Backing up and restoring Electrum Portable

[Ultegra134]

Hello,
A few months ago, I mistakenly downloaded the portable version of Electrum, but never bothered to install the full version after noticing it. However, I'm about to switch my HDD to SSD, and I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to back up my wallet. I'm not exactly sure, thus, I don't want to make any mistakes and lead to loss of funds.

I've saved the 12-word mnemonic phrase, do I need anything else other than that in order to restore my wallet on a fresh Windows installation? Do I need any of the Electrum files?

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[hosseinimr93]

If you haven't extended your seed phrase (the series of 12 words) with extra words (passphrase), that's enough for recovering your wallet.
Note that the wallet file includes all your keys, but if you have the seed phrase (+ passphrase, if there's any), they all can be derived from your seed phrase and you don't need the wallet file for recovering the wallet.  

[Charles-Tim]

If you have your seed phrase, you have your fund (bitcoin). The 12 word seed phrase (including the passphrase if included when you generated the wallet) is enough to regenerate your keys and addresses. Once you reinstall another electrum wallet, and you import the seed phrase (and the passphrase if included), the wallet will sychronize with the blockchain, all your funds will be recovered and you will be able to spend it if you want.

[bitmover]

If you haven't extended your seed phrase (the series of 12 words) with extra words (passphrase), that's enough for recovering your wallet.

Just as hosseinimr93 pointed out  , the seed is all you need.

The safer and simpler approach is just to download a new wallet (any version you want) in electrum.org and restore the wallet using the seed phrase.

Just like this guide below:

https://bitcoinelectrum.com/restoring-your-standard-wallet-from-seed/

[Ultegra134]

Great! Many thanks to all of you for your assistance! By paraphrase, you are referring to the password I'm typing each time I open the wallet, right? I did Google how to restore the wallet, but I wanted to be 100% sure before I make any moves. It would really suck if I lost my funds like that.

Summarizing, I just enter my seed phrase, and I'm good to go.

[hosseinimr93]

By paraphrase, you are referring to the password I'm typing each time I open the wallet, right?

No, that's your password and is used for encrypting your keys locally. You don't need that password if you recover the wallet using your seed phrase.
Passphrase is different from password. Passphrase is extra words or characters added to the seed phrase. If you add a passphrase to your seed phrase, your wallet will generate entirely different keys.

In electrum, when you create a new wallet and generate a seed phrase, you can click on "Options" and check "Extend this seed with custom words" to add a passphrase to your seed phrase.
If you didn't do so when generating the wallet, there is no passphrase and the seed phrase is enough for recovering the wallet.

[Charles-Tim]

By paraphrase, you are referring to the password I'm typing each time I open the wallet, right?

No, that means you did not include passphrase (not paraphrase) when you created the wallet.

In Electrum, the passphrase is regarded as extended word. If you just want to create a new Electrum wallet, you will have the option to extend the seed with extra words, but it is optional. The extended word will lead to generation of different keys and addresses entirely, that is why it is mandatory while restoring/importing the wallet to include the passphrase.

[khaled0111]

Summarizing, I just enter my seed phrase, and I'm good to go.

Just to be 100% safe, create a new wallet and choose "I already have a seed", enter the 12 words you have and see if you will get the same wallet. If it's the same then you're good to go.
Alternatively, you can restore your wallet by using the wallet file and since you are using the portable version, it will be located on the same directory as the electrum .exe under electrum_data/wallets. You will need the encryption password to restore it.

[Abdussamad]

you can backup the wallet file via file menu >  save backup in electrum.  Later on the new installation you can open the wallet file via file > open or by clicking on the browse button in the starting window.

[Ultegra134]

By paraphrase, you are referring to the password I'm typing each time I open the wallet, right?

No, that's your password and is used for encrypting your keys locally. You don't need that password if you recover the wallet using your seed phrase.
Passphrase is different from password. Passphrase is extra words or characters added to the seed phrase. If you add a passphrase to your seed phrase, your wallet will generate entirely different keys.

In electrum, when you create a new wallet and generate a seed phrase, you can click on "Options" and check "Extend this seed with custom words" to add a seed phrase to your seed phrase.
If you didn't do so when generating the wallet, there is no passphrase and the seed phrase is enough for recovering the wallet.

By paraphrase, you are referring to the password I'm typing each time I open the wallet, right?

No, that means you did not include passphrase (not paraphrase) when you created the wallet.

In Electrum, the passphrase is regarded as extended word. If you just want to create a new Electrum wallet, you will have the option to extend the seed with extra words, but it is optional. The extended word will lead to generation of different keys and addresses entirely, that is why it is mandatory while restoring/importing the wallet to include the passphrase.

I understand now, I didn't enter a passphrase when generating the wallet, thus, I'll only need the seed phrase to restore my wallet. Thanks again!

you can backup the wallet file via file menu >  save backup in electrum.  Later on the new installation you can open the wallet file via file > open or by clicking on the browse button in the starting window.

Might try that one too, just in case it comes in handy.

Firstly, I'll try restoring the wallet in another PC I have, just to see how it works and make sure I do everything correctly.

Many thanks to all of you!

[khaled0111]

Firstly, I'll try restoring the wallet in another PC I have, just to see how it works and make sure I do everything correctly.

This is exactly what I've advised you to do in my previous reply and it's the easiest and safest way to verify that every thing is fine.
btw, you don't need to restore your wallet on another PC. You can use the same device and the same app to do that.

[Ultegra134]

Firstly, I'll try restoring the wallet in another PC I have, just to see how it works and make sure I do everything correctly.

This is exactly what I've advised you to do in my previous reply and it's the easiest and safest way to verify that every thing is fine.
btw, you don't need to restore your wallet on another PC. You can use the same device and the same app to do that.

Oh, I see, I didn't quite get it from your previous reply, that you meant that I could do it on my very own PC. I'll try it out tomorrow. My laptop is getting quite slow with the HDD and upgrading to an SSD is a must. Having no experience with such wallets (I've only used online ones before), makes me anxious not to mess anything up with the backup process.

It would suck to lose my BTC that way. Thanks again!

[nc50lc]

you can backup the wallet file via file menu >  save backup in electrum.  Later on the new installation you can open the wallet file via file > open or by clicking on the browse button in the starting window.

Might try that one too, just in case it comes in handy.

Actually, use that as your first option, next is the seed phrase.
Because the contacts, address & history labels, invoices and wallet-specific settings aren't backed-up by the seed.

Then copy it to "wallets" folder inside the default (non-portable) data directory: electrum.readthedocs.io - where-is-the-electrum-datadir-located

BTW, portable's data directory is in "electrum_data" folder where the executable (electrum-portable.exe) is located, in case you want to copy the config file and others.

[HCP]

I would agree with nc50lc... you should grab the wallet files from the "electrum_data" directory where you were running Electrum Portable and copy/use those after you migrate/update to the new setup.

The wallet file will contain a lot of information that is not able to be recovered with just the 12 word recovery seed such as custom labels on transactions and addresses and added addresses/contacts etc.

If you have issues with trying to use the wallet file, then you safe in the knowledge that you can use the 12 word seed to recover your funds

[Ultegra134]

Can't thank you enough for all your replies, backed up and restored my wallet using the wallet files named "Electrum Data". Also saved the 12 word seed phrase just in case something went wrong, but all went smoothly.

Thanks again!