Restoring oldwallet backed by 12 words seed phrase

[yakovmora1]

Hi everyone  !

About 2 years ago I have created a 2FA wallet in electrum and made some transactions.
I have written only the 12 words seed (and also the custom word that I see is not being used anywhere).

I am currently trying to restore my wallet and I have already tried different methods:
1. Restoring standard wallet with seed
2. Restoring 2FA wallet
3. Electrum 2FA Wallet Recovery Tool from TrustedCoin

All my attempts leads to the same result - creation of what it seems a new and empty wallet without any transactions.

I must say that I didn't used the wallet for 2 years and now I have a new computer.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

[OmegaStarScream]

Simply following this[1] and choosing 2FA instead of standard  (which seems like you've already tried) should've restored your wallet.

Make sure you're connected to electrum servers (see if there is a green dot on the bottom right side), and that you're using the latest version downloaded from the official site.

Did you withdraw from an exchange to this wallet before? If so, you should check the address you used on a blockexplorer and see if the funds are still sitting there and then compare that address with what you have in Electrum.

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

[Frankolala]

Import your wallet seed on a new electrum wallet and disable 2FA, you should be able to have access to your old wallet and the funds in it. Have you checked the icon on the top of the right side of your wallet to see if it is on green color. If it is on red it means that your wallet is not connected and try connecting it.

Also make sure that your wallet have been fully synchronize into the blockchain so that you can see the amount in your wallet. You can also check all the address to see if your coins is in one of them.

[Zaguru12]

I am currently trying to restore my wallet and I have already tried different methods:
1. Restoring standard wallet with seed
2. Restoring 2FA wallet
3. Electrum 2FA Wallet Recovery Tool from TrustedCoin

All my attempts leads to the same result - creation of what it seems a new and empty wallet without any transactions.

Any of this three options for recovering your wallet should hav worked so it is strange that is not working, possible scenario is you’re importing the wrong wallet, I will ask maybe you add any passphrase to the seed phrase ( I am not sure maybe it is possible with a 2FA wallet), if it is maybe you need check maybe you added one and you’re not recovering the wallet with it. Another reason could be your wallet is not fully synchronized

[Charles-Tim]

Simply following this[1] and choosing 2FA instead of standard  (which seems like you've already tried) should've restored your wallet.

If it is Electrum seed phrase, Electrum will recognize it as 2FA even if you click on standard wallet to proceed. If the OP successfully import the seed phrase and it is 2FA, likely he has a wrong seed phrase.

At the top left corner, he can see the type of the wallet. I am not with my computer right now but I think that is how it is. Also while importing the seed phrase, Electrum will indicate that it is 2FA.

[hosseinimr93]

I have written only the 12 words seed (and also the custom word that I see is not being used anywhere).

If you have extended your seed phrase with a custom word, you must enter the custom word when recovering your wallet. Otherwise, you will generate a completely different wallet.
Click on "options" in "Enter seed" window and check "Extend this seed with custom words". Electrum will ask your custom word after clicking on "Next".

[BlackBoss_]

About 2 years ago I have created a 2FA wallet in electrum and made some transactions.
I have written only the 12 words seed (and also the custom word that I see is not being used anywhere).

Recover your wallet with these steps.

Wallet with two-factor authentication
I already have a seed.
Enter seed.
Options: choose "Extend this seed with custom words", OK
Next: type your custom words, Next.

Then you will have two options: Keep or Disable.
Keep means you restore your wallet with 2FA.
Disable means you restore your wallet but no longer want to use 2FA.

Keep
Enter your password
Next
Email address
Google Authenticator code
Next to finish the wallet recovery.

Disable
Enter your password
Next
You will recovery your wallet successfully, without 2FA.

[yakovmora1]

Simply following this[1] and choosing 2FA instead of standard  (which seems like you've already tried) should've restored your wallet.

Make sure you're connected to electrum servers (see if there is a green dot on the bottom right side), and that you're using the latest version downloaded from the official site.

Did you withdraw from an exchange to this wallet before? If so, you should check the address you used on a blockexplorer and see if the funds are still sitting there and then compare that address with what you have in Electrum.

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

Thanks for the reply!
I have already tried that and checked the wallet address in blockexplorer it seems it has 0 transactions which can not be possible.
This is why I think electrum created a new wallet for me.

[yakovmora1]

I have written only the 12 words seed (and also the custom word that I see is not being used anywhere).

If you have extended your seed phrase with a custom word, you must enter the custom word when recovering your wallet. Otherwise, you will generate a completely different wallet.
Click on "options" in "Enter seed" window and check "Extend this seed with custom words". Electrum will ask your custom word after clicking on "Next".

Hi!
Well.. Electrum didn't ask for the custom word even if I checked that option when importing the seed.
I totally agree with you that without the custom word it should not be the same wallet but, its strange that it even imports the seed and create a wallet.

[yakovmora1]

About 2 years ago I have created a 2FA wallet in electrum and made some transactions.
I have written only the 12 words seed (and also the custom word that I see is not being used anywhere).

