Transfer Electrum Wallet from Laptop to PC

[hughesie27]

So I created a Wallet using Electrum in 2017 on my old laptop. I wanted to be able to access this wallet on ym new build Pc however after installing Electrum and logging in it pops up with a dialog box saying

"This wallet is watching-only. This means you will not be able to spend Bitcoins with it. Make sure you own the seed phrase or the private keys, before you request Bitcoins to be sent to this wallet."

Any idea how I can get full access to my BTC on it?

Thanks.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Any idea how I can get full access to my BTC on it?

Did you write the seed phrase back in 2017? Once you created it, 4 years ago, it should have given you 12 words to write down. If you haven't written them, is your old laptop still working and having Electrum installed?

The warning it popped you, means that you imported the addresses and not their private keys. If you don't have the private key(s) neither a seed phrase you can't have access to your money.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Is the wallet on your old laptop watch only as well, or are you able to make transactions and spend coins from this wallet normally?

How did you transfer the wallet to your new computer? Did you simply copy the wallet file across, did you recover from a seed phrase, did you copy individual keys or addresses, or something else?

[hugeblack]

So I created a Wallet using Electrum in 2017 on my old laptop. I wanted to be able to access this wallet on ym new build Pc however after installing Electrum and logging in it pops up with a dialog box saying

If you were the one who created this wallet, look at the history of transactions and try to remember where you put your 12 words wallet seed, because most often those who use watch-only wallet have knowledge of the importance of keeping the private key.
If you find this wallet, then it is likely that the user keeps the private key, try to find out.

Generally no one can help you. Find your wallet seed and do not share them with anyone.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

"This wallet is watching-only. This means you will not be able to spend Bitcoins with it. Make sure you own the seed phrase or the private keys, before you request Bitcoins to be sent to this wallet."

You restored the wallet using the bitcoin address you had but not with the private key. Try remembering a set of words (12 words) that Electrum asked you to save so that you can restore your wallet. You need those set of words or your coins are gone.

If you have the wallet file then use the file to restore the wallet in the new device.

[khaled0111]

If you still have access to your old wallet (the one on your laptop, open it and from the menu bar select: Wallet -> Seed
From the "Electrum-Seed" popup window, copy the 12 words phrase (it's your wallet seed) then choose a password to protect and encrypt your restored wallet.

Open Electrum on your new device, from the menu bar select: File -> New/Restore, an Install Wizard will show up, follow these steps to restore your wallet:  Enter a wallet name, choose "Standard Wallet", "I already have a seed" then paste the 12 words you copied earlier.

[hughesie27]

If you still have access to your old wallet (the one on your laptop, open it and from the menu bar select: Wallet -> Seed
From the "Electrum-Seed" popup window, copy the 12 words phrase (it's your wallet seed) then choose a password to protect and encrypt your restored wallet.

Open Electrum on your new device, from the menu bar select: File -> New/Restore, an Install Wizard will show up, follow these steps to restore your wallet:  Enter a wallet name, choose "Standard Wallet", "I already have a seed" then paste the 12 words you copied earlier.

So in reply to the above messages and this one specifically I do still have access to the original wallet on the laptop and it does not come up with the dialog box when I open it. I also still have my seed phrase which I used following the above steps, however it still pops up on my PC with the dialog box...

Seems like I am missing a step where I can authenticate my PC as being the 'primary' location for the wallet?

[hughesie27]

I found this...
https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/coldstorage.html

The steps it suggests I take to create a Watch Only wallet seem very similar to those advised above, except instead of using a master key I used my seed phrase.

There are instructions for creating an 'Offline' Wallet. Is this what I am after?

[ranochigo]

There are instructions for creating an 'Offline' Wallet. Is this what I am after?

No. It imports your master public key into the wallet which makes it a watch-only wallet and you unable to spend the funds.

I'm not sure how you're generating a watch-only wallet if you're entering the seed, there isn't any type of seed that would specifically give you a watch-only wallet. As for the wallet on your old computer, do you see a germinated seed at the bottom right? If so, can you click on it and see your seed phrase?

[khaled0111]

By creating a watching-only wallet you can onky monitor your imported addresses activity or create unsigned transactions. You can't spend your funds.
Can you explain more what's the problem you've faced when you imported the seed?
You can also try to restore your wallet by importing the wallet file. This is the default path on windows:
\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Electrum\wallets

[nc50lc]

Any idea how I can get full access to my BTC on it?

-snip-
Seems like I am missing a step where I can authenticate my PC as being the 'primary' location for the wallet?

I think this is where your confusion is.
Electrum and all non-custodial Bitcoin wallets doesn't work like accounts, your wallet simply contains the "private keys" that can spend your coins in the Blockchain.
So by simply copying the wallet file or restoring the seed phrase, you basically copied your wallet from your old laptop to the new PC, both has access to your coins, there's no "primary" wallet.

I'd suggest to copy the wallet file (location in the post above, same name as what you can see in the title bar of Electrum)
so your labels, contacts and other info that's not backup by the seed will be copied as well, then replace (or delete) the watch-only wallet so it wont cause you problems in the future

[Husna QA]

-snip- You can also try to restore your wallet by importing the wallet file. This is the default path on windows:
\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Electrum\wallets

Additional information, importing this wallet can be done from the same version of Electrum or an old version to the latest version. If from the new version to the old version, it may not work, and a notification appears as shown in the following screenshot:

So I created a Wallet using Electrum in 2017 on my old laptop. I wanted to be able to access this wallet on ym new build Pc however after installing Electrum and logging in it pops up with a dialog box saying -snip-

What version of Electrum are you using on your old laptop and your new PC?
If you have a seed from Electrum on your old laptop, the explanation from khaled0111 should be clear enough.

[hughesie27]

I tinkered a little more this morning and seemed to get it working. Basically totally uninstalled electrum on the new PC along with the wallet data. Started fresh and hey presto. It works!

Thanks, for your help everyone. Much appreciated.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I tinkered a little more this morning and seemed to get it working. Basically totally uninstalled electrum on the new PC along with the wallet data. Started fresh and hey presto. It works!

In that case, it sounds like your Electrum install was automatically opening a different wallet file when you started it, instead of the wallet file you had recovered from your seed phrase, since you cannot create a watch only wallet from your seed phrase. It's important to realize that Electrum can create as many different wallets on your computer as you like, all accessed from the same piece of Electrum software. The folder all these wallets are stored in by default depends on your OS: https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html#datadir. If you click "File -> Open", it will open this folder and allow you to pick a different wallet to open. If you run in to problems again, make sure you are opening the correct wallet file.

[hughesie27]

I tinkered a little more this morning and seemed to get it working. Basically totally uninstalled electrum on the new PC along with the wallet data. Started fresh and hey presto. It works!

In that case, it sounds like your Electrum install was automatically opening a different wallet file when you started it, instead of the wallet file you had recovered from your seed phrase, since you cannot create a watch only wallet from your seed phrase. It's important to realize that Electrum can create as many different wallets on your computer as you like, all accessed from the same piece of Electrum software. The folder all these wallets are stored in by default depends on your OS: https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html#datadir. If you click "File -> Open", it will open this folder and allow you to pick a different wallet to open. If you run in to problems again, make sure you are opening the correct wallet file.

Yeah I think you may be right there. I've created a new wallet and can seem them both in the Electrum folder. Will delete the one that is empty.