<p>This is probably not an exhaustive list, but just from the top of my head. Generally, don’t rush things, take your time.</p>
<h1>Protecting against loss of access</h1>
<ul>
<li>Make at least two backups of your wallet</li>
<li>Ensure that you have the mnemonic seed phrase backup, and know where to find it, if applicable</li>
<li>Preferably before putting too much money into your wallet, test your backup</li>
<li>Test your backups regularly thereafter</li>
<li>Preferably keep one backup in a different physical location: Overall you should have at least three backups spread over at least two locations.</li>
</ul>
<h1>Protecting against malware and hacks</h1>
<ul>
<li>Download updates for your software only from the project’s website</li>
<li>Verify signatures on the installer</li>
<li>Consider using a dedicated machine for your wallet</li>
<li>Consider using an airgapped machine (an offline computer that you only use to sign transactions, creating the transactions with a watch-only machine that is online)</li>
</ul>
<h1>Reactivating your old wallet</h1>
<ul>
<li>Can’t repeat it often enough: before doing anything else, ensure that you have made backups of your wallet, and maybe also the Electrum installation on the old device.</li>
<li>Don’t fiddle with the old installation. It used to work as it was. If importing the wallet into a newer version of the software doesn’t work, we can fall back to it.</li>
<li>If you have any reason to believe that your device with the 2017 wallet is insecure, do not unlock the wallet on it.</li>
<li>Make a fresh install of the same wallet software on another device and import a copy of the wallet on the new device. Generally wallet software should be able to import any prior version’s wallet files.</li>
<li>If that works, consider moving to a fresh wallet. Create the wallet, set up backups, test backups, then move a small portion of the asset to the new wallet, familiarize yourself, and finally move everything a week or so later.</li>
<li>If it didn’t work, <strong>keep your old machine offline</strong>, and try to open the wallet on the old machine. If it opens, consider moving your funds to a new wallet in multiple steps as described above. As your device is offline, create the payment transactions on the old (offline!) computer, and only move the transactions to an online device to broadcast them.</li>
<li>If you run into any issues, don’t panic. You covered your bases with backups and by leaving your old install untouched, right? Ask about any issues you encounter on <strong>public forums</strong> like here. Do not respond to any helpful &quot;recovery experts&quot; or other direct messages. More often than not, anyone not engaging in public is a scammer trying to hoodwink you.</li>
</ul>
<h1>Claiming forkcoins</h1>
<ul>
<li>First recover your most valuable asset. Move them to a fresh wallet as described above.</li>
<li>Only after the most valuable asset has been completely moved to a fresh wallet, import the key material to a wallet for the next most valuable asset. Disburse the asset or move it to another independent fresh wallet, then move on until you feel it’s not worth the effort.</li>
<li>Note that selling your forkcoins may lead to a significant loss in privacy for your most valuable asset due to tying together your wallet history and revealing your ownership to the counterparty.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-30T15:18:58.790Z
2024-12-30T15:24:12.710Z
2024-12-30T15:24:12.710Z
Murch
<p>It's late 2024 and I have an old electrum wallet, not opened (or used) since before 2017 (and any/all forks that have happened since then).</p>
<p>How do I open it to minimize the risk of losing any funds?</p>
<p>(In bitcoin, or in any other forks that may be worth anything).</p>
<p>(Other questions I've found here, and google searches, all seem to have info too old or too new, or assuming knowledge I don't have).</p>

<wallet><electrum><blockchain-fork>
How to safely open an old electrum wallet from before any fork(s) (not opened since 2017)
MGOwen
# How to safely open an old electrum wallet from before any fork(s) (not opened since 2017)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-12-28)

It's late 2024 and I have an old electrum wallet, not opened (or used) since before 2017 (and any/all forks that have happened since then).

How do I open it to minimize the risk of losing any funds?

(In bitcoin, or in any other forks that may be worth anything).

(Other questions I've found here, and google searches, all seem to have info too old or too new, or assuming knowledge I don't have).

**Tags:** wallet, electrum, blockchain-fork


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-12-30. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

This is probably not an exhaustive list, but just from the top of my head. Generally, don’t rush things, take your time.

# Protecting against loss of access

* Make at least two backups of your wallet
* Ensure that you have the mnemonic seed phrase backup, and know where to find it, if applicable
* Preferably before putting too much money into your wallet, test your backup
* Test your backups regularly thereafter
* Preferably keep one backup in a different physical location: Overall you should have at least three backups spread over at least two locations.

# Protecting against malware and hacks

* Download updates for your software only from the project’s website
* Verify signatures on the installer
* Consider using a dedicated machine for your wallet
* Consider using an airgapped machine (an offline computer that you only use to sign transactions, creating the transactions with a watch-only machine that is online)

# Reactivating your old wallet

* Can’t repeat it often enough: before doing anything else, ensure that you have made backups of your wallet, and maybe also the Electrum installation on the old device.
* Don’t fiddle with the old installation. It used to work as it was. If importing the wallet into a newer version of the software doesn’t work, we can fall back to it.
* If you have any reason to believe that your device with the 2017 wallet is insecure, do not unlock the wallet on it.
* Make a fresh install of the same wallet software on another device and import a copy of the wallet on the new device. Generally wallet software should be able to import any prior version’s wallet files.
* If that works, consider moving to a fresh wallet. Create the wallet, set up backups, test backups, then move a small portion of the asset to the new wallet, familiarize yourself, and finally move everything a week or so later.
* If it didn’t work, **keep your old machine offline**, and try to open the wallet on the old machine. If it opens, consider moving your funds to a new wallet in multiple steps as described above. As your device is offline, create the payment transactions on the old (offline!) computer, and only move the transactions to an online device to broadcast them.
* If you run into any issues, don’t panic. You covered your bases with backups and by leaving your old install untouched, right? Ask about any issues you encounter on **public forums** like here. Do not respond to any helpful "recovery experts" or other direct messages. More often than not, anyone not engaging in public is a scammer trying to hoodwink you.

# Claiming forkcoins

* First recover your most valuable asset. Move them to a fresh wallet as described above.
* Only after the most valuable asset has been completely moved to a fresh wallet, import the key material to a wallet for the next most valuable asset. Disburse the asset or move it to another independent fresh wallet, then move on until you feel it’s not worth the effort.
* Note that selling your forkcoins may lead to a significant loss in privacy for your most valuable asset due to tying together your wallet history and revealing your ownership to the counterparty.


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