Recover your wallet with these steps.

Wallet with two-factor authentication
I already have a seed.
Enter seed.
Options: choose "Extend this seed with custom words", OK
Next: type your custom words, Next.

Then you will have two options: Keep or Disable.
Keep means you restore your wallet with 2FA.
Disable means you restore your wallet but no longer want to use 2FA.

Keep
Enter your password
Next
Email address
Google Authenticator code
Next to finish the wallet recovery.

Disable
Enter your password
Next
You will recovery your wallet successfully, without 2FA.

Thanks!
But, unfortunately it doesn't ask for the custom word[/b. I think this is where the problem is.
Maybe, its a version problem? I am using version 4.5.5 on linux.

[OmegaStarScream]

Thanks for the reply!
I have already tried that and checked the wallet address in blockexplorer it seems it has 0 transactions which can not be possible.
This is why I think electrum created a new wallet for me.

I could be wrong but it sound to me that you might have the wrong seedphrase.

The address you should be checking however, is not the one in Electrum, but rather the address you withdrew your funds to. If you have BTC in your Electrum wallet, then you must've sent it from somewhere else, maybe an exchange platform? you should check those, and try to find the withdrawal address you used, so you're certain which address you should be looking for in your Electrum wallet.

[hosseinimr93]

Well.. Electrum didn't ask for the custom word even if I checked that option when importing the seed.

This is not possible.
If you check the  "Extend this seed with custom words", enter your seed phrase and click the "Next" button, you should see a new window where you can enter you custom word.

Where did you download electrum from?

[yakovmora1]

Well.. Electrum didn't ask for the custom word even if I checked that option when importing the seed.

This is not possible.
If you check the  "Extend this seed with custom words", enter your seed phrase and click the "Next" button, you should see a new window where you can enter you custom word.

Where did you download electrum from?

I downloaded from the official site.
I tried now to use version 3.3 (old one) and in this one it asks for the custom word.
I now have successfully restored my wallet!
I think there might be a problem with the newest version and the fact that I am working on linux (Ubuntu).

[Lucius]

I downloaded from the official site.
I tried now to use version 3.3 (old one) and in this one it asks for the custom word.
I now have successfully restored my wallet!
I think there might be a problem with the newest version and the fact that I am working on linux (Ubuntu).

Be careful with those old versions, because I'm not sure exactly which version fixed the critical vulnerability that allowed hackers to send phishing messages through the official wallet. I think it was fixed with version 3.3.4 or later.

I suggest you think about sending your coins to a new wallet (in a transaction) so you have them safely. Before that, I would certainly check whether such a new wallet will generate the same BTC addresses if you recover it with seed. That means installation + verification of BTC addresses (just copy/paste few of them) + uninstallation + installation and recovery of wallet with new seed.

[yakovmora1]

I downloaded from the official site.
I tried now to use version 3.3 (old one) and in this one it asks for the custom word.
I now have successfully restored my wallet!
I think there might be a problem with the newest version and the fact that I am working on linux (Ubuntu).

Be careful with those old versions, because I'm not sure exactly which version fixed the critical vulnerability that allowed hackers to send phishing messages through the official wallet. I think it was fixed with version 3.3.4 or later.

I suggest you think about sending your coins to a new wallet (in a transaction) so you have them safely. Before that, I would certainly check whether such a new wallet will generate the same BTC addresses if you recover it with seed. That means installation + verification of BTC addresses (just copy/paste few of them) + uninstallation + installation and recovery of wallet with new seed.

Yeah, I have already sent it to a new wallet although I paid quit a fee..
I will do what you suggested to try and restore the seed again.

Thanks!

[nc50lc]

-snip-
I downloaded from the official site.
I tried now to use version 3.3 (old one) and in this one it asks for the custom word.
I now have successfully restored my wallet!
I think there might be a problem with the newest version and the fact that I am working on linux (Ubuntu).

Certainly a problem in the latest versions, that's a bug in versions 4.5.3 and above.
But it should be fixed in the next release because the issue is already closed since June 11 with a commit that patched the issue.

References:

• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5499322.msg64190438#msg64190438
• https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/9088

[Lucius]

Yeah, I have already sent it to a new wallet although I paid quit a fee..

Given that the fees are record low, either you had a lot of inputs (dust transactions) or you accidentally hit one of the blocks that happened a few days ago and had huge fees.

I will do what you suggested to try and restore the seed again.

You should have done that before you made the transaction (if we are talking about the same wallet here), but I hope that you will not have similar problems now that the coins are in the new wallet.

[Pmalek]

I tried now to use version 3.3 (old one) and in this one it asks for the custom word.
I now have successfully restored my wallet!
I think there might be a problem with the newest version and the fact that I am working on linux (Ubuntu).

I am glad you regained access to your coins, but there was no need to go this far back into the past and move from version 4.5.5 to 3.3.4. I assume it's 3.3.4. because, if I remember correctly, the older versions can no longer connect to Electrum servers. You could have tried something from the 4.4.x line, and your problem would most probably have been fixed.