Confused with wallet recovery

[Mk_667]

Hi sorry if this topic has been covered many times but I’m really confused about the wallet recovery process.

I’m trying to recover an old electrum bitcoin wallet and I’m having some issues. I have my 12 word seed phrase plus the extra words I added during the creation written down. So I go into electrum do a standard wallet recovery type in the 12 words, they all are auto filled, but after the last word it tells me it’s a 2FA wallet. Okay so I go back and do 2FA recovery. I don’t remember setting up 2FA but it works and I go to the next step, it asks for an Authenticator number, I open the Authenticator app and type in the number next to trustedcoin, says it’s the wrong number, click the button for a one time password, scan the qr, a new trustedcoin is added to my Authenticator and it works I’m in the wallet. Except the wallet is empty with no transactions and it says it’s synced to the network. Strange it didn’t ask me for the extra words I wrote down?

I also tired the same 12 words under the p2sh recovery option and I gained access to a wallet, but again it was empty with no transactions, and it was different from the 2fa wallet. Again it didn’t ask me for the extra words I have written down anyone know what’s up?

I have the SSD with the original install and wallet file from around 5 years ago at my parents house. I will get it when I visit them later this year.

Any help until then is appreciated.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Extended word will get you a different set of seed, privkeys and addresses, so without it, you are just connected to a different wallet.

[Mk_667]

So I clicked the check box to add extra words but I never got prompted to input them. Am I missing something?

[Zaguru12]

I don’t quite get your question too well but first of all since you’re sure you added an extra word (passphrase) when generating the wallet then importing the wallet without the passphrase will definitely give you a different wallet without transactions and that’s what I think you have done.

The wallet insisting it’s a 2FA wallet is is something I can’t really get from you. But try again to check the address you have your funds on f  try on a gf explorer if the funds are there and the address is not in any of the wallet you recovered it’s clear you recovered a wrong wallet. Try to recover the wallet with pass phrase again

[Bitcoin Smith]

So I clicked the check box to add extra words but I never got prompted to input them. Am I missing something?

Just check whether you followed this

Create nwe wallet => Standard wallet=> I already have a seed = Make sure you checked the box below





Now you should see the balance and everything, if you actually entered the right passphrase.

[Mk_667]

Hi Bitcoin Smith.

I follow those steps but when I enter my seed phrase it won’t let me hit next stating it’s a 2fa wallet. So I got back to the 2fa type in the seed click options extend this seed phrase I go next through the steps and it never prompts me to enter the extension and it recovers the empty wallet.

[Charles-Tim]

So I got back to the 2fa type in the seed click options extend this seed phrase I go next through the steps and it never prompts me to enter the extension and it recovers the empty wallet.

That is not possible. Probably you are not getting it right. If you checked ✔️ the box to extend the seed with custom word, you will see where you can enter the passphrase (or the extra word).

Or you are not using the legit Electrum wallet. Where did you download it from?

[hosseinimr93]

A standard wallet can't turn into a 2FA wallet or vice versa.
If electrum tells you the seed phrase is for a 2FA wallet, it's surely for a 2FA wallet. You are entering a seed phrase belonging to another wallet or you created a 2FA wallet and you don't remember that.

[Charles-Tim]

The wallet insisting it’s a 2FA wallet is is something I can’t really get from you.

That is what Electrum wallet will do because Electrum recognize seed phrase with its version number.



You can understand more from here: https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/seedphrase.html

I wanted to edit my post but just not to let it be like I have posted what hosseinimr93 posted. But I think it is worth it for you to know this.

[Abdussamad]

So I clicked the check box to add extra words but I never got prompted to input them. Am I missing something?

You get prompted to enter them in the very next step. If you're not seeing it then we have to wonder about your electrum install. What version of electrum are you using? Check your browser history for the exact download URL and share that with us. That is because there are many fake versions out there.

[Zaguru12]

I follow those steps but when I enter my seed phrase it won’t let me hit next stating it’s a 2fa wallet. So I got back to the 2fa type in the seed click options extend this seed phrase I go next through the steps and it never prompts me to enter the extension and it recovers the empty wallet.

With this constant problem of not letting you to enter the extended word or passphrase my guess is you might currently be having a fake electrum version.my reason is I haven’t heard of any bug currently causing any of this problem. Here below is how to download the correct electrum version and also to verify it.

