[TUTORIAL] LND node on Windows for Lightning Network - Beginner friendly

[Mahiyammahi]

Hello Bitcoiners!

I started my journey by getting inspired by NotATether's Lightning Node challenge, after finishing my Bitcoin core Node run 14-day challenge. In this forum, there is already a Detailed guide from Satofan44 on 🔥🔥 Complete GUIDE for Lightning Desktop Nodes since his tutorial was based on Ubuntu I am writing this on behalf Windows users since most of user in forum is desktop user also I saw those who perticipated on 14 days of bitcoin core node run they were mostly on Windows. So on behalf of them I'm writing this tutorial.

I followed several documantion most of them was outdated or some missing some part, after combining all issues I faced I note down all the problem hence I was able to run a final LND node for Lightning Newtwork

What is Lightning Newtwork?
- The Lightning Network is a second layer built on top of Bitcoin that enables:

instant
lowfees
scalable bitcoin payments

Requirements

- Windows PC (Windows 10 or Higher )
- At least 600GB free disk space for Bitcoin core full node required (unless you use pruned mode)
- Stable Internet and paitence

Phase 1 - Download and Sync a full Bitcoin Core Nore (if you have already done this you can skip this part)
A fully synced Bitcoin Core node is required in order to work your LND node properly. However, if you still ensist to run on pruned mode be aware of these limitation
- Pruned nodes delete old blockchain data → LND can’t find some transactions it needs
- This breaks channel creation, backups, and some RPC commands
- save your txn details manually for queries

STEPS
1. Download Bitcoin Core
👉 https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/
2. Install it and run.
3. Let the bitcoin core run in background for fully synced since it will download 600GB worth of block data
4. This might be take you 24h to 3/4 days depends on you PC hardware composition and your internet speed.
5. After fully synced you Bitcoin core node follow this
6. Find your Bitcoin core node file directory/Path this could be like this - C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin
7. Or if you downloaded it another directory you can simply look for it like this Windows+R paste this

Code:

 %localappdata%\Bitcoin

and enter it will take you to you bitcoin core path.
8. Open bitcoin.conf in notepad add this -
 

server=1
txindex=1
rpcuser=bitcoin
rpcpassword=your_secure_password
zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333

9. if you are running your bitcoin core in pruned mode -

server=1
prune=20000
txindex=0
rpcuser=bitcoinuser
rpcpassword=your_secure_password
zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333

note - must change your password and your pruned amount according to your bitcoin core node run. It is suggested to run your bitcoin core node pruned - 10/20 GB . prune=20000 here indicating 20GB of pruned.
 
Phase 2 - Download , Install and Run LND node

STEPS
1. Download LND for Windows:
👉 https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/releases
2. Download this version  - lnd-windows-amd64-v0.19.2-beta.zip [must download windows-amd64.zip one there you will get lots of version for linux , rasbery pie so the specific name I mentioned download that one to avoid any un-neccessary issue] 
2. Extract the folders component to

Code:

 C:\lnd 

[Create a folder name lnd on C:\ and extract the lnd component you downloaded recently you will get lnd.exe and lnd.cli there]

3. Create LND config folder in this path

Code:

 C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Lnd

4. inside that folder create a file name lnd.conf [make sure the extension is not txt cause windows sometimes hides extension]  and put this into that lnd.conf

Code:

 [Application Options]
alias=MyLNDNode
listen=0.0.0.0:9735

[Bitcoin]
bitcoin.active=true
bitcoin.mainnet=true
bitcoin.node=bitcoind

[Bitcoind]
bitcoind.rpcuser=bitcoin
bitcoind.rpcpass=your_secure_password
bitcoind.rpchost=127.0.0.1
bitcoind.zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
bitcoind.zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333

[you can change 'alias' this will be your node name , also make sure you changed the pass]

5. Restart your Bitcoin Core

Let's start LND
6. Open command Promt -

Code:

 cd C:\lnd
lnd.exe

 On Windows, when using Command Prompt, you often need to specify the exact file name and path. So try this one if that not worked -

Code:

cd C:\lnd
.\lnd.exe

for first time it will ask to create wallet
7. Open another command promt and

Code:

 cd C:\lnd
lncli.exe create

or

Code:

cd C:\lnd
.\lncli.exe unlock

We are specifying it by adding .\ in start and adding exe

it will ask for wallet password for creating wallet , put your wallet password. If you dont see anything on screen don't worry power shell/command promt dont show you pass for  security reason. Save your recovery seed. Congratulation you did everything okay , LND is now running. It will take some to sync with bitcoin core.

