was on as I was told to do on a video) and entered my seed.

Electrum.

You must visit their official website, and the download to get link and download it.
https://electrum.org/#download

At the top, you have a warning

Warning: Electrum versions older than 3.3.4 are susceptible to phishing. Do not download Electrum from another source than electrum.org, and learn to verify GPG signatures.

Latest release: Electrum-4.0.9

So yeah the version you are using is susceptible to phishing as the warning displays.

You also misunderstood that if you have private key, you are the owner of your bitcoin, and can import it to any later version of Electrum or even in other wallets.
Now, download the newest versio 4.0.9 and Verify it (if you are careful).

I created a new password and it seemed to go fine.

Password is to protect your wallet file, and the private key that is stored inside. In other words, password prevent hackers to have access to your private key. If you or hacker have private key, password is not needed to move bitcoin from that wallet.

But in my wallet, it just says synchronizing in the bottom left, and nothing is being displayed. What's the problem here?

Is your wallet synced yet?

Synchronization icon:
- Red: no connection
- Recycle Arrow: is sycning
- Green: completely synced.
What do you have now?

[yhiaali3]

I think you should download the latest version of Electrum wallet: Electrum-4.0.9, the version you are using is old and it could put you at risk, if it does not sync automatically I think there is a problem connecting to the automatic server and you have to change to another server manually. From the list, you can try multiple servers and choose the one that's right for you.

[MusaMohamed]

Guide to verify Electrum wallet with Windows and Mac.

Other guides
https://bitcoinelectrum.com/how-to-verify-your-electrum-download/
https://bitzuma.com/posts/how-to-verify-an-electrum-download-on-windows/

Don't trust those writers and get PGP key of ThomasV from https://electrum.org/#download

Sources and executables are signed by ThomasV.

[Kakmakr]

It is very important that you download the latest version of the Electrum wallet, because there was previous versions where the hackers figured out that they could direct you to their own "hijacked" servers and then it did something similar to what you are experiencing. (Servers not syncing) ....because these hackers just gathered data... it was not actual servers. (DO NOT click on "There is a new update available" popup.. that was also hijacked in previous old versions.)

This problem was fixed in the latest updated versions of the Electrum wallet. ( I am not going to give you the official links again, because it was posted in the thread already)  

[joniboini]

Might be a good practice to check out if there's any update to the software that you're using to manage your crypto, especially if the last time you check was a few years ago. Learning how to verify files and signature is also good for you.

Not only on Electrum or Bitcoin wallet software but everything. Attackers are doing lots of things from phishing to sending you fake software every now and then.

[kryptqnick]

I installed Electrum portable on 3.2.2 (the same version my old wallet was on as I was told to do on a video) and entered my seed. I created a new password and it seemed to go fine. But in my wallet, it just says synchronizing in the bottom left, and nothing is being displayed. What's the problem here?

I'm not an expert in this, but I have a friend who uses Linux, and sometimes he gets these moments of eternal synchronization. I think the others are right, though, that downloading the latest version of the Electrum wallet should help. My friend recently had this old Electrum wallet which was synchronizing forever, so I installed the newest Electrum wallet onto my computer, entered his seed, unlocked the wallet and the balance was right there without any issues.
Don't give your seed phrase to anyone, though. This way this person can just get your money and steal it without much effort.
But the newest Electrum should work. Just make sure you have the seed phrase, and you can recover the funds.

[pooya87]

I'm not an expert in this, but I have a friend who uses Linux, and sometimes he gets these moments of eternal synchronization.

there shouldn't be any issues synchronizing Electrum wallets as long as they are updated to versions above 3.3.4 (OP also has an old version that can never sync). If they are using the latest version and still facing an issue, then your friend should open a new issue on GitHub reporting the problem so that the developers can fix it, instead of jut ignoring it.