<blockquote>
  <p><strong>I have two wallets that are encrypted and one that is watching only. The watching only has several bitcoins.</strong></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Then you don't have the private keys that control the Bitcoin. They are not in the Watch-Only wallet.</p>

<p>Your friend's husband may have written down the <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key" rel="nofollow noreferrer">private key</a> on paper somewhere very very safe. It might look like this (hexadecimal)</p>

<pre><code>E9873D79C6D87DC0FB6A5778633389F4453213303DA61F20BD67FC233AA33262
</code></pre>

<p>like this (WIF)</p>

<pre><code>5Kb8kLf9zgWQnogidDA76MzPL6TsZZY36hWXMssSzNydYXYB9KF
</code></pre>

<p>or like this (minikey)</p>

<pre><code>SzavMBLoXU6kDrqtUVmffv
</code></pre>

<p>Your friend's husband may instead have written down on paper a <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Seed_phrase" rel="nofollow noreferrer">seed-phrase</a> that looks like</p>

<pre><code>witch collapse practice feed shame open despair creek road again ice least
</code></pre>

<p>From a private-key or seed-phrase you can create a Wallet that will give you control over the Bitcoin.</p>

<p>Do not ever give the private key or seed phrase to anyone else. Especially not to anyone claiming they can help you.</p>

<p>Somewhere between a fifth and a third of all Bitcoin have been lost forever, partly in circumstances like this. Without the private-key they are unrecoverable. That represents billions of dollars woth of money, if it were possible to recover lost Bitcoin we would know about it.</p>

<p>You need the private-key or the seed-phrase. </p>

<p>If the encrypted-wallets have a wallet-password you do not know, and you suspect those wallets contain the private-key (and therefore control the Bitcoin), you can try looking for a written-down copy of the password or try guessing the password based on what your friend knows about her husband's other passwords. People spend months or years and considerable amounts of money trying this approach.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Do I need to transfer to one of the encrypted wallets to get it to work with the offline wallet.</strong></p>
</blockquote>

<p>No, there is nothing useful in the watch-only wallet.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>I would be willing to pay for help.</strong></p>
</blockquote>

<p>You'll get dozens or hundreds of offers to help, but I'd imagine they will almost all be from thieves and confidence tricksters.</p>

<hr>

<p>Related questions:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/18663/13866">Recovering bitcoins after the owner&#39;s death</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/3313/13866">Are there Bitcoin password crackers I can use to recover forgotten passwords?</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-21T12:59:44.703Z
2018-10-21T13:32:58.363Z
2018-10-21T13:32:58.363Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I am using Armory .96.4 with bitcoin core of .16.3 
I have three wallets which two are encrypted ant the other is watching only. The watching has several bit coins and when I try to do a transaction from the offline wallet I get an error that says that 
The wallet is watching only. Do I need to transfer to one of the encrypted wallets to get it to work with the offline wallet. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-21T02:35:30.593Z
I would be willing to pay for help.
Lizzy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-21T02:43:08.390Z
A watch only wallet means that your wallet contains only the addresses, but not the keys for those addresses. You need to sign the transaction using whichever wallet contains the keys. If you no longer have the keys, and have just watch only wallets, your BTC is inaccessible.
Raghav Sood
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-21T02:51:46.963Z
I am trying to help a friend that her husband passed away. I have armory.96.4 and bitcoin core .16.3 and it is synced and connected and online. I have two wallets that are encrypted and one that is watching only. The watching only has several bitcoins. So I try to do an offline transaction from the watching only and try to take it offline to sign. When I get it to the offline computer and try to sign it says that the wallet I am using is an offline wallet. Help needed.
Lizzy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-21T02:53:54.533Z
In armory I am able to get the keys for the encrypted wallets but not for the watching wallet.
Lizzy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-22T12:38:29.660Z
Very helpful. The two encrypted wallets have the root keys. I have even found one that has hex and base 58 numbers on it.  Do I need to try to send bitcoins from the watching wallet to the encrypted wallet?  I will try this evening and report my findings.
Lizzy
<wallet><private-key><armory>
Off Line wallets
Lizzy
# Off Line wallets

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-21)

I am using Armory .96.4 with bitcoin core of .16.3
I have three wallets which two are encrypted ant the other is watching only. The watching has several bit coins and when I try to do a transaction from the offline wallet I get an error that says that
The wallet is watching only. Do I need to transfer to one of the encrypted wallets to get it to work with the offline wallet.

**Tags:** wallet, private-key, armory

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I would be willing to pay for help.  
> **username_1**: A watch only wallet means that your wallet contains only the addresses, but not the keys for those addresses. You need to sign the transaction using whichever wallet contains the keys. If you no longer have the keys, and have just watch only wallets, your BTC is inaccessible.  
> **username_0**: I am trying to help a friend that her husband passed away. I have armory.96.4 and bitcoin core .16.3 and it is synced and connected and online. I have two wallets that are encrypted and one that is watching only. The watching only has several bitcoins. So I try to do an offline transaction from the watching only and try to take it offline to sign. When I get it to the offline computer and try to sign it says that the wallet I am using is an offline wallet. Help needed.  
> **username_0**: In armory I am able to get the keys for the encrypted wallets but not for the watching wallet.  
> **username_0**: Very helpful. The two encrypted wallets have the root keys. I have even found one that has hex and base 58 numbers on it.  Do I need to try to send bitcoins from the watching wallet to the encrypted wallet?  I will try this evening and report my findings.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-10-21. Score: 1

> **I have two wallets that are encrypted and one that is watching only. The watching only has several bitcoins.**

Then you don't have the private keys that control the Bitcoin. They are not in the Watch-Only wallet.

Your friend's husband may have written down the [private key](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key) on paper somewhere very very safe. It might look like this (hexadecimal)

```
E9873D79C6D87DC0FB6A5778633389F4453213303DA61F20BD67FC233AA33262

```

like this (WIF)

```
5Kb8kLf9zgWQnogidDA76MzPL6TsZZY36hWXMssSzNydYXYB9KF

```

or like this (minikey)

```
SzavMBLoXU6kDrqtUVmffv

```

Your friend's husband may instead have written down on paper a [seed-phrase](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Seed_phrase) that looks like

```
witch collapse practice feed shame open despair creek road again ice least

```

From a private-key or seed-phrase you can create a Wallet that will give you control over the Bitcoin.

Do not ever give the private key or seed phrase to anyone else. Especially not to anyone claiming they can help you.

Somewhere between a fifth and a third of all Bitcoin have been lost forever, partly in circumstances like this. Without the private-key they are unrecoverable. That represents billions of dollars woth of money, if it were possible to recover lost Bitcoin we would know about it.

You need the private-key or the seed-phrase.

If the encrypted-wallets have a wallet-password you do not know, and you suspect those wallets contain the private-key (and therefore control the Bitcoin), you can try looking for a written-down copy of the password or try guessing the password based on what your friend knows about her husband's other passwords. People spend months or years and considerable amounts of money trying this approach.

> **Do I need to transfer to one of the encrypted wallets to get it to work with the offline wallet.**

No, there is nothing useful in the watch-only wallet.

> **I would be willing to pay for help.**

You'll get dozens or hundreds of offers to help, but I'd imagine they will almost all be from thieves and confidence tricksters.

---

Related questions:

* [Recovering bitcoins after the owner's death](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/18663/13866)
* [Are there Bitcoin password crackers I can use to recover forgotten passwords?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/3313/13866)


---