8. To check your Lnd node status run this

Code:

lncli getinfo

you will see something like this -

Code:

{
    "version":  "0.18.5-beta commit=v0.18.5-beta",
    "commit_hash":  "4ccf4fc24c750d098cf24566ef4bbc0311c7d476",
    "identity_pubkey":  "0206abb79af738e8009dff2eeb78cac43441c54c32a65db87398a4903ffded7a50",
    "alias":  "MyLNDNode",
    "color":  "#3399ff",
    "num_pending_channels":  0,
    "num_active_channels":  0,
    "num_inactive_channels":  0,
    "num_peers":  2,
    "block_height":  895957,
    "block_hash":  "0000000000000000000172ec1306a6b2f58314370aef2dd0573a1defadb478d7",
    "best_header_timestamp":  "1746794076",
    "synced_to_chain":  true,
    "synced_to_graph":  false,
    "testnet":  false,
    "chains":  

Notice:- Your node should be saying "synced_to_chain":  true if it false that means it's not yet synced with your bitcoin core , it will take some time to synced 5/10 min usually.

Pase 3- Let's Create Channel and Pay invoices on Lightning Network

STEPS
1. For creating channel you need to fund your wallet first , you need to fund your wallet atleast 35k sats. 20k Sats for creating your channel and 10k sats  for reserve . You will get back this 10k sats when you close your channel.
2. To fund your wallet let's get wallet address first

Code:

 lncli newaddress p2wkh

now send 35k-40k sats to this wallet atleast.
3. Before creating channel connect with a peer

Code:

lncli connect pubkey@ip:port

4. You can find all node details here - https://1ml.com/node
5. Top nodes require 100k sats to create a channel I created with Blixt Wallet node you can try it - 

Code:

 .\lncli.exe connect 0230a5bca558e6741460c13dd34e636da28e52afd91cf93db87ed1b0392a7466eb@176.9.17.121:9735

6. After connecting , now create it -

Code:

.\lncli.exe openchannel --node_key=0230a5bca558e6741460c13dd34e636da28e52afd91cf93db87ed1b0392a7466eb --local_amt=20000 --private

we are creating private channel here , cause public channel requires 100k sats
7. You should see your funding txn there , it will take 3 block confirmation to create your wallet successfully.
8. Check your channels here -

Code:

.\lncli.exe listchannels

or if it's in pending

Code:

.\lncli.exe pendingchannels

Now lets pay some invoices
8. Grab a invoice or Public address from Nostr , Stacr news

Code:

 lncli payinvoice <invoice_string>

it will something like this

lncli payinvoice lnbc160u1p5x5rlqpp5qnvmh2smde2mdayhnu8he20nkejxes3hw9k77036ce6t5kh5ve7qdqqcqzys xqrrsssp5lgfy8tfwnfmy6jvk57867zyganucsk9t3fnxug5sfcwegkkxt89q9qxpqysgqtr8htaxw9 avqa9ywn4qs47d5vxm44r7l2ssfmt7ch4u36yyqs9aru25psf5vuhlydgnfrysgd0zzq37dsuq0z4qa ndjlptgnl0p2lfqpgmrqg0

9. To create your own invoice

Code:

 lncli addinvoice --amt=5000

Congratulation
if you pulled this all and succed

You may find some difficulties connecting to some public node it is recomended to use VPN , cause I faced this issue then tried with Proton VPN .It's basically was my ISP blocking peer to connect. Satofan44 asked me to collab with him , actually I used to so busy that I have to refused him. It took me a month to create and open channel and run a Thunderhub Webpage after runing my LND node. I am too lazy ig .

