Recovering my wallet

Hey everyone, I lost my wallet password. I tried to recover it but couldn't use the seed phrase. I read somewhere that going back to version 4.6.2 of the software could fix it. Now I can put in the seed phrase, but it's asking for a bunch of extra info. Like a master key and a list of Bitcoin addresses or private keys? When I enter the 12 words, the next button just stays gray? What's the deal with needing a master key and those address lists? Any ideas? Oh, and I actually found the password now! (Fingers crossed it’s the right one.) But I can't find where to enter it. Thanks a lot!

Your 12 word seed phrase is all you need to recover your wallet. If your seed phrase is correct, you should be able to click "next" button. Just note that if your seed phrase is BIP39, you need to click options and check "BIP39".

Thank you for awnsering. I tried it many times. Buton is gray There is no options button, by the way it is possible to post screenshots? Another thing is, when i click "create new wallet" then there is a seed phrase with 13 words. maybe it depends on that...?

Which wallet do you use? The version number sounds like Electrum, but 13 words makes no sense. Before posting screenshots: be very careful what you're posting! Your post can use some structure, start with this:

Thanks for the answer! Oh, I thought this was an Electrum forum because I came from the Electrum website, sorry. Yes, it’s version 4.6.2. HP notebook  OS is Linux Mint 21.3. Problem: reinstalling version 4.6.2 of the program doesn´t help. Now I can enter the seed phrase, but it’s asking for a lot of additional data? Like a master key and a list of bitcoin adresses or list of private keys? If i enter the 12 words, the next button stays gray. and what i need this for? ...  a master key and a list of bitcoin adresses or list of private keys Yes 13 words makes no sense at all

Are you sure you’re actually entering the right words and you’re not making mistake, because the only time where you see the next button been greyed out (disabled) is when the seed phrase is not correct either wrong spelling, wrong order or not in the list of the wordlist and this creates an invalid checksum as such the next button would be greyed out. Also are sure you’re recovering the wallet through the seed phrase window because you shouldn’t be seeing things like master keys or Public keys, if you’re in this window page then the seed phrase inserted there is wrong and the reason for the greyed next button. Use this link to actually restore the wallet using seed phrase. Also a 13th word means the passphrase if you had actually set it but this doesn’t grey out the next button but rather allows you to recover a different wallet aside the one with passphrase

Yes, I am sure. I tried it around 17 times  ... seeing things like master keys or Public keys,... i dont see it. The tool ask for it in this recovery window. like: enter your seedphrase, a master key and a list of bitcoin adresses or list of private keys weird

Where are you looking at? As already said, all you need to do is import your seed phrase. Your master keys and all your addresses are all generated from your seed phrase. Select "Standard wallet" and then "I already have a seed". If your seed phrase is BIP39, you need to click options and check "BIP39".

Either you should see enter your seed phrase or masterkey,list of addresses or private keys, because in Electrum you can't see both in one window. As mentioned in the previous reply, just make sure you are following the right steps: create a new wallet = I already have a seed = then enter your seed phrase. If you are using import wallet then you can use the private key which imports the addresses that you enter not the whole wallet.

Let's start with the obvious: from which website did you download your Electrum wallet software exactly? The genuine website for Electrum (for Bitcoin) is https://electrum.org Did you verify your downloaded file? Does it have a correct signature? There are topics in the Electrum board that explain in detail how to verify the signature of the Electrum download file. The correct board for Electrum wallet is here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=98.0 You can upload screenshots to https://talkimg.com and this site provides you ready-to-use BBcode tags to embed pictures. Because you are a Newbie, you won't see embedded pictures in [img]...[/img] tags as pictures but only as links, but if a higher ranked member cites your "picture links" the embedded picture will be visible. Again: do not post a screenshot of your recovery words or anything that could compromise your wallet recovery details! Be very cautious if you're contacted via personal message by some forum stranger who claims to be able to recover your wallet.

There are two possible issues here: either your seed phrase is not the Electrum version, or you are using a phishing Electrum wallet because you said it asks for a list of private keys and master keys. You better tell us more: where did you download and install Electrum? If your seed phrase is correct, you don't need those master keys or private keys. If the button is greyed out after pasting or typing the exact seed phrase, you might have a BIP39 seed phrase. You can try enabling BIP39 on the option and check if you can click the next button.

