[GUIDE] Offline Access to Blockchain Wallet (Exporting Keys)

[jbrnt]

Blockchain.info Wallet is the most popular online wallet for Bitcoin. So when it is unexpectedly down for maintenance, plenty of users are caught off guard, unable to send Bitcoins for a payment or to exchanges.

Some advanced users would have exported the wallet or private keys in various format, and keep them in a safe place, ready to be imported into other Bitcoin clients. However, most users would just have the encrypted "wallet.aes.json" backup file emailed to them, and wouldn't know what to do with it.

This guide aims to help users to prepare themselves for a quick access to their Blockchain Wallet funds with "wallet.aes.json" backup if Blockchain.info is offline. I will try to improve this guide as it goes.

Post #2
    - Importing Blockchain.info backup with Multibit
    - Quicker way to access your funds using decrypt tool and Electrum
    - Always have the latest wallet backup at any given time
Post #3
    - Decrypt wallet with Blockchain Tool
Post #4
    - Install Multibit
    - Import backup into MultiBit
Post #5
    - Install Electrum
    - Import private keys into Electrum

Updates:
2014-05-03  Initial post
2014-05-07  Edited notes and link as Multibit removed support for ".json"

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[jbrnt]

Importing Blockchain.info backup with Multibit

Blockchain.info recommends users to import the "wallet.aes.json" wallet file into Multibit, another bitcoin desktop client (Multibit dropped support for ".json" from release 0.5.18 onwards). I tested an import into Multibit but it was nearly an hour later before my latest balance shows up (Import instructions given in post #4). During this time, Blockchain.info could be back online again and I wouldn't need to use Multibit anymore.

Quicker way to access your funds using decrypt tool and Electrum

All your private keys are in the "wallet.aes.json" file. You could use any Bitcoin client you wish if you can extract the keys. The hurdle really is decrypting the "wallet.aes.json" file. There is a little known tool on Blockchain.info website which can decrypt your wallet:
https://blockchain.info/DecryptWallet.html
(Temporally removed by Blockchain.info)

To make this tool available when Blockchain.info is offline, simply save the "DecryptWallet.html" on your hard disk, or zip it and send it to the same email address as your "wallet.aes.json" backup. You can now extract your private keys offline anytime (Decrypt instructions given in post #3).

Once you have your private keys, you can import one key or all of them into Electrum. Since Electrum uses remote blockchain servers, there is no time wasted downloading block data. You could send Bitcoins away in under 15 minutes (Import instructions given in post #5).

Always have the latest wallet backup at any given time

Users who create new addresses for each transaction may have a difficult time ensuring they have the latest "wallet.aes.json" on disk. I would set the Blockchain.info Wallet do perform an automatic backup via email:
General | Automatic Email Backups

Then every time you create a new receiving address or a new change address, you know the new private key is available to you even when Blockchain.info is temporary offline.

[jbrnt]

Decrypt wallet with Blockchain Tool

- Have the "wallet.aes.json" and "DecryptWallet.html" ready
- Open the html offline in a browser
- Open your backup in a text editor and copy whole block of unreadable text
- Paste the text into the "Encrypted JSON Data" box in the browser
- Enter the Blockchain wallet password in the "Password" field
- Click "Decode" button
- All addresses and key are displayed in the "Result" section
- Address labels are only available inside the "Raw" text box

[jbrnt]

Install Multibit

- Download the 0.5.17 release of Multibit from: https://multibit.org/releases/
  (Multibit removed support for Blockchain Wallet ".json" file starting from version 0.5.18)
  (Upgrade to latest version after ".json" import)
- Install and launch Multibit
- Click "Next" at the welcome messages
- Accept the agreement and click "Next"
- Confirm installation path and click "Next"
- Select program groups and shortcuts then click "Next"
- Click "Next" when installation finishes, and then "Done"

Import backup into MultiBit

- Launch Multibit
- Select "Tools | Import private keys" on the menu
- On the new "Import Private Keys" tab, click on "Import from…" button
- Select "Blockchain.info (*.json)" from the pull down menu at the bottom
- Browse for your "wallet.aes.json" backup file and press "Open"
- Enter your wallet password in the "Password" field and press "Unlock"
- You may need to enter a second password if your wallet is double encrypted
- Click "Import Private Keys" button
- Will display "Importing private keys… completed successfully" when done
- Imported addresses are listed under the "Request" tab
- Wait for Multibit to synchronise the transactions

[jbrnt]

Install Electrum

- Download the latest release of Electrum from: https://electrum.org
- Install and lunch Electrum
- Select "Create new wallet" when asked about wallet not found, click "Next"
- Write down the 12 words of the "Wallet seed", and then "Next"
- Enter the 12 words seed in the box, and "Next"
- Set a secure password to encrypt the keys, then "OK"
- Electrum will generate a set of addresses
- Select "Auto-Connect" when asked about choosing servers, then "OK"
- Electrum will start and your addresses are in the "Receive" Tab

Import private keys into Electrum

- Launch Electrum
- Select "Wallet | Private Keys | Import" on the menu
- Enter password when prompted
- Read the warning and click "Yes"
- Copy and paste multiple private keys in the box and click "Import"
- Click "OK" on the success message
- Imported addresses are listed in "Imported" section under the "Received" tab
- Wait for Electrum to synchronise the transactions

[ZephramC]

...

Quicker way to access your funds using decrypt tool and Electrum

All your private keys are in the "wallet.aes.json" file. You could use any Bitcoin client you wish if you can extract the keys. The hurdle really is decrypting the "wallet.aes.json" file. There is a little known tool on Blockchain.info website which can decrypt your wallet:
https://blockchain.info/DecryptWallet.html

...

This website now shows "This document has been removed temporarily".

[jbrnt]

Yes, it seems Blockchain.info removed the decryption tool. I wonder why? I hope they put it back up soon, cos it is very useful. I found another one on the internet, but will not post it. I will only use the one provided by Blockchain.info. We can only wait for them to restore the tool. Thanks for the info.

[Abdussamad]

The multibit guide is not going to work in the near future. Multibit is removing has removed support for blockchain.info wallet importing.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=143274.msg6441449#msg6441449

The reason they removed it is that that part of the software was buggy and they didn't want to maintain it so they removed it entirely.

[jbrnt]

The multibit guide is not going to work in the near future. Multibit has removed support for blockchain.info wallet importing.

Thank you very much for the info. Instructions amended accordingly.

This is certainly bad news for Blockchain Wallet users. Multibit dropped support, Blockchain removed the decryption tool. There is currently no official offline method of restoring keys from the backup file 

[RUEHL]

awesome guide! 

[prof7bit]

The multibit guide is not going to work in the near future. Multibit has removed support for blockchain.info wallet importing.

Thank you very much for the info. Instructions amended accordingly.

This is certainly bad news for Blockchain Wallet users. Multibit dropped support, Blockchain removed the decryption tool. There is currently no official offline method of restoring keys from the backup file  

There is an "unofficial" method. The *.aes.json import code was rewritten from scratch and can now also handle compressed keys (which were silently converted to uncompressed keys in the old broken Multibit importer). https://github.com/prof7bit/wallet-key-tool This tool can import wallet.aes.json and export *.wallet or *.key

[jbrnt]

There is an "unofficial" method. The *.aes.json import code was rewritten from scratch and can now also handle compressed keys (which were silently converted to uncompressed keys in the old broken Multibit importer). https://github.com/prof7bit/wallet-key-tool This tool can import wallet.aes.json and export *.wallet or *.key

Thank you prof7bit for your conversion tool. This is a great solution while we wait for Blockchain.info to give us back the decryption html. Will try it out and leave some comments.