Maybe I could have miss a lot of things or my writing could be bad/not well structured please consider this. Apologies for any kind of inconvinience

[Mahiyammahi]

If you wants to close your channel follow these Steps -

For closing a channel we need channel_point value.
Steps
1. Go to

Code:

 .\lncli.exe listchannels

you will see your channel point there like this copy this channel point and
2. For closing

Code:

 lncli closechannel --channel_point=<txid>

3. it will be something like this

Code:

 lncli closechannel --channel_point=abcd1234abcd5678abcd9012abcd3456abcd7890abcd1234abcd5678abcd9012:1

4. If successfull your txn ID will be displayed

If you wants to send BTC onchain from your LND node
in your cmd

Code:

 .\lncli <sendcoins your bitcoin address> --amt <your bitcoin amount in sats>

ex -  

.\lncli sendcoins bc1qwrqwe7wx6dmzaz2uncv26xlwlgtj83jw7ua0g8 --amt 6000

 Then it will show your address and amount send yes to confirm your txn.

⚡ FAQ

Q: My LND node says ‘synced_to_chain: false’ – what to do?
A: Wait for LND to sync fully with your Bitcoin node. If it stays stuck, check firewall or use VPN.

Q: Why is my payment failing with 'no route'?
A: You might have a private channel or not enough liquidity. Try public channel or connect to more peers.
B. Close your current channel and try to use more reliable node this time.

Q: Can I use pruned mode and still open a channel?
A: Yes, but you must save your funding txid and vout, since pruned mode cannot access old block data.

[Obim34]

Hey, @Mahiyammahi. Good thread which i have been collecting info to run my own LND node.

I followed all the steps from 1 - 5 and now stuck at 6 - the last. Throw in more details for clear understanding.

it will ask for wallet password for creating wallet , put your wallet password. If you dont see anything on screen don't worry power shell/command promt dont show you pass for  security reason. Save your recovery seed. Congratulation you did everything okay , LND is now running. It will take some to sync with bitcoin core.

What wallet? Aside from the configurations and Bitcoin core, any extra wallet in use?

Using pruned node

[Mahiyammahi]

it will ask for wallet password for creating wallet , put your wallet password. If you dont see anything on screen don't worry power shell/command promt dont show you pass for  security reason. Save your recovery seed. Congratulation you did everything okay , LND is now running. It will take some to sync with bitcoin core.

What wallet? Aside from the configurations and Bitcoin core, any extra wallet in use?

Using pruned node

Well our goal is to create a LND node for Lightning Network so yes , we are creating a wallet. It will be diff from Bitcoin core. As long as I know, lightning network uses offline txn structure.

Code:

 lncli create 

We use this for creating the wallet first. After it asks you to give the lassword , it will ask you if you wants to create any new wallet or import previous one. If you're new then pren "n" it will generate your seed phrase. Keep this safe .

After that , everytime you wanna start LND just simply unlock it via

Code:

 lncli unlock 

command

[Obim34]

My wallet have been created and unlocked, but each time i give command

Code:

lncli getinfo

I get response

Code:

[lncli] rpc error: code = Unavailable desc = connection error: desc = "transport: Error while dialing: dial tcp 127.0.0.1:10009: connectex: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it."

and

Code:

2025-08-03 12:27:30.004 [INF] BTWL: Opened wallet
2025-08-03 12:27:30.088 [INF] RPCC: Established connection to RPC server 127.0.0.1:8332
2025-08-03 12:27:30.089 [INF] RPCC: Established connection to RPC server 127.0.0.1:8332
2025-08-03 12:27:52.609 [ERR] LTND: unable to create partial chain control: invalid http POST response (nil), method: getblockhash, id: 1, last error=Post "http://127.0.0.1:8332": dial tcp 127.0.0.1:8332: connectex: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
2025-08-03 12:27:52.610 [ERR] LTND: Shutting down due to error in main method rev=a83945 err="unable to create partial chain control: invalid http POST response (nil), method: getblockhash, id: 1, last error=Post \"http://127.0.0.1:8332\": dial tcp 127.0.0.1:8332: connectex: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it."
2025-08-03 12:27:52.626 [INF] LTND: Shutdown complete