Locked out of your wallet? Do this first — and above all, don't do this

The moment a password is refused for the third time, or an old laptop won't boot, triggers a reflex: do something now. That reflex causes most of the damage. What you do and don't do in the first hours often decides whether a recovery is still possible.

What not to do

1. Keep trying

Some wallets lock after a number of wrong attempts; hardware wallets even wipe themselves. Software that doesn't do that gains you nothing either: if you don't know the password after ten attempts, you won't know it after a hundred. What you do lose is the overview of what you have already tried — and that overview is valuable for a recovery.

2. Move, clean up or "repair" files

A damaged wallet.dat or a half-readable backup is rare but recoverable. A file overwritten by a clean-up tool is not. Leave everything where it is. At most make a copy, and work only on that.

3. Download recovery software

"Wallet recovery tool", "seed finder", "password cracker": most of what you find under those names is malware that does exactly what you fear. Someone locked out of a wallet is a grateful target — see also how to spot a recovery scam.

4. Share your seed phrase or key

With no one, through no channel. Not with me either. A serious party never asks for it over the internet.

What to do

1. Write down what you know

When you created the wallet, on which device, with which software and version. Which passwords you used in that period, and in what pattern. Which words of the seed phrase you still have, and in what order. Where you looked for the backup and didn't find it. It seems trivial, but it is the most important material for a recovery.

2. Collect every device and medium

Old laptops, phones, USB sticks, external drives, a slip of paper in a book. Also devices you think are "empty". Don't power on anything that has been off for years before you know what you're looking for: an old drive that boots one more time should make that moment count.

3. Check whether there is anything to recover

With a public address or a transaction id you can see on a blockchain explorer whether the balance is still there. It costs nothing and answers a question that removes a lot of stress.

4. Pin down what exactly is missing

A forgotten password, part of the seed phrase, a file that won't open, a device that no longer works: each has a different approach, and not every situation is recoverable. A completely lost seed phrase with no other material, for instance, is not — however firmly someone claims otherwise.

5. Have it assessed before you pay anything

An intake costs you fifteen minutes and nothing else. If the picture is that a recovery won't work, you'll hear that. If it is promising, an agreement and verification come first, and you pay only once you are back in your wallet yourself.

In short: stop, keep everything, write down what you know, and have it assessed. Haste is rarely a friend here.