The complete index
Wallet password recovery guides
Every guide on this site in one place, in the order that works: first understand exactly what you lost, then search for it, rebuild the password from memory, pick the right tool and run it. Everything is free, runs offline on your own machine, and is written in plain English. Use this page as the numbered path through the guides — the homepage is the visual index, and the master list is the wallet-by-wallet verdict.
By Robbert Bink · Updated 13 August 2026
The core path
Understand your problem — in order
Start with 01 if you’re not sure what you lost. Each step links to the next; you can enter anywhere, but the order is the journey.
What to do first
The diagnosis flow in reading form — see where each branch leads, then jump to the right guide.
Read the flow → 02What did you lose?
Password, seed phrase, PIN or passphrase — four different problems with four different answers.
Start here → 03Exchange & custodial wallets
Forgot your exchange password? That’s a reset, not a recovery case — KYC, email and 2FA paths.
Just reset it → 04The first 24 hours
Your action plan in order — what to protect, what to note down, and what never to do.
Start the action plan → 05Where old passwords hide
Password managers, browsers, notes apps, old emails, device backups — most are found, not cracked.
Search the trails → 06The ultimate search checklist
68 places a forgotten password or seed can hide — paper, devices, backups, old accounts — tick by tick.
Work the checklist → 07How your memory made it
Human passwords follow habits: dates, names, substitutions, keyboard patterns. Rebuild yours the way your brain built it.
Rebuild the pattern → 08Is wallet password recovery possible?
Wallet formats, encryption, GPU speeds — and the line between “hard but doable” and “mathematically impossible”.
Read the feasibility → 09Protect your wallet files
Five moves that decide whether your case stays recoverable — before you touch anything, install anything, or pay anyone.
Secure the evidence →Recovery guides
The situations around the core path
Seed passphrases, encrypted files, password managers, finding the file — and the real exceptions when there is no file at all.
Seed phrase passphrase
The 25th/13th word — a password on top of your seed, and one of the most recoverable types there is.
The 25th word explained →Wallet password in an encrypted file
The wallet password locked inside a password-protected ZIP, Office file or PDF — recover the document.
Recover the document →Password manager recovery
Your wallet password may sit inside KeePass, LastPass, Bitwarden or 1Password — recover the manager first.
Open the manager guide →How to find your wallet file
Exact default paths for wallet.dat, Electrum, keystores and vaults on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Locate the file →Wallet file on an old phone
The vault only exists in phone app storage? Extraction comes before the crack — ADB, iTunes, browser vaults.
Get the vault out →Recovery without the wallet file
No file, no seed, no backup? The answer and the real exceptions that still work.
Read the exceptions →Tools & walkthroughs
Pick a tool and run it yourself
The candidate list decides the case; the tool runs the test. Choose the right one, then follow the full walkthrough.
Choose the right tool
btcrecover, hashcat and John the Ripper compared side by side — which one fits your wallet and your clues.
Pick your tool →Why online “crackers” are risky
The technical answer — every check runs against the file on your machine, so all real tools run offline.
Read why →How wallet encryption works
Key derivation, iteration counts, GPU speeds — the cryptography that decides whether your password can ever be cracked.
Understand the math →Convert a wallet to a hash line
The extraction step for hashcat: bitcoin2john, electrum2john and friends — exact commands and modes.
Extract the hash →btcrecover step by step
Install, token list, run, result — reads wallet.dat, Electrum, MultiBit and most Bitcoin-era wallets directly.
Start btcrecover →hashcat step by step
Modes, masks, wordlists and GPU speed — for wallet.dat, keystores, Electrum, MetaMask and more.
Start hashcat →John the Ripper step by step
The specialist walkthrough — Monero .keys, keystores and the other formats only JtR reads.
Start John the Ripper →Build a password hint list
Turn everything you remember into the candidate list that decides recovery, with a practice demo and an offline builder.
Build your list →Command cheat sheet
Every wallet format, one command — extract, mode, run, in a single quick-reference table.
Open the cheat sheet →Troubleshooting
“No hashes loaded”, token length exceptions, wallets that won’t load, GPU not used — errors, causes and fixes.
Fix your error →By wallet
Find your wallet, get its verdict
The wallet-specific pages live in two hubs: identify the file first, or jump straight to the master list of verdicts.
Identify your wallet file
The identifier widget — match your file by name, extension or app and land on the right guide.
Identify the file →The master list of wallets
Every major wallet with a verdict: reset, crackable offline, or impossible — filterable and searchable.
See your verdict →The full sets by file format and wallet / app live on the home page, next to the reference library.
Keep going — it’s all free
Not sure where your case fits?
Take the quick diagnosis for a first verdict, then work the search checklist. Everything here runs offline and is free to use.