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I have had to rebuild from source to apply the bug fix for a monero-wallet-cli error here:

Error: refresh failed: internal error: Index out of bounds of hashchain

Before I did, I copied the monero/build/release/bin directory including the Wallet File and Keys file. After re build, I have copied the Wallet and Keys files back to the bin directory.

When I ran monero-wallet-cli, I was asked for Wallet Name and Password but then I got an error.

To fix this, I am trying to follow the guide here: https://getmonero.org/resources/user-guides/restore_from_keys.html

I need to know the following information: Address, Secret Spendkey, Secret Viewkey

My questions is:

  1. I have the Wallet Address but not the Secret SpendKey and Secret ViewKey. Where are these from?

  2. I Accidentally, lost the 25 word Mnenominc. Are the Wallet coins lost?

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  • Any chance you built on master initially and then built on the branch the second time? Jul 10, 2018 at 21:13
  • Seems like I lost the keys file. There is no folder called Monero on my laptop. Only Monero GUI under profram files but it doesn't have any .keys file in it. Unfortunately I haven't written down the 24 words seed phrase either it seems, I know my bad. But I was always able to login with just a password cause I assume that .keys was just on my laptop... But it seems like it has disappeared now since I can't simply login anymore as before. Looks like the GUI was updated so it needs me to find my wallet again? Or I accidentally deleted those .keys and that's it can't just login again anymore?
    – Rien
    Dec 19, 2021 at 10:12

2 Answers 2

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You can restore a wallet by either using the keys, .keys file and the password, or the 25-word mnemonic seed.

Restoring from keys

You need to have 3 pieces of data (Address, Secret Spendkey and Secret Viewkey. You can copy them from the wallet - for example, on the GUI wallet under Settings > Seed & Keys) from your wallet.

  • Open the GUI wallet and, after language selection, select 'Restore wallet from keys or mnemonic seed', then 'Restore from keys' and enter the data.

  • Using CLI wallet:

    Linux - ./monero-wallet-cli --generate-from-keys wallet-name.abc

    Windows - monero-wallet-cli.exe --generate-from-keys wallet-name.abc

    Next, you'll be asked for the Address, the Spendkey, the Viewkey, and finally the new password for the re-generated wallet.

You can find all the info about restoring wallet from keys at https://www.getmonero.org/resources/user-guides/restore_from_keys.html.

Restoring from .keys file

You can also use the .keys file which holds the keys info and the password to decrypt it.

The wallet .keys file is, by default, located in C:\Users\<user-name>\Documents\Monero\wallets\<wallet-name> under Windows and ~/Monero/<wallet-name> for Linux.

  • On the GUI wallet, after language selection, select 'Open a wallet from file' and open the .keys file. Doing that, the restoring process will be started.

  • Using CLI wallet, type:

    Linux - ./monero-wallet-cli --wallet-file wallet-name.keys

    Windows - monero-wallet-cli.exe --wallet-file wallet-name.keys

Restoring from 25-word mnemonic seed

You must hold the 25-word mnemonic seed that you saved when creating your old Monero wallet.

  • Retrieve your 25-word mnemonic seed and launch the Monero GUI wallet. After the language selection, select 'Restore wallet from keys or mnemonic seed' and then keep 'Restore from seed selected'.

  • Using CLI wallet:

    Linux - ./monero-wallet-cli --restore-deterministic-wallet

    Windows - monero-wallet-cli.exe --restore-deterministic-wallet

    After the command, you will be prompted to insert wallet file name, password and the 25-word mnemonic seed. You can also choose a specific blockchain height to restore from. After you have entered the 25-word mnemonic seed and have chosen your specific blockchain height, monero-wallet-cli will generate the same public address and view key as your old wallet and begin the refresh process automatically.

You can find additional info on this process on the official guide page https://ww.getmonero.org/resources/user-guides/restore_account.html.

I accidentally lost the 25-word mnemonic seed. Are the wallet coins lost?

If you have lost the keys, the .keys file, and the 25-word mnemonic seed, the coins remain on the wallet, but you will be unable to access them.

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monero-wallet-cli --help

monero-wallet-cli --generate-from-keys <your-wallet-.keys-file>

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    Its asks for a Secret Spend key and Secret View Key. Where do I get these from?
    – James
    Jul 11, 2018 at 14:12
  • They are in the keys file. If you have a valid keys file and have set the path correctly, you do not need to manually input anything.
    – jtgrassie
    Jul 11, 2018 at 14:17

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