Bitcoin Recovery: A Guide on How to Recover a Bitcoin Wallet
Owning bitcoin comes with the responsibility of taking care of your coins. That means things can also go wrong and you could lose access to your Bitcoin wallet. Therefore, it’s essential to know how you can recover it.
In this guide, you’ll learn in which cases you might need to recover your wallet, the available options for recovering a Bitcoin wallet, and whether you should consider hiring a professional bitcoin recovery service to help you regain access to your BTC.
In this article:
When You Might Need Bitcoin Wallet Recovery Services
Even if you store your Bitcoin securely, you may have encountered a situation in which you forgot the password to your Bitcoin wallet, or it's simply not working. However, there's no reason to panic as there are multiple ways of recovering your wallet.
In either case, there are two main reasons you might have lost access to your Bitcoin wallet.
Forgetting Your Wallet Password
Bitcoin wallets, no matter if they’re self-custodial, custodial, online, or hardware, are usually protected with a password or PIN. If you forget it or lose it, you won’t be able to use the wallet and access your BTC.
However, in this case, the difference between self-custodial and custodial wallets is that your password to the latter wallet could be restored with help from your wallet provider.
Meanwhile, when you lose your password to your self-custodial bitcoin wallet, you’ll need to use your seed phrase to recover it. This is another reminder that it’s essential to have your seed words backed up securely.
Lost or Broken Wallet
Next, both online and hardware wallets can malfunction. Also, there are many cases where hardware wallets are lost, for example, in boating accidents, or are physically damaged. You can also lose or damage your smartphone on which you’re using a Bitcoin wallet app.
As with losing your password, if you’re using a self-custodial wallet (which you always should), you’ll also need your seed phrase to recover your wallet.
In the hardware wallet case, you’ll need to purchase a new device or, if you’re in a hurry to use your BTC, recover access to your money with the help of a mobile wallet before moving your funds back to a new hardware wallet.
In case of a physical wallet loss, once it’s recovered, it’s best to create a new wallet and send your funds to a new address. This is an additional security step in case someone can access your old hardware device or mobile device with your wallet.
Beware of Scam Recovery Services!
If you need help with recovering your Bitcoin wallet, beware of malicious actors who seek to trick bitcoin holders and steal their funds.
Just remember that a legitimate recovery service will never ask you for access to your seed phrase; it is only there to help you navigate the process as smoothly as possible. Also, don’t provide any other sensitive information, such as email or any other passwords, phone numbers that might be used to steal BTC, and don’t click on suspicious links. When contacting custodial wallet support, make sure you’re using their official email address.
5 Bitcoin Wallet Recovery Methods You Should Know About
Depending on your situation, you can choose among different ways of recovering your Bitcoin wallet.
Bitcoin Recovery Seed Phrases
The most common option for recovering your Bitcoin wallet is to use your seed phrase, usually consisting of 12 or 24 words, which need to be entered in the exact order once you’re recovering your wallet. On mobile, you’ll usually need to reinstall the app.
Meanwhile, if you still have a functioning hardware wallet but have only lost your password to the device, you’ll need to wipe your wallet clean first.
Don’t worry at this point; if you have access to your seed phrase, you can restore your wallet at any time. Once the wallet is back in factory settings, you can restore it by entering your seed phrase again and choosing a new password.
Using Backup Files
Some wallets also offer backup files to recover your wallet. These backup files, such as wallet.dat can usually be downloaded during the wallet setup process. They contain your private and public keys, scripts, key metadata, and the transactions related to your wallet.
If you're using a hierarchical deterministic wallet (HD Wallet), meaning it generates all of its keys and addresses from a single source, the wallet.dat file will also store the HD seed and the derivation paths for each private key.
This recovery process is similar to entering your seed phrase, but instead of importing the words, you’ll be guided to upload the backup file. Once the file is read, the wallet will restore, giving you access to your BTC.