Here is how to safely download and verify electrum, delete the current electrum version you have and then reinstall this version

[nc50lc]

I follow those steps but when I enter my seed phrase it won’t let me hit next stating it’s a 2fa wallet. So I got back to the 2fa type in the seed click options extend this seed phrase I go next through the steps and it never prompts me to enter the extension and it recovers the empty wallet.

I reproduced this in the latest version down to v4.5.3 by creating an old "2fa" (not "2fa_segwit") seed.
e.g.: (2fa seed, don't use other than for testing):

Code:

buffalo valley divorce pumpkin gossip bracket bullet page walnut immune crazy pumpkin

Restoring it with "Extend seed with custom words" option in the mentioned versions skip the passphrase prompt entirely.
It must be a bug worth reporting.

For now, use version 4.5.2 that still have a working passphrase prompt for that seed_type.
You can download the old versions in the "Previous Releases" link in Electrum website's download page. (direct link)

[Abdussamad]

I filed a bug report:

https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/9088

Good job nc50lc.

[MusaMohamed]

So I go into electrum do a standard wallet recovery type in the 12 words, they all are auto filled, but after the last word it tells me it’s a 2FA wallet.

In Electrum, when you recover your wallet from seed phrase, you will have to do following steps.

Create new wallet
Type wallet file name
Choose what type of wallet do you want to create?

At this step, you have to choose one of following types.
Standard wallet
Wallet with two factor authentication
Multi-signature wallet
Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys

If you choose Standard wallet, in the recovery process, it won't turn to be 2FA wallet.

Okay so I go back and do 2FA recovery. I don’t remember setting up 2FA but it works

It won't work.

and I go to the next step, it asks for an Authenticator number, I open the Authenticator app and type in the number next to trustedcoin, says it’s the wrong number, click the button for a one time password, scan the qr, a new trustedcoin is added to my Authenticator and it works I’m in the wallet.

If you did not know how you set up your 2FA wallet, don't have back up, how did you recover it and say it works?

You only can turn off 2FA in your wallet and will get same wallet without 2FA.

After you input your wallet seed phrase, you will go to Restore 2FA wallet, there will be 2 options, Keep and Disable.
To turn off 2FA, choose Disable.

Recovery Wallet 2FA Electrum

[nc50lc]

-snip-

You misunderstood the topic entirely, probably due to "language barrier".
This is about OP being unable to restore the correct wallet with his backup seed phrase with "custom words" (passphrase).

Electrum's seed phrase has a "reserved number" which indicates which script type to restore, pasting/typing an Electrum seed is already enough for the client to tell what type of wallet is it from;
Electrum detected that it's a "2fa" Electrum seed phrase but for some reason, he thought that it's from a standard wallet, that's why he said he don't remember setting up a 2fa wallet.
He said it "works" because those options enabled him to finish the wallet creation process, not because he restored the correct wallet since it didn't let him type his "passphrase".

If you read the other replies, this is due to a bug that causes the "custom words" checkbox to be ignored when restoring the deprecated non-SegWit 2fa seed phrase.

[Smartvirus]

Electrum wallet only recently updated the version of its wallet to a version 4.5.5 which came with some improvements and even made available some of the features used on PC usable on mobile devices. Previous versions didn’t allow the signing of address on mobile but this does.

Also, an improvement on it too is the 2FA settings. Mind you, though this feature is available, it doesn’t prompt you to set it less you want to. In essence, there isn’t a way in which you would be required of a 2FA on attempt of a wallet recovery haven’t got your complete pass phrase, following standard procedure and you wouldn’t get access to your wallet. The protocol of operation still remains version 1.4.

Should you happen to have at any point done the 2FA set up, common mistakes could be, not having to synchronize your Google authenticator with your device/wallet which could result in both of them running at a different time frame and as such, the codes will come off error every time. Perhaps you could try that, using your master key from Google authenticator on the Authentication app.

[un_rank]

Electrum wallet only recently updated the version of its wallet to a version 4.5.5 which came with some improvements and even made available some of the features used on PC usable on mobile devices. Previous versions didn’t allow the signing of address on mobile but this does.

If you mean to sign/verify messages on mobile as was available on desktop, it was added in version 4.5.0 which was released on the 12th of January. You can check out the release notes^[1]
This latest version contains just 2 additions for the android version.

[1] https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/RELEASE-NOTES

- Jay -