<p>A watch-only wallet is exactly what the name says: a wallet that watches a set of addresses, but cannot spend those funds.</p>
<p>Watch-only wallets are for example used to track incoming payments without exposing the private key material to a server. A watch-only wallet is created by importing only the addresses or public keys from some other complete wallet that is kept on a more secure system or fully offline.</p>
<p>Anyone can create a wallet that watches specific addresses, because addresses and transactions are public information. Spending the funds requires the private keys. If you have a watch-only wallet, you can <em>watch</em> the activity of a wallet, but cannot control the funds.</p>
<p>If you created the wallet, you may have accidentally imported an address or extended public key (xpub) into the wallet instead of importing the private keys. If you imported this information from another wallet, the original wallet that you created the address with should be able to sign for the transactions.</p>
<p><strong>If someone else created a wallet for you that turns out to be a watch-only wallet unexpectedly, they are likely trying to scam you. They are showing you funds that you do not control, likely to defraud you of money in some way.</strong></p>
<p>If you don't have the private key, you cannot spend the coins. If nobody else has it either, the coins are lost.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-05-22T05:47:48.257Z
2024-11-04T15:29:31.203Z
2024-11-04T15:29:31.203Z
Murch
<p>I have a watch-only wallet with BTC in there. How do I transfer to another wallet? I don't seem to have a key. Is that possible? I can find the transactions on the blockchain, but can't seem to do any transfers.</p>

<watch-only>
How do I transfer from a watch-only wallet to my other wallets?
EVIE
# How do I transfer from a watch-only wallet to my other wallets?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-22)

I have a watch-only wallet with BTC in there. How do I transfer to another wallet? I don't seem to have a key. Is that possible? I can find the transactions on the blockchain, but can't seem to do any transfers.

**Tags:** watch-only


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-05-22. Score: 1

A watch-only wallet is exactly what the name says: a wallet that watches a set of addresses, but cannot spend those funds.

Watch-only wallets are for example used to track incoming payments without exposing the private key material to a server. A watch-only wallet is created by importing only the addresses or public keys from some other complete wallet that is kept on a more secure system or fully offline.

Anyone can create a wallet that watches specific addresses, because addresses and transactions are public information. Spending the funds requires the private keys. If you have a watch-only wallet, you can *watch* the activity of a wallet, but cannot control the funds.

If you created the wallet, you may have accidentally imported an address or extended public key (xpub) into the wallet instead of importing the private keys. If you imported this information from another wallet, the original wallet that you created the address with should be able to sign for the transactions.

**If someone else created a wallet for you that turns out to be a watch-only wallet unexpectedly, they are likely trying to scam you. They are showing you funds that you do not control, likely to defraud you of money in some way.**

If you don't have the private key, you cannot spend the coins. If nobody else has it either, the coins are lost.


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