Can't open/find Electrum app in Windows a year+ after installation

[JosN]

This is a beginner question, sorry people.

A few years ago I installed the Electrum wallet for Windows.
It worked fine, I transfered some BTC to it and left it alone.

Now, when I type 'Electrum' in the Windows search bar, Electrum doesn't appear.

I did find the Program Files, for example: electrum-4.2.2.exe... I clicked on it but nothing happens.

Any ideas? Is it safe to de-install and re-install?

Thanks,

Jos

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[OmegaStarScream]

If you don't have the seed phrase to recover the wallet, then I would suggest you try to visit this in your file explorer and see if you can find any wallets in this folder:

%appdata%/Electrum/wallets

And if you do have the seedphrase, then it doesn't matter. You can just go to Electrum's official website, download the latest version, install it and then use the seedphrase to recover your wallet.

[JosN]

Thanks, yes, I do have the seedphrase of course :-)
I'll try and de-/re-install this afternoon.

Thanks,
Jos

[Charles-Tim]

Your wallet has the keys. Your seed phrase can generate the keys. If you have the seed phrase, you can use it to restore your wallet and spend the coins on it.

But make sure that it is the correct seed phrase for your coins not to get lost.

[hosseinimr93]

Check the following location and see if you can find your wallet file. If you have the wallet file and know the password (if it's encrypted), you can have access to you fund even without knowing the seed phrase.

Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Electrum (or %APPDATA%\Electrum)

For more information, visit this: Where is the Electrum datadir located?

[Zaguru12]

Thanks, yes, I do have the seedphrase of course :-)
I'll try and de-/re-install this afternoon.

Yes with the seed phrase in your possession there is nothing to worry you re-install the electrum to even the latest version but one thing I will emphasize on is to try to check if the device is malware free or virus free and then while importing the seed phrase I will say you rather sweep your coins from the exiting wallet to a new wallet because one can’t be too sure where you might have exposed those private keys to since it has been long you created the wallet

[Lucius]

~snip~
A few years ago I installed the Electrum wallet for Windows.
---
I did find the Program Files, for example: electrum-4.2.2.exe... I clicked on it but nothing happens.

You did not write which version of Windows you have - is it perhaps W7? From what can be read, versions 4.2.x of Electrum do not support W7. You can find more information at this link -> https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/7728

[Findingnemo]

Thanks, yes, I do have the seedphrase of course :-)
I'll try and de-/re-install this afternoon.

Then I suggest you download the latest version of Electrum here: https://electrum.org/#download

Once you installed the wallet then verify its signatures

[GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum

And follow this

1. Choose "Create a new wallet" and click "Next."
2. Select "standard wallet option" and click "Next".
3. Choose "I already have a seed".

Now your wallet will be restored successfully with all the funds in it.

[Husna QA]

~snip~
A few years ago I installed the Electrum wallet for Windows.
---
I did find the Program Files, for example: electrum-4.2.2.exe... I clicked on it but nothing happens.

You did not write which version of Windows you have - is it perhaps W7? From what can be read, versions 4.2.x of Electrum do not support W7. You can find more information at this link -> https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/7728

But above, he mentioned that after clicking electrum-4.2.2.exe, nothing happened.

If he uses Windows 7 and tries to open that version of Electrum, then at least an error message will appear, as mentioned in the issue in the GitHub link that you included above. I just tried it on Windows 7, and the System error message appeared.



However, because OP has a seed phrase, his wallet can still be recovered by reinstalling the latest Electrum with Windows OS, which supports that version of Electrum.

[JosN]

Thanks everyone, I'm amazed by the quick reply's.

The re-install looks a bit complicated (Kleopatra etc.), so I'll do it later and really take some time for it to do it right.

* When I try to uninstall Electrum  (99,1 MB), I get the following message (translated): "Can't find the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum\Uninstall.exe.
Control the name and try again."
So: I can't find/open the app ánd I can't uninstall it.

Answers to comments:

- I have Windows 11.
- When I click on the file 'electrum-4.2.2.exe', a 'loading' circle appears (for .01sec) but nothing happens. (same when opening as Administrator)
- Seed phrase is 100% safe, I wrote it down a few years ago. Not digital.

It would be helpful for me if this topic stays open / unresolved for a few more days so I have time to implement the solution (download Electrum).

[Lucius]

@JosN, we can find similar examples when various users had similar problems with versions 3.x.x on W10 and it was mostly about some kind of incompatibility problem with the OS or even hardware. At this moment, it might be best to describe your problem in detail on Electrum GitGub, and one of the developers will try to help you.

Of course, before that you can try to install the latest version of Electrum, but before that try to see if there is any important update for W11.

https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues

[o_e_l_e_o]

* When I try to uninstall Electrum  (99,1 MB), I get the following message (translated): "Can't find the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum\Uninstall.exe.
Control the name and try again."

I don't use Windows, but it sounds like you've deleted some or all of the Electrum files without actually uninstalling it. The other possibility is an antivirus program has quarantined some of the files. Try navigating to C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum and see what is there.

[nc50lc]

* When I try to uninstall Electrum  (99,1 MB), I get the following message (translated): "Can't find the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Electrum\Uninstall.exe.
Control the name and try again."
So: I can't find/open the app ánd I can't uninstall it.

Doesn't matter if you can't uninstall it, it'll get overwritten once you install the latest installer version.
Problem will occur if any of the file is launched in the background when you try to start Electrum, so try to restart Windows before installing the latest version if did so.

You can also try the "Standalone Executable" version.
It doesn't have any loose files and should start without requiring you to install it. (but verifying its signature is still recommended)

[Husna QA]

-snip-
- I have Windows 11.
- When I click on the file 'electrum-4.2.2.exe', a 'loading' circle appears (for .01sec) but nothing happens. (same when opening as Administrator)
- Seed phrase is 100% safe, I wrote it down a few years ago. Not digital.

It would be helpful for me if this topic stays open / unresolved for a few more days so I have time to implement the solution (download Electrum).

Is the Windows 11 you are using a clean installation or an upgrade from a previous version of Windows?
If it is an upgrade from a previous version, I assume the problem is compatibility between Windows 11 and Electrum 4.2.2.

Try using the latest Electrum (currently version 4.4.6) and create a new wallet with a new seed phrase before you use the previous seed phrase.

[JosN]

Follow-up: installed latest version of Electrum (4.4.6), and after that it was really easy... Just log-in to the wallet (log-in name already provided) and after logging in, it was all there.

Thanks for reassuring it was safe.

[Pmalek]

And if you do have the seedphrase, then it doesn't matter. You can just go to Electrum's official website, download the latest version, install it and then use the seedphrase to recover your wallet.

I would add that it's worth to spend a few extra minutes on learning how to verify the signatures to ensure that you have downloaded and are about to install the right piece of software. That should be done after the application and all necessary verification files have been downloaded and before you install the software, recover your keys, or fund the wallet. It provides you with another layer of security and certainty that the software comes from and has been signed by the right people.

[JosN]

And if you do have the seedphrase, then it doesn't matter. You can just go to Electrum's official website, download the latest version, install it and then use the seedphrase to recover your wallet.

I would add that it's worth to spend a few extra minutes on learning how to verify the signatures to ensure that you have downloaded and are about to install the right piece of software. That should be done after the application and all necessary verification files have been downloaded and before you install the software, recover your keys, or fund the wallet. It provides you with another layer of security and certainty that the software comes from and has been signed by the right people.

Yes, did that, thanks!

#Resolved