Restoring an old Blockchain BTC wallet using just a JSON file

Back in 2012 or 2013, I had some bitcoin on what used to be called blockchain.info. I managed to dig up the old email that had the "wallet.aes.json" file attached. It mentions that this file is all I need to get my wallet back. So, how do I actually restore my wallet with just this JSON file? I’d really appreciate any guidance.

With this statement, you can't. When they said "it is all I would ever need to recover it", it means that you don't need to use their online wallet service to recover your Bitcoins. But that file is encrypted with your password, without it, your only option is to bruteforce. But to bruteforce the password, you'll have to at least know a good portion of your possible passwords, it can't start from blank.

I do have ideas of what it could be. Where do I go to use the JSON file?

You will need to brute force your wallet password. Succeed or fail with wallet brute force, it will depend on how strong or weak your wallet password is, and how many clue words or characters of wallet password you have. It seems you have no clue for it. It will be affected by your computer computational power to brute force the password too. A video guide on Youtube. If your password is too strong, forget about brute forcing it. https://www.hivesystems.com/blog/are-your-passwords-in-the-green

I understand cracking the password. I just dont understand where to use the JSON file. As in where do i import it

Only do it on an Air-Gap machine with good specs and preferably, with supported GPU of the Bruteforce tool. Do not use any tool that requires to be online and do not blindly trust anyone to do it for you if it has any significant amount. One recommended and well-reviewed bruteforce tool that supports wallet.aes.json file is "BTCRecover": https://github.com/3rdIteration/btcrecover Here's its documentation for setup and basics: https://btcrecover.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ If you need help with the creation of a "token" file based from what you have, reply with a good description of your known passwords, not the possible passwords themselves. Something like this: "It's 14 characters, the first 6 are something like asdfgh, qwerty or zxcvbn, the 7th and 8th are numbers, I'm missing the last 6" Now, depending on the situation (number of missing or how accurate the known characters are), it may be easy or impossible to bruteforce.

If you wish to use blockchain.info (now .com) again, here is their direct upload: https://login.blockchain.com/beta/legacy-pages/import-wallet.html

Thanks, when i use this link and drag my wallet in it prompt me to set a new password. After setting new password it takes me all the way back to the beginning of the process? What does this mean?

I believe the new password is for the creation of a new account, which would have the wallet file imported. Odd if there is a feedback-loop-bug thing going on though.. Tell their support if you can't figure it out. Good luck.

Do you mean this prompt after dragging the wallet.aes.json file?: Because that's asking for the dropped wallet's password (when the 'wallet.aes.json' backup is created). Without the correct password, you will not be able to restore it to their online wallet. But I've tested that link and it seems broken in their v5 beta online wallet, even provided with the correct password, it'll just send you back to their home page. Please be careful on restoring your wallet to their website if you think it has high balance though since it's all done online. It would be safer to decrypt it using their old but working "my wallet decryption tool" (GitHub Link) after recovering the correct password, which can all be done entirely offline.

yes, upon entering the correc password it propts e to create a new one and then does nothing... it says "Private keys successfully imported, please enter a password for the new wallet. It must be at least 10 characters in length." What would decrypting it provide??

I though you don't know the password? Anyways, it's good news if you remembered it since all you have to do is to decrypt the wallet.aes.json file to get your keys. With their decryption tool? If provided with the correct password; it'll show you the contents of you wallet file with plain "Base58" private keys (not encrypted). Then you can use any reputable tool to encode that to WIF (Wallet Import Format) aka "Base58Check" to be able to import to another client like Electrum. E.g.: Brainwallet's fork (link) has a built-in "converter" that can be used offline (in the Air-Gap machine where the description should be done).

Well i happened to guess the correct password. I just want to bring it into my blockchain account. and its not letting me

Hi all, have same issue... i have json file from 2013 , have correct password. https://i.ibb.co/5xfhCz6J/2025-11-14-08-59-46.png https://i.ibb.co/Fq4WJ0cy/2025-11-14-09-01-29.png but i am getting Verification failed Please return to Blockchain.com to try again. Internal Server Error any ideas ?

It says "Internal Server Error" so the issue is not in your browser (client). Perhaps it's an issue alongside with their new update since the link was working in OP's case. Anyways, you can only ask their support if the issue is server-side. Your alternative is to export your wallet's private keys and import those to another wallet. Check this Blockchain(dot)com Mega-Thread for the steps: /index.php?topic=5489371.0 (some linked threads are old)

If you know the passphrase, I believe this github tool mentioned here by nc50lc will work. Have you tried it? I remember that Multibit Classic used to import blockchain (.info) backup files, am I wrong? I did several tests around 2017 when I imported backups from Bitcoin wallet (Schildbatch wallet) and Multibit imported them correctly (and the reverse also worked). Edit: After a quick search, it might be possible to restore it using older Multibit Classic software, Check the topics below: How do I import to MultiBit from Blockchain.info?     Blockchain.info (*.aes.json) -> Multibit (*.wallet) ou (*.key)

Yes, your second link isn't officially made by MultiBit but that worked and the first link shows that MultiBit was updated to do it natively. But, it'll just add another step to export from MultiBit than just exporting it using their official decryption tool. (offline) If it's online to directly spend using MultiBit after import, it isn't easy to sync with BIP37's depreciation.