<p>The &quot;Create Unsigned&quot; button is only available to wallets with private keys disabled (i.e. watch only wallets). So you will need to create a new wallet and choose the &quot;Disable private keys&quot; option.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-15T16:18:40.640Z
2022-02-15T16:18:40.640Z
Ava Chow
<p>I am trying to create a .psbt using BitcoinCore on mainnet. The use-case is that I want to be able to export the unsigned transaction, import it into my cold-storage wallet (using BitcoinCore) and sign it, to then broadcast it. I have successfully done this using Electrum as a hot wallet to generate the transaction, but would like to move away from any third party software.</p>
<p>Basically I am trying to follow the steps from <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/99111/create-unsigned-tx-psbt-in-a-watch-only-wallet-using-bitcoin-core-sign-it-in">this post</a>, but it does not work. The problem is that BitcoinCore will recognize the balance as watch only (as it should) but when trying to create a transaction I can not find the coin inputs listed anywhere (under the Coin Control feature).</p>
<p>The base transaction is <a href="https://live.blockcypher.com/btc/tx/b69314fff08ae8b58c41d653ea212d9e1f2ecf683f0ea96ee5f9c52f22b0a189/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">b69314fff08ae8b58c41d653ea212d9e1f2ecf683f0ea96ee5f9c52f22b0a189</a> and my address is <a href="https://live.blockcypher.com/btc/address/bc1q4xuxxf6mmcyk9q3k3lufhr7rlsn9hzhrvkdgqz/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bc1q4xuxxf6mmcyk9q3k3lufhr7rlsn9hzhrvkdgqz</a>. For Electrum, all I had to do to generate a .psbt was importing the address. I have tried importing the address into BitcoinCore using</p>
<pre><code>importaddress bc1q4xuxxf6mmcyk9q3k3lufhr7rlsn9hzhrvkdgqz
</code></pre>
<p>and also importing the public key using the <code>importpubkey</code> command, then re-scanning the wallet. Nothing worked.</p>
<p>I also tried the following command (and multiple variations of it) which some people claimed fixed the issue for them:</p>
<pre><code>importmulti '[{&quot;desc&quot;: &quot;wpkh([a9b86327]0391f12147a67c291785baf634187f7ad24d4e491b07f53543a33f7705736efeb6)#jpxe908h&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;: &quot;now&quot;,&quot;watchonly&quot;: true}]'
</code></pre>
<p>using inputs provided by <code>getaddressinfo</code>. Again no coin inputs were selectable after re-scanning the wallet.</p>
<p>Is there something I am doing wrong? I am a bit confused why BitcoinCore will not allow me to create a .psbt even though Electrum did instantly (and I was subsequently able to import and sign it using BitcoinCore).</p>
<p>Also, would someone be able to explain in simple terms what the <code>desc</code> field is doing? <a href="https://bitcoindevkit.org/descriptors/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">From what I gather</a>, it holds a descriptor that tells the wallet how to generate addresses, but I could use a short example to understand it better.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-12T18:17:56.930Z
Did you create the wallet with private keys disabled?
Ava Chow
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-12T18:44:11.457Z
No, addresses generated within the wallet have private keys (using dumpprivkey). I left the standard settings unchanged when I created it.
David
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-14T02:18:34.590Z
You will need to use a wallet with private keys disabled (choose that option when creating the wallet) in order for the `Create unsigned` button to appear.
Ava Chow
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-15T10:12:38.613Z
Thank you, turns out this solves it. Intuitively I assumed a full-wallet would have a superset of the functionality of a watch-only one and was therefore expecting the problem to be more complex. If you like to post it as an answer, I'd accept it.
David
<bitcoin-core><coldstorage><bip174-psbt>
Create a .psbt using the BitcoinCore client
David
# Create a .psbt using the BitcoinCore client

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-02-12)

I am trying to create a .psbt using BitcoinCore on mainnet. The use-case is that I want to be able to export the unsigned transaction, import it into my cold-storage wallet (using BitcoinCore) and sign it, to then broadcast it. I have successfully done this using Electrum as a hot wallet to generate the transaction, but would like to move away from any third party software.

Basically I am trying to follow the steps from [this post](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/99111/create-unsigned-tx-psbt-in-a-watch-only-wallet-using-bitcoin-core-sign-it-in), but it does not work. The problem is that BitcoinCore will recognize the balance as watch only (as it should) but when trying to create a transaction I can not find the coin inputs listed anywhere (under the Coin Control feature).

The base transaction is [b69314fff08ae8b58c41d653ea212d9e1f2ecf683f0ea96ee5f9c52f22b0a189](https://live.blockcypher.com/btc/tx/b69314fff08ae8b58c41d653ea212d9e1f2ecf683f0ea96ee5f9c52f22b0a189/) and my address is [bc1q4xuxxf6mmcyk9q3k3lufhr7rlsn9hzhrvkdgqz](https://live.blockcypher.com/btc/address/bc1q4xuxxf6mmcyk9q3k3lufhr7rlsn9hzhrvkdgqz/). For Electrum, all I had to do to generate a .psbt was importing the address. I have tried importing the address into BitcoinCore using

```
importaddress bc1q4xuxxf6mmcyk9q3k3lufhr7rlsn9hzhrvkdgqz

```

and also importing the public key using the `importpubkey` command, then re-scanning the wallet. Nothing worked.

I also tried the following command (and multiple variations of it) which some people claimed fixed the issue for them:

```
importmulti '[{"desc": "wpkh([a9b86327]0391f12147a67c291785baf634187f7ad24d4e491b07f53543a33f7705736efeb6)#jpxe908h","timestamp": "now","watchonly": true}]'

```

using inputs provided by `getaddressinfo`. Again no coin inputs were selectable after re-scanning the wallet.

Is there something I am doing wrong? I am a bit confused why BitcoinCore will not allow me to create a .psbt even though Electrum did instantly (and I was subsequently able to import and sign it using BitcoinCore).

Also, would someone be able to explain in simple terms what the `desc` field is doing? [From what I gather](https://bitcoindevkit.org/descriptors/), it holds a descriptor that tells the wallet how to generate addresses, but I could use a short example to understand it better.

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, coldstorage, bip174-psbt

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Did you create the wallet with private keys disabled?  
> **username_0**: No, addresses generated within the wallet have private keys (using dumpprivkey). I left the standard settings unchanged when I created it.  
> **username_1**: You will need to use a wallet with private keys disabled (choose that option when creating the wallet) in order for the `Create unsigned` button to appear.  
> **username_0**: Thank you, turns out this solves it. Intuitively I assumed a full-wallet would have a superset of the functionality of a watch-only one and was therefore expecting the problem to be more complex. If you like to post it as an answer, I'd accept it.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-02-15. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The "Create Unsigned" button is only available to wallets with private keys disabled (i.e. watch only wallets). So you will need to create a new wallet and choose the "Disable private keys" option.


---

