<ul>
<li><p>You can try to brute force the password, trying all the different possibilities for your password, it is also possible to make a script for this task, but only you who know what the password is could give some hints about it. The RPC password may give some hints about the password for the wallet.dat, but it is not really related to the wallet.dat file.</p>
</li>
<li><p>You shouldn't delete the blockchain, because if you want to sync the blockchain in that computer, you should keep the files there, but you could also copy the wallet.dat and move it to another computer with more storage.</p>
</li>
<li><p>No, usually the password encryption doesn't have anything to do with the network, so it is not necessary to be online.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Once you sync your wallet, you will see your balance, you could also use the command <code>listunspent</code> during that process in your QT wallet to see the public addresses which contain some funds.</p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-06T21:10:06.830Z
Considering the fact that I don't have enough space on the PC isn't it safe to delete the blockchain or does it contain some useful information for me to deduce my public address or similar stuff?..
Sir Muffington
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-06T21:20:17.297Z
In regards to the brute force approach, the OP could potentially use the password finder that comes with Wasabi Wallet: https://docs.wasabiwallet.io/using-wasabi/PasswordFinder.html   It is open source, so you could potentially modify the tool for your needs.
jesseaam
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-07T00:16:04.920Z
@SirMuffington, the biggest folders are blocks and chainstate, you can delete them if you want, they don't have any data that can help you with the wallet.dat, but the other files like bitcoin.conf, debug.log, I would keep them.
Luca Blight
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-06T20:41:40.037Z
2022-09-06T20:50:43.547Z
2022-09-06T20:50:43.547Z
Luca Blight
<p>I'm going to give a more optimistic answer, depending on what the user means by &quot;wallet gone&quot; in the subject line.</p>
<p>If they used a desktop bitcoin wallet, and they never backed it up, and they have thrown away the hard drive (or encrypted it multiple times and lost the key) then I think it's fair to say that their Bitcoin is irretrievably gone.</p>
<p>However, as I read the question, they simply stored their 12 word recovery phrase on their phone and then lost the phone. Their Bitcoin is still retrievable if a couple of conditions can be met:</p>
<p>If they used a web-based wallet (such as Blockchain.info) AND
They still control the email address that they used to register for that wallet AND
They remember part or all of the password to their wallet
Then they could retrieve their Bitcoin.</p>
<p>Here's how you'd do this if your wallet was on Blockchain.info:</p>
<p>Get your &quot;Wallet ID&quot;, either by finding your original &quot;Welcome to My Wallet&quot; email in your inbox, or
Go to <a href="https://blockchain.info/wallet/#/login" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://blockchain.info/wallet/#/login</a>
Click on “View Options”
Click “Remind Me”
Enter your email address and submit the form
Wait a few minutes while Blockchain.info emails you your Wallet ID
Next, if you remember your password you can login to Blockchain.info with your Wallet ID and your password. Problem solved.
If you don't remember your password, but you have your Wallet ID and you're confident that you know part of the password then [shameless plug] a service like ours (<a href="https://www.recovercrypto.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.recovercrypto.org</a>) can help you recover your password.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-07T14:45:36.670Z
Apparently none of the above applies, I even doubt blockchain.info even existed back then :/
Sir Muffington
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-07T16:17:16.427Z
Did "12 word recovery phrase" be a thing in 2014?
Mercedes
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-14T15:04:13.890Z
I doubt that... I don't recall any mmemonics
Sir Muffington
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-07T07:54:28.113Z
2022-11-07T07:54:28.113Z
Braxon
<p>I've bought Bitcoin back in 2014 and as my wallet I've used the <code>bitcoin-qt</code> client. Now I've remembered about it and I've recovered the <code>wallet.dat</code> file, but it's apparently encrypted by me (using bitcoin-qt) and I only remember what word was used for it, but not the whole password.</p>
<p>What I tried is downloading the <code>bitcoin-qt</code> client and tried unlocking the wallet via the console with <code>walletpassphrase &quot;passwordhere&quot; 60</code> but the password is never correct. I did this offline though.</p>
<p>So my questions would be:</p>
<ul>
<li>Can I somehow recover my password? Is there maybe a weakness in the encryption or something like that? I found a RPC password in a file, is that helpful in any way to unlock it?</li>
<li>Is it safe to delete the blockchain? If yes, which folders/files? That old PC of mine is lacking space apparently and it certainly can't fit the whole blockchain of today.</li>
<li>Could it be that being offline caused the wrong password prompt?</li>
<li>How could I possibly recover my public address of the wallet? I can see the transaction times, but the not the address apparently.</li>
</ul>

