The process of copying one or more files to an alternate location for safekeeping. Typically refers to the copying of Bitcoin's wallet.dat file but may also refer to the built-in JSON API command to perform such a backup.
Questions tagged [backup]
191 questions
44
votes
10 answers
How can I keep my wallet secure?
The standard Bitcoin client does not encrypt wallet files, so any malicious user that gains access to this file will be able to transfer all the coins to their own wallet. Furthermore, if I lose the wallet file then I lose access to those coins. …
Michael McGowan
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33
votes
1 answer
How can I restore my wallet?
I just purchased a new laptop and I want to decommission my old one. I have a back-up of my wallet.dat file copied to my new PC. What do I need to do to restore it to my Bitcoin (Windows) client? Please note, this is a wallet.dat file that is…
RLH
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23
votes
3 answers
What happens when someone sends bitcoin to my wallet?
I didn't get it. Should my wallet be online? What if it becomes corrupted before I make a backup? Can I use my backup wallet that was backed up few days ago?
ilhan
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23
votes
2 answers
How should you backup your wallet?
How often? Is backing it up once enough?
Any best practices to storing the backup?
ripper234
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15
votes
3 answers
Estate planning: how can I ensure my bitcoins are inheritable?
What are good ways to ensure my bitcoins can be inherited by my family
when I die or become permanently incapacitated?
I think there are probably two significantly different situations to
account for, each with different requirements:
Hot wallet…
David A. Harding
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13
votes
1 answer
How many addresses does my wallet.dat contain? Do I need to make a new backup every time I make a transaction?
I'm having little problem here, trying to figure out the safest way to backup my wallet.dat to make sure that no BTC may be lost in case of recovery.
I'm not sure how the process of adding new addresses may affect a, say, a recently created…
Dhuum
- 239
- 3
- 10
13
votes
5 answers
How to obtain the private key of an Armory wallet?
I have a paper backup, a digital wallet backup and all the passwords: how do I retrieve the private key for a watch-only wallet so I can send some coins out of it (created in armory and imported into, for example, blockchain.info)?
If that's not…
Gaia
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12
votes
2 answers
If I've lost my wallet, but know my bitcoin receiving address, can I get my bitcoins back?
Although I do have a backed up wallet file, I seem to also have a second bitcoin receiving address, which doesn't seem to correspond to it. Is there a way to recover any coins associated with that receiving address, or are the coins lost forever?
jessicah
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11
votes
4 answers
Is it safe to email an encrypted wallet to myself?
I'd like to setup an automated process to email my encrypted wallet to myself, so that if, for instance, my house burns down, I've got easy access to a recent copy of my wallet stored off-site.
I've seen this mentioned in a couple places as a method…
Jon Garvin
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11
votes
3 answers
What is the absolute minimum amount of information required to have access to a bitcoin balance and or a wallet file?
As far as I gather a wallet can remain offline indefinitely transactions are being sent to it. The network will keep track of the transaction so that the next time it is connected it will catch up.
Is the entire wallet file necessary for this…
barrymac
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10
votes
3 answers
Is it important to have an unencrypted backup of the private key?
Am I correct that in not having our private keys written in paper or otherwise backed up we are implicitly trusting the wallet developers to keep publishing wallet versions that are capable of reading and deciphering our password-phrase? Nobody else…
DrGC
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10
votes
3 answers
What happens when the same wallet (private key) is used on several machines?
Let's say I copy my wallet to another computer and start using it there. What happens? Can both computers send and receive payments to the same address(es) in the wallet?
A different scenario with the same results: someone steals my computer and…
mazi
- 434
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10
votes
5 answers
How to restore locally a MyWallet backup?
The website blockchain.info has an online wallet system MyWallet which creates backups with a .aes.json extension. While I understand it's a json file encrypted with AES using my passphrase, I'm still confused about what am I supposed to do to…
o0'.
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10
votes
1 answer
In a multisig wallet setup what needs to be backed up and why?
In a multisig wallet setup what needs to be backed up and why?
Michael Folkson
- 14,337
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9
votes
1 answer
How do I restore a Lightning Node with active channels that has crashed causing data loss? Is it similar to restoring a Bitcoin wallet?
If my lightning node crashes after receiving payments (but before I have closed the channel) can I recover my funds? What happens if I do not have backups of all the channel updates?
Is the restoration process fundamentally different from dealing…
user1778171
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