<p>There are only 2048 possible first words, if your other 12 words are correct, this guarantees that you will find the seed. Here is the list of possible words for English:</p>

<p><a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt</a></p>

<p>There is also a checksum involved in the seed, so it's possible to narrow down the list further if you can program a bit. Best of luck.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-18T01:35:06.540Z
thank you. how would i use the checksum to create a program to cull the list some?
user44287
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-18T02:10:48.133Z
never mind... solved it. :)
user44287
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-18T01:33:41.823Z
2016-12-18T01:33:41.823Z
Jimmy Song
<p>Long story, but I need to restore an Electrum wallet (version 2.x). I have the seed, except the first word which got ripped off a legal pad.</p>

<p>So with 12 of the 13 seed words, what can I do to restore the wallet? I've tried to look at the word list and test possible 1st seed words, but haven't had any luck. Is there another way to skin this?</p>

<p>Any ideas / help would be very much appreciated. Hoping this isn't a costly mistake.</p>

<electrum><seed><wallet-recovery>
Possible to restore an Electrum wallet with partial (12/13) seed?
user44287
# Possible to restore an Electrum wallet with partial (12/13) seed?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-18)

Long story, but I need to restore an Electrum wallet (version 2.x). I have the seed, except the first word which got ripped off a legal pad.

So with 12 of the 13 seed words, what can I do to restore the wallet? I've tried to look at the word list and test possible 1st seed words, but haven't had any luck. Is there another way to skin this?

Any ideas / help would be very much appreciated. Hoping this isn't a costly mistake.

**Tags:** electrum, seed, wallet-recovery


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-12-18. Score: 1

There are only 2048 possible first words, if your other 12 words are correct, this guarantees that you will find the seed. Here is the list of possible words for English:

<https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt>

There is also a checksum involved in the seed, so it's possible to narrow down the list further if you can program a bit. Best of luck.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thank you. how would i use the checksum to create a program to cull the list some?  
> **username_0**: never mind... solved it. :)  

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