<bitcoin-core><wallet-recovery><wallet.dat>
Need help recovering my Bitcoin wallet and what can I cleanup on bitcoin-qt?
Sir Muffington
# Need help recovering my Bitcoin wallet and what can I cleanup on bitcoin-qt?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-09-06)

I've bought Bitcoin back in 2014 and as my wallet I've used the `bitcoin-qt` client. Now I've remembered about it and I've recovered the `wallet.dat` file, but it's apparently encrypted by me (using bitcoin-qt) and I only remember what word was used for it, but not the whole password.

What I tried is downloading the `bitcoin-qt` client and tried unlocking the wallet via the console with `walletpassphrase "passwordhere" 60` but the password is never correct. I did this offline though.

So my questions would be:

* Can I somehow recover my password? Is there maybe a weakness in the encryption or something like that? I found a RPC password in a file, is that helpful in any way to unlock it?
* Is it safe to delete the blockchain? If yes, which folders/files? That old PC of mine is lacking space apparently and it certainly can't fit the whole blockchain of today.
* Could it be that being offline caused the wrong password prompt?
* How could I possibly recover my public address of the wallet? I can see the transaction times, but the not the address apparently.

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, wallet-recovery, wallet.dat


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-09-06. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

* You can try to brute force the password, trying all the different possibilities for your password, it is also possible to make a script for this task, but only you who know what the password is could give some hints about it. The RPC password may give some hints about the password for the wallet.dat, but it is not really related to the wallet.dat file.
* You shouldn't delete the blockchain, because if you want to sync the blockchain in that computer, you should keep the files there, but you could also copy the wallet.dat and move it to another computer with more storage.
* No, usually the password encryption doesn't have anything to do with the network, so it is not necessary to be online.
* Once you sync your wallet, you will see your balance, you could also use the command `listunspent` during that process in your QT wallet to see the public addresses which contain some funds.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Considering the fact that I don't have enough space on the PC isn't it safe to delete the blockchain or does it contain some useful information for me to deduce my public address or similar stuff?..  
> **username_2**: In regards to the brute force approach, the OP could potentially use the password finder that comes with Wasabi Wallet: https://docs.wasabiwallet.io/using-wasabi/PasswordFinder.html   It is open source, so you could potentially modify the tool for your needs.  
> **username_1**: @username_0, the biggest folders are blocks and chainstate, you can delete them if you want, they don't have any data that can help you with the wallet.dat, but the other files like bitcoin.conf, debug.log, I would keep them.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-11-07. Score: 0

I'm going to give a more optimistic answer, depending on what the user means by "wallet gone" in the subject line.

If they used a desktop bitcoin wallet, and they never backed it up, and they have thrown away the hard drive (or encrypted it multiple times and lost the key) then I think it's fair to say that their Bitcoin is irretrievably gone.

However, as I read the question, they simply stored their 12 word recovery phrase on their phone and then lost the phone. Their Bitcoin is still retrievable if a couple of conditions can be met:

If they used a web-based wallet (such as Blockchain.info) AND
They still control the email address that they used to register for that wallet AND
They remember part or all of the password to their wallet
Then they could retrieve their Bitcoin.

Here's how you'd do this if your wallet was on Blockchain.info:

Get your "Wallet ID", either by finding your original "Welcome to My Wallet" email in your inbox, or
Go to <https://blockchain.info/wallet/#/login>
Click on “View Options”
Click “Remind Me”
Enter your email address and submit the form
Wait a few minutes while Blockchain.info emails you your Wallet ID
Next, if you remember your password you can login to Blockchain.info with your Wallet ID and your password. Problem solved.
If you don't remember your password, but you have your Wallet ID and you're confident that you know part of the password then [shameless plug] a service like ours (<https://www.recovercrypto.org>) can help you recover your password.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Apparently none of the above applies, I even doubt blockchain.info even existed back then :/  
> **username_4**: Did "12 word recovery phrase" be a thing in 2014?  
> **username_0**: I doubt that... I don't recall any mmemonics  

---

