Where to see the seed

[RobbDc]

Hi, I recently have some problems with Electrum. I created the account at 2017 and I dont remember the seed & words. I know through the folder of electrum I can search it, but I dont know how the folder its called. I need some help

[1714646284]

1714646284

[1714646284]

1714646284

[OmegaStarScream]

Open Electrum, go to menu -> wallet -> seed (as shown below). Type your password, and it should show. If you don't have the password either, there's no way to access your funds.

[RobbDc]

Open Electrum, go to menu -> wallet -> seed (as shown below). Type your password, and it should show. If you don't have the password either, you can't access the seed.

https://i.imgur.com/7g64Nfm.png

I cant enter into "Seed", it doesnt let me

[OmegaStarScream]

I cant enter into "Seed", it doesnt let me

Then you're not using a standard wallet. Is it a watch-only wallet by any chance? (it should show in the window's title) If so, there's no way to access your funds unless you have the original wallet file + password stored somewhere else.

[RobbDc]

I cant enter into "Seed", it doesnt let me

Then you're not using a standard wallet. Is it a watch-only wallet by any chance? If so, there's no way to access your funds unless you have the original wallet file + password stored somewhere else.

Watch only, I have the password and i dont know how to remove the "watch"

[PawGo]

Password is one thing - it is purely for Electrum, to allow access to wallet.
The main question is if you have wallet with private keys or not. If wallet is without private keys, you may only watch addresses. You need private keys to spend coins. If you do not have it - you do not have it and noone will be able to help you.
The question is also if wallet was generated by software or as a "front-end" to hardware wallet. Then of course you need the device to have access to private keys.

[Charles-Tim]

Watch only, I have the password and i dont know how to remove the "watch"

You imported the master public key or the address, that is why it is a watch-only wallet.

You can not be able to spend on the wallet unless you import the seed phrase or the private key. Your wallet has no private key generated but just the public key and/or the address, the reason you were unable to access the seed phrase.

[RobbDc]

Password is one thing - it is purely for Electrum, to allow access to wallet.
The main question is if you have wallet with private keys or not. If wallet is without private keys, you may only watch addresses. You need private keys to spend coins. If you do not have it - you do not have it and noone will be able to help you.
The question is also if wallet was generated by software or as a "front-end" to hardware wallet. Then of course you need the device to have access to private keys.

And there is no way to rescue the keys?

[Charles-Tim]

And there is no way to rescue the keys?

If you do not have the seed phrase or the private key, there is nothing you can do. Seed phrase and private key can not be generated from public key or address. Only public key and address can be generated from seed phrase or private key.

[Lucius]

@RobbDc, can you explain to us (if you remember) how you got to Electrum wallet in the first place? If you went the normal way, then you downloaded Electrum and created a wallet inside it, and then you got a seed of 12 words that you had to save. If by some chance you didn't do that, and you didn't even save the wallet files, then you actually have no way to get possession of your Bitcoins.

Try to remember if you saved your seed or private key - because even though there is a possibility that you didn't know what you were doing, that watch-only wallet must have been created on the basis of something. There is also the possibility that someone actually sold you only a Bitcoin address and convinced you that you have Bitcoin in something we call a watch-only wallet.

[jackg]

Also you might want to go to file > new/restore and open up the icon next to the suggested wallet name to open up the file explorer in the folder where your wallet was made. There's a chance the non watching only wallet was there and it's probably the most likely place it could be (aside from removable/backup devices you might've used). 

[RobbDc]

@RobbDc, can you explain to us (if you remember) how you got to Electrum wallet in the first place? If you went the normal way, then you downloaded Electrum and created a wallet inside it, and then you got a seed of 12 words that you had to save. If by some chance you didn't do that, and you didn't even save the wallet files, then you actually have no way to get possession of your Bitcoins.

Try to remember if you saved your seed or private key - because even though there is a possibility that you didn't know what you were doing, that watch-only wallet must have been created on the basis of something. There is also the possibility that someone actually sold you only a Bitcoin address and convinced you that you have Bitcoin in something we call a watch-only wallet.

This wallet I created in 2017. Then Im sure I copied the private keys but I think its saved in a hard drive that is broken.

[DireWolfM14]

Hi, I recently have some problems with Electrum. I created the account at 2017 and I dont remember the seed & words. I know through the folder of electrum I can search it, but I dont know how the folder its called. I need some help

Electrum will allow you to see the seed phrase only if it was generated by Electrum itself.  If you imported a Bip39 seed phrase that was generated by Blockchain.info, a hardware wallet, or some other desktop wallet, Electrum will not store the seed phrase (only the master private key) and therefor you will not be able to display the seed phrase.

