🔑 Simple Bitcoin Wallet Recovery

Success Story: In December 2024, I found an old wallet.dat file on a backup drive. Using these tools, I successfully recovered 0.12145281 BTC! This project packages everything I learned into an easy-to-use tool so you can do the same.

🎯 What This Tool Does

Have you found an old wallet.dat file and wonder if it contains Bitcoin? This tool helps you:

1. Detect if any .dat file is actually a Bitcoin wallet
2. Extract all Bitcoin addresses and private keys
3. Check current balances across multiple blockchain APIs
4. Export private keys for importing into modern wallets
5. Transfer your Bitcoin safely to exchanges or hardware wallets

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/simple-bitcoin-wallet-recovery.git
cd simple-bitcoin-wallet-recovery

# Install dependencies
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Basic Usage

# Scan an entire drive or directory (recommended)
python3 recovery_wizard.py --scandir /mnt/c

# Check a single wallet file
python3 recovery_wizard.py wallet.dat

# Dry run to see what would be scanned
python3 recovery_wizard.py --scandir /path/to/old/backups/ --dry-run

📖 Detailed Usage Guide

Step 1: Find Your Wallet Files

Common locations for old Bitcoin wallets:

• C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\ (Windows)
• ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/ (Mac)
• ~/.bitcoin/ (Linux)
• Old backup drives, USB sticks, or cloud storage
• Files named wallet.dat or any .dat file from 2009-2017

Step 2: Run the Recovery Wizard

Recommended: Scan a Directory

python3 recovery_wizard.py --scandir /mnt/c

This will:

1. Recursively scan for all .dat files
2. Show progress with file count and progress bar
3. Analyze each .dat file to identify Bitcoin wallets
4. Extract private keys from confirmed wallets
5. Check balances across multiple blockchain APIs
6. Generate organized output in bitcoin_recovery_[timestamp]/

Alternative: Check Single File

python3 recovery_wizard.py suspicious_file.dat

Step 3: Check Your Results

The tool creates an organized output directory:

bitcoin_recovery_20241229_143022/
├── output/
│   ├── summary_report.txt        # Overview of all findings
│   ├── funded_wallets/          # Wallets with Bitcoin
│   │   └── wallet_001/
│   │       ├── private_keys.txt # Keys for import
│   │       └── TRANSFER_GUIDE.txt
│   └── empty_wallets/           # Wallets without Bitcoin
└── scratch/                     # Temporary files (can delete)

If Bitcoin is found, you'll see:

🎉 SUCCESS! Found 0.12145281 BTC!
📁 Check bitcoin_recovery_[timestamp]/output/funded_wallets/ for private keys
📄 See bitcoin_recovery_[timestamp]/output/summary_report.txt for details

Step 4: Transfer Your Bitcoin

1. Install Electrum from https://electrum.org
2. Create new wallet → "Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys"
3. Copy the private keys from funded_private_keys.txt
4. Send to your Coinbase/Kraken/hardware wallet

Important: Always send a small test transaction first!

🔧 Advanced Features

Directory Scanning Options

# Scan with progress tracking
python3 recovery_wizard.py --scandir ~/old-computers/

# Dry run to preview what will be scanned
python3 recovery_wizard.py --scandir /mnt/backup --dry-run

# Quiet mode for automation
python3 recovery_wizard.py --scandir /mnt/c --quiet

Export Formats

from lib.