I lost my wallet, what should I do?

I had an account on a website, but I don’t remember which website.

Search your email account to receive an account creation confirmation email. Useful search terms might include “bitcoin,” “wallet,” “exchange,” “btc,” “blockchain,” or “cryptocurrency.” If you purchased Bitcoin, it may be a good idea to look at your previous bank statements as well. There is no global registry of Bitcoin users or services, so if you can’t find any, you might be out of luck. We can’t help you because we don’t know.

I had a web wallet, but the service has since been terminated.

If that service managed your Bitcoin balance, there is a good chance that that balance will be lost. If the service name has changed and it is still in service, research the service name to see what happened to it.

My Wallet service still exists but is inaccessible.

We have no insight into your relationship as a customer of the Service, so we cannot assist you. Contact the service to begin the account recovery process.

I had a self-managed wallet, but I lost it and have no backup.

Bitcoin balances are tracked through the blockchain, and the main purpose of a user’s Bitcoin wallet is to secure their private keys, which are used to establish ownership and track all transactions involving those keys. The key space is huge. If a wallet is lost, the same keys will never be recreated and no one will be able to use the associated funds.

I had a self-managed wallet, and I still have the device it was installed on.

Looking at this wallet selection may help you remember which wallet you used. If you still have your wallet file, you can recover your funds. The names of the files involved depend on the software used, but one of the most common file names is: wallet.dat. Once you have located your wallet file, please create a backup first before attempting to restore your wallet.

There is a 12-word or 24-word backup. What should I do?

This is called a mnemonic seed phrase. A standardized way to back up your wallet’s private keys. Please keep your words confidential and do not enter them into any website or untrusted software. This phrase will help you recover your wallet. You can find instructions on how to recover your wallet on this site.

I bought a Bitcoin card at a drug store a few years ago.

Without knowing the details of the card or the company that created it, it is impossible to regain control of the funds associated with the card.

_{¹ Inspired by a lost Bitcoin card I bought at a drug store a few years ago.}