At this point I suggest you create a new wallet, write down the seed phrase, store it someplace safe, then send all the funds from your old wallet to the new one.

Electrum has an indicator at the bottom right of the window which will let you know if you have an Electrum seed phrase or not:

[hosseinimr93]

At this point I suggest you create a new wallet, write down the seed phrase, store it someplace safe, then send all the funds from your old wallet to the new one.

OP is not able to make transaction from his/her wallet.
According to this post, the wallet he/she is talking about is watch-only.

To OP:
If it was possible to export the seed phrase from a watch-only wallet, then it wouldn't be watch-only.

[BitMaxz]

This wallet I created in 2017. Then Im sure I copied the private keys but I think its saved in a hard drive that is broken.

If your wallet is generated from the same pc would you mind to try to check the Electrum folder and look for wallet folder if there are two files or more inside that folder?

Because if there are two or more wallet file under that folder one of them is your wallet that is not watch-only wallet. You can reopen it with your Electrum wallet and I hope thats the wallet you are looking for.

[nc50lc]

-snip-
This wallet I created in 2017. Then Im sure I copied the private keys but I think its saved in a hard drive that is broken.

Watch only, I have the password and i dont know how to remove the "watch"

Watching-only wallets from 2017 can't be encrypted since the password option wont be prompted during wallet creation and the password menu was grayed-out.
It was only added in version 3.1.0  (March 5, 2018). Unless for a reason I wont tell yet, because you might just say "yes I did that"

Perhaps you're talking about "address" instead of "wallet"?

[RobbDc]

Hi guys. I achieved entering the hard drive where the original wallet was created in 2017. Im trying to open the Electrum exe but when I put the password it tolds me: "Cannot create window for wallet: not enough values to unpack (expected 3, got 1)

[nc50lc]

Hi guys. I achieved entering the hard drive where the original wallet was created in 2017. Im trying to open the Electrum exe but when I put the password it tolds me: "Cannot create window for wallet: not enough values to unpack (expected 3, got 1)

You seem to have launched an old version of Electrum (with this bug) and accidentally corrupted the wallet that it opened.
Luckily, I think it's just your watching-only wallet since the issue shouldn't occur if it's the old wallet because it should has the same seed version.

Now, before trying anything, backup your wallet file in case something went wrong.
You can find the wallet in "wallets" folder inside Electrum's data directory (wallet/datadir location)
If that old drive is just mounted to another PC, search from that drive letter instead of C:

Note: Your actual wallet isn't electrum.exe but a file inside Electrum's data directory.
It's default name is "default_wallet" or "wallet_1", "wallet_2"... unless you've specified a specific name.

Then, open a copy of the wallet backup using the new/latest version of Electrum (not the old Electrum.exe from your old hard drive).

[Pmalek]

This wallet I created in 2017. Then Im sure I copied the private keys but I think its saved in a hard drive that is broken.

Now that you have access to the old hard drive from 2017, can you search if you saved the private keys or the seed somewhere on it? Do you remember if you saved that data somewhere digitally on the old hard drive? If you are lucky and you manage to retrieve your keys, ensure that in the future you always write down recovery phrases physically on paper to avoid situations like the one you are currently in.

Hi guys. I achieved entering the hard drive where the original wallet was created in 2017. Im trying to open the Electrum exe...

Forget about the installed software, you don't need it. You need the correct wallet file. nc50lc explained to you how to look for it.

[Husna QA]

This wallet I created in 2017. Then Im sure I copied the private keys but I think its saved in a hard drive that is broken.

Now that you have access to the old hard drive from 2017, can you search if you saved the private keys or the seed somewhere on it? Do you remember if you saved that data somewhere digitally on the old hard drive? If you are lucky and you manage to retrieve your keys, ensure that in the future you always write down recovery phrases physically on paper to avoid situations like the one you are currently in.

Hopefully, the Electrum wallet file and the seed phrase/private key stored on the hard drive are not corrupt. So it's easier to recover to a new wallet.
However, if the file is unreadable or non-existent, may OP can try to use a tool to recover data, such as Runtime GetDataBack or other software.

Hi guys. I achieved entering the hard drive where the original wallet was created in 2017. Im trying to open the Electrum exe...

Forget about the installed software, you don't need it. You need the correct wallet file. nc50lc explained to you how to look for it.

Even, Electrum older than 3.3.4 (February 13, 2019) are not recommended for use anymore.

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.