Bitcoin Wallet Recovery Tools
The market also offers different Bitcoin wallet recovery tools that might require more technical knowledge.
For example, some open source solutions are offering wallet and seed recovery tools, which might help when you have lost/forgotten parts of your seed phrase or made errors when writing it down. However, it might work only if a small part of the seed phrase is lost or you have some idea what the password might be. This type of recovery might take hours, days, or even longer and is usually offered by Bitcoin experts.
In either case, always verify the security of these tools; ideally, use a verified open-source tool. If you’re unsure, contact a Bitcoin consultancy to help out with that step.
Custodial wallet support
If you’re using a custodial wallet, their support team is likely to be able to help you regain access to your wallet. It mostly relates to password recovery services, as these types of wallets control your private keys, and you don’t have a seed phrase for your BTC, effectively relying on a third party.
Some hardware wallets, such as Ledger, offer additional paid services that might help secure your seed phrase, but, again, this increases your dependence on a third party.
Bitcoin Recovery Expert Services
If you’re new to Bitcoin or encounter a serious problem with recovering your wallet, Bitcoin recovery experts will help you restore your wallet. These services are often offered by Bitcoin consultancies, such as the Bitcoin Way, as they have hands-on experience with Bitcoin recovery.
They can guide you through the entire process and know the ins and outs of all different wallet types.
Should You Hire a Bitcoin Recovery Service to Restore Your Wallet?
Hiring a Bitcoin recovery service might be a better option if you’re unsure how to recover your Bitcoin wallet, especially if the problem is unique and requires deeper know-how, so you won’t lose your funds.
Here’s why hiring a consultancy might help:
- Expert know-how: Bitcoin recovery services know the different recovery methods and might have the right solution for you.
- Time saving: Instead of wasting time with research and a lot of trial and error, you can cut that time by using a Bitcoin recovery service.
- Access to specialized tools: Many Bitcoin recovery experts have access to specialized tools and know how to use them.
- No up-front costs: Many Bitcoin wallet recovery experts only charge you if they’ve successfully recovered your wallet.
- Hardware support: Bitcoin wallet recovery services may offer specialized solutions for hardware wallet issues that manufacturers don't support.
- Secure information transfer: Legitimate Bitcoin wallet recovery specialists won’t ask you for sensitive information, such as seed phrase, and will honor your privacy.
- One-on-one consulting: During the recovery process, a Bitcoin expert can also consult you about your wallet security and give you tips on improving your setup in the future.
All these benefits result in a higher chance of your Bitcoin wallet recovery.
Recover Your Bitcoin Wallet With The Bitcoin Way
Knowing how to recover your Bitcoin wallet is as important as knowing how to self-custody your coins.
While it’s part of the sovereign and self-responsible way of using Bitcoin, depending on your situation, it can be trickier than you might think.
This is where The Bitcoin Way can help. Our team has extensive experience in bitcoin recovery, self-custody, and personal cybersecurity. If you are looking for a more hands-on approach and help to recover your Bitcoin wallet, book an appointment with us, and we’ll help you find a solution that works best for you.
FAQs
Can you recover stolen bitcoin?
If someone stole your bitcoin by gaining access to your wallet, it’s usually almost impossible to return the funds, unless you and/or law enforcement manage to catch the criminal or they agree to return the money. However, if your BTC was stolen from a custodial service, such as an exchange, the company behind it might be able to compensate your losses.
Who can help me recover my bitcoin?
There are dedicated bitcoin recovery services that specialize in this. You often find them at Bitcoin consultancies, which have recovery services for each type of wallet. One of these consultancies is The Bitcoin Way. You can book an appointment here to discuss your case.
Is it possible to retrieve lost bitcoin?
This depends on how you lost your Bitcoin. If you lose access to your Bitcoin wallet–forgot your password, lost device, etc.–but you do have your seed phrase secured, you’ll be able to recover your wallet and access your BTC. Without your wallet’s seed phrase, it will be a lot more challenging but not entirely impossible.