"Not enough funds" but i have funds!

[lsdig]

Hi there,

I have always used the same wallet within Electrum normally for years. Today I decided to create a new wallet for my ecommerce and then updated my Electrum to the latest version (4.0.9 Mac OSX). I don't know if one of these two processes affected something, but now I cant send ANY amount of bitcoin to any address, it says "Not enough funds", but I am trying to send only something like 0.0001 BTC and my balance is something like 0.2 BTC (even if I put 0.000001 BTC there, it says the same thing), so I am sure that fees aren't the problem. I have read everything about it, i don't have any frozen coins or frozen addresses, the units are ok (BTC) and everything is ok, all the same I always did.

The only different thing is that I have sent 0.001 BTC three days ago and still had no confirmations. But I don't think that this could be related to the problem.

Oh, and after I created the new wallet for my ecommerce, I shared it's Public Key with Blockonomics, which is the platform that handles the payment module inside my shop. But again I don't think that this could be related, because public keys are securely shareable.

Does anyone have any idea what could be happening???

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[crwth]

Can you see the actual transaction transmitted? You can check if it can be searched by a blockchain explorer. If it's not, then it can be a software problem.

If it is, you might have that 0.2 BTC in a single address then when you sent that 0.001 BTC three days ago, it should have sent another ~0.199BTC to a change address that still isn't confirmed yet. That's probably why it's saying you don't have enough balance. It's still not confirmed because of the transaction you sent.

This is what I think might have happened.

[lsdig]

Can you see the actual transaction transmitted? You can check if it can be searched by a blockchain explorer. If it's not, then it can be a software problem.

If it is, you might have that 0.2 BTC in a single address then when you sent that 0.001 BTC three days ago, it should have sent another ~0.199BTC to a change address that still isn't confirmed yet. That's probably why it's saying you don't have enough balance. It's still not confirmed because of the transaction you sent.

This is what I think might have happened.

Oh, I see, thank you very much!! Yes, I can see it transmitted in the blockchain.

Can I "cancel" this stuck transaction or something?? I have being trading btc for years, but i never paid attention to this "change address", i am not even sure what that is. So I just need to wait?? What if this transaction is never confirmed?

[crwth]

Can I "cancel" this stuck transaction or something?? I have being trading btc for years, but i never paid attention to this "change address", i am not even sure what that is. So I just need to wait?? What if this transaction is never confirmed?

I have read before that you can by sending the same transaction with a higher fee instead. I haven't tried this but I wouldn't suggest it though. I'm not sure if it can work. I just remember what I read from way before.

For the change address, Electrum has already generated a couple of change addresses for you. If you check the Addresses tab, you could see there Receiving and Change. The change is usually for getting that extra BTC from your initial wallet.

Example:
Your initial address, let's call it Addy1 has a balance of 0.2 BTC and you are going to send 0.001 Addy2
Sending that would in a single TX sending your 0.2 BTC all to the Addy2, which you shouldn't want so it would have another output for the "change"
Two outputs would be generated, the 0.001 BTC to Addy2 and the remainder of it from 0.2 BTC is ~0.199 BTC (less fees) would be sent to your ChangeAddy1

unless you have changed settings in your software, it usually works like this.

It will get confirmed eventually but it could take a longer time. The longest that I have experienced is around a week before getting confirmed. I think your still okay.

[lsdig]

Can I "cancel" this stuck transaction or something?? I have being trading btc for years, but i never paid attention to this "change address", i am not even sure what that is. So I just need to wait?? What if this transaction is never confirmed?

I have read before that you can by sending the same transaction with a higher fee instead. I haven't tried this but I wouldn't suggest it though. I'm not sure if it can work. I just remember what I read from way before.

For the change address, Electrum has already generated a couple of change addresses for you. If you check the Addresses tab, you could see there Receiving and Change. The change is usually for getting that extra BTC from your initial wallet.

Example:
Your initial address, let's call it Addy1 has a balance of 0.2 BTC and you are going to send 0.001 Addy2
Sending that would in a single TX sending your 0.2 BTC all to the Addy2, which you shouldn't want so it would have another output for the "change"
Two outputs would be generated, the 0.001 BTC to Addy2 and the remainder of it from 0.2 BTC is ~0.199 BTC (less fees) would be sent to your ChangeAddy1

unless you have changed settings in your software, it usually works like this.

It will get confirmed eventually but it could take a longer time. The longest that I have experienced is around a week before getting confirmed. I think your still okay.

Now I got this, you're amazing, thanks!!  When I created the new wallet for my ecommerce it was different, there was dozens of receiving and change addresses... but my original wallet (the one with 0.2 BTC) has only one address (a receiving address), nothing more, and it's being like this for years.

I will try another software. Just installed Exodus here, but when trying to import my private keys, it asks to "sweep" the wallet and I not sure what sweep is. Will my funds be transferred to a new wallet in Exodus, or will i still have my old wallet and address loaded on Exodus? Can I "sweep" without fear??

[DireWolfM14]

You should be able to do what you need to in Electrum.  As long you don't have Electrum set to send only confirmed transactions, you should be able to create another transaction before the other is confirmed.  In the Electrum menu click on Tools>Preferences, the make sure the box next "Spend only confirmed coins" is unselected.

Create a new transactions, and increase the fees to something more than the previous transaction.  CPFP should help the first transaction get confirmed faster.

[lsdig]

You should be able to do what you need to in Electrum.  As long you don't have Electrum set to send only confirmed transactions, you should be able to create another transaction before the other is confirmed.  In the Electrum menu click on Tools>Preferences, the make sure the box next "Spend only confirmed coins" is unselected.

Create a new transactions, and increase the fees to something more than the previous transaction.  CPFP should help the first transaction get confirmed faster.

Oh, great, I can do a new transaction now, thanksss a lot!!! I just unchecked the mentioned box and now I am able to make new transactions..... now I have another question: should I use the "Combine" button?? If so, "merge signatures from" or "join outputs/inputs"

[DireWolfM14]

I have another question: should I use the "Combine" button?? If so, "merge signatures from" or "join outputs/inputs"

If you have multiple unconfirmed transactions you can do that.  It won't matter if you only have one.

[lsdig]

Ok, thank you very much you all, problem solved!!!

So, if someone is having the same problem, just uncheck the "Spend only confirmed coins" box in Tool > Preferences > Transactions. But be sure to have sufficient funds.

[Coining26]

I did everything as instructed and it's still saying I don't have enough funds.

[BitMaxz]

I did everything as instructed and it's still saying I don't have enough funds.

Sometimes it happens if you only have a small amount of BTC in your wallet and all transaction you made cover only the transaction fee(the fee might be huge than the amount you are trying to send).

Can you tell us the address where your BTC funds are saved? Or if you care about your privacy you can PM me the address and I will let you know after I check the address if the wallet has enough funds to send a BTC.

[nc50lc]

I did everything as instructed and it's still saying I don't have enough funds.

I suggest you to create your own thread and include more information so people wont have to guess what's the issue.
You can go to Electrum board: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=98.0, then click the small-blue "new topic" button at the right side of the page.

For the info that should be included: you can follow this thread's instructions: [READ BEFORE POSTING] Tech Support Help Request Format

To get you started: Sometimes, if it isn't a local transaction in the history or the misunderstanding the mBTC/BTC units,
it may be caused by frozen coins or addresses.
So check for local transaction in the history tab, and try to delete it;
or check the coins/addresses tab ("View->Show Coins/Addresses" to enable the tabs), if there are blue-highlighted addresses, those are frozen.
You can right-click and select "Unfreeze Address/Coin" to unfree it.

[HCP]

I did everything as instructed and it's still saying I don't have enough funds.

This is not a very useful description of your particular issue.

I suggest you follow nc50lc's suggestion and create your own thread with a good description of the exact problem, the steps you take, the errors/messages you are getting, and anything you have already tried to rectify the solution.

Additionally, include your Operating System and the exact version number of Electrum you are using.

[NotATether]

I did everything as instructed and it's still saying I don't have enough funds.

Could it be that you have all your BTC contained entirely in one address, which is involved in an outgoing unconfirmed transaction?

Inputs tied up in a sending unconfirmed transaction can't be used in other transactions until it's confirmed, so if that's your situation you should work on getting all your sending transactions confirmed first, or go to the Preferences > Transactions and check uncheck "Spend Only Confirmed Coins". This should let you make transactions, but they'll all be dependent on the other sending transaction to get confirmed first.

Receiving transactions that you didn't initiate shouldn't tie up an address' coins, since those will create new outputs in your wallet.

[Abdussamad]

I did everything as instructed and it's still saying I don't have enough funds.

Could it be that you have all your BTC contained entirely in one address, which is involved in an outgoing unconfirmed transaction?

Inputs tied up in a sending unconfirmed transaction can't be used in other transactions until it's confirmed, so if that's your situation you should work on getting all your sending transactions confirmed first, or go to the Preferences > Transactions and check "Spend Only Confirmed Coins". This should let you make transactions, but they'll all be dependent on the other sending transaction to get confirmed first.

Receiving transactions that you didn't initiate shouldn't tie up an address' coins, since those will create new outputs in your wallet.

uncheck rather than check that option.

spending unconfirmed outputs will be a form of cpfp. it might speed up confirmation.

anyone else facing this issue should see this faq which covers other possibilities: https://bitcoinelectrum.com/frequently-asked-questions/#why-am-i-being-told-that-i-have-insufficient-funds