How to restore bitcoin wallet

Ways to recover a cryptocurrency wallet

You can use several options to access the vault. The main ones are:

• Command line.
• Wallet.dat file.
• Seed-phrase.
• R-Studio utility.
• Address.

For desktop and online wallets, recovery methods by private key, console are suitable.

Through the console

Most applications have a command line. Through it you can find out the private key, which will allow you to restore the account. Algorithm of actions:

1. Log in to the console.
2. Enter the command dumpprivkey and the wallet number.
3. Press “Enter”.
4. Save the obtained private key on different media (flash card, paper, in the program “Notepad”).
5. Install the client application.
6. Type the importprivkey command and the received private key.
7. Wait until the blockchain is updated.

Using Wallet.dat.

Information about the account, transactions and private keys is stored in a special file. It is called Wallet.dat. The system accesses it when transactions are made.

To restore a Bitcoin wallet, you need to replace Wallet.dat with its copy made earlier. This method is used if the password is lost. It can be used for both light and heavy vaults.

A quick jump to the file can be provided by pressing Win+R followed by %appdata% and the “Enter” button.

This command will navigate to the C: users Computer Name appdata roaming BTC folder, where Wallet.dat will be located. You need to back it up (on different media), set a strong password, and update it after each transaction.

Using a seed phrase

Another way to resume access to the account is a special phrase from a set of words. This method will be considered on the example of the lightweight Electrum application. Other services have their differences, but the basic principles of working with them are the same. You can restore the account using the following actions:

1. Create a new Personal account.
2. Select the type of wallet to be restored, for example, “Standard”. Enter the original phrase that was backed up.
3. After entering the words, the button will become active.
4. In a situation where the source words are not taken from Electrum, you should select the option p2pkh if the addresses in the source storage start with 1, or p2sh-segwit if there is a 3, and own segwit if the first letters are bc1.
5. Encrypt the keys using any passphrase. The passphrase may not be the same as the one used in the initial creation.
6. After recovery, check the address list. This is to make sure it is the same as it was before the computer crashed. To display it, click the “View” – “Show Addresses” tab.

Using the R-Studio utility

If the computer has been damaged, you can use special programs. They can help you open the Wallet.dat file from a formatted hard drive. One of such utilities is R-Studio.

There are 2 methods to regain access to your wallet using this program:

Address-based recovery

It is not possible to access a lost account by ID alone. Nor can you recover access to a bitcoin wallet by mail or phone number. This is dictated by security rules. Otherwise, hackers could easily steal someone else’s funds. The only thing you can do is to write to the tech support of the service and give all the available information.

Alternative method

There are other methods that allow you to secure the user from losing access to cryptocurrency:

• Social Recovery feature. It binds a guardian to the user’s account. This person has the right to log into the user’s account if the user is unable to do so on their own.
• Ethereum development. This is a special EIP protocol that allows you to restore access to the Personal Account using a code word, phrase, fingerprint. The method is better than the previous one, as it excludes the theft of cryptocurrency by a third party.

Restore access to the online wallet for Bitcoin (BTC)

Since the registration of web storage is done using mail, there you can find information about the service in which the account was created, as well as its address. Using these data in some cases allows you to enter the wallet.

Access to the user’s cabinet depends on the specific online service. If the password is lost, then there is an option to use the methods offered by the resource itself. To restore the VTS wallet, the e-mail address used, a mnemonic phrase, ID may be required.

Restoring access to the hardware wallet

In the event of a broken or lost cold vault, assistance from an embedded system or security service will be required. To regain access to the bitcoins of the old hardware wallet, you need to:

1. Buy a new device.
2. The first time you load the new vault, do not create a new configuration, but restore the previous one.
3. Enter the first letter of the cid phrase. After this, the system will offer several options, from which it will be necessary to choose the correct one. The rest of the words are specified by analogy.
4. After entering the phrase, the storage starts the configuration.
5. The download of the configuration takes place, which takes 15 minutes.

Recommendations for storing cryptocurrency for the future

To save bitcoins on your wallet, it is necessary:

• Create backup copies of the Wallet.dat file, private key, mnemonic phrase.
• Store them on different media: disk, PC, USB drive, notepad and others.
• Conduct regular updates of duplicates after operations.
• Enter strong passwords in the form of complex combinations of numbers and letters.

Frequently Asked Questions