OP must visit the official website of Electrum wallet, download the wallet software file for installation, and it's recommended to verify it too. [GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum. The paranoid user's security guide for using Electrum safely. Displayed in grey and can not click on Next, means one or some words typed inaccurately and don't belong to Electrum word list. https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/electrum/wordlist/english.txt

Oh no, there are lots of red flags: While those are in legit Electrum's recover window, those should be in separate options and not a unified restore text box. Electrum's seed phrase text box should have an "Options" button. Electrum's website has a direct link to Electrum board, not here in Tech Support nor Bitcointalk's home page. There's only a certain old Electrum version with this bug that miscalculated the number of words to create. But definitely not in v4.6.2. Then you clicked the provided link to a supposedly download page of Electrum v4.6.2?

Good Morning and thank you a lot for the support! I wrote a long Post the last half hour, but when did click the POST button, i had to login again. System kicked me out. Is this normal? Where can I find the drafts, cause i clicked the pre... button. That is really annoying... I am gonnna download it from official website and verify the checksum etc. MANY THANKS @ ALL

I haven't experienced this. Maybe an issue in your browser's cookie, cache or something. There's a small "draft" button under the text box (where you write your reply) but posts are only saved there once you clicked "Preview" or when you successfully posted it.

Yes, probably a problem with my browser, it's too strictly secured. VirusTotal: No security vendors flagged this file as malicious     -     electrum-4.6.2-x86_64.AppImage Go to the website ->Community -> Support. The 3. point You can ask questions on bitcointalk.org Hmmm, i saw it definitely in v4.6.2 No, of course not. Hey cricktor, thanks for helping me. Yes, i dowloaded it from the original site. Yes. I used GtkHash. Everything seems to be fine. And once again for everyone: I downloaded it from the electrum website! https://electrum.org I am sure! ...13 words https://talkimg.com/images/2025/12/09/UTEtNj.png https://talkimg.com/images/2025/12/09/UTEFxD.png I feel a bit treated like an idiot here. Sorry, not from all of course. Bye

If you downloaded the electrum from the official website, verified the signatures, and are sure you copied the passphrase correctly and accurately, you're most likely entering it incorrectly, or you're trying to recover a different type of wallet. Perhaps you created an extended passphrase, which is why the traditional method is failing, as its checksum won't work, especially if you've used that option.

Quoted for visibility. Very odd that you have a mix of languages, especially in the first dialog. Not really sure what's going on wrong here, especially if I assume that you executed the AppImage which you once mentioned to have checked at virustotal.com. I also execute Electrum from a verified AppImage file: electrum-4.6.2-x86_64.AppImage, size 84419776 bytes sha256sum: This is how the seed creation dialog looks like with my AppImage executable (dark theme): I've never seen a dialog title with "Install Wizard" with proper Electrum. I've also never seen such a "combo restore" dialog as shown in your second screenshot. Whatever you have there as an executable, it's not genuine Bitcoin Electrum, I'm pretty sure of this.

Hey Cricktor, thx for reply. Yes the mixed language is totaly weird. And not only that. In the meantime, I found a piece of paper with another seed phrase that was crossed out — probably from an older installation.  My idea is to install Electrum on another Linux machine, or even on a Windows PC.  The mix of German and English could be due to one of the browsers I use being set to English. — this one here, Firefox, is in German and, as mentioned, configured very restrictively. But it shouldn’t be related.... The system time on this notebook has also been changed several times — to London, Lisbon, and Berlin.  I also found the password again. I’m in the middle of moving, so everything is quite chaotic at the moment.  Maybe it was a mistake to reinstall Electum? Hmm, although it didn’t work before either. That’s why the reinstallation.  Tomorrow is another Day.....

The image shows the mix of languages between English and German in your Electrum wallet, not in your web browser. You are confusing another point. And the mix of English and German in an Electrum wallet is impossible too. I configured my Preferences, changed language from Default (English) to German, and my Electrum wallet does not show any language mixture like yours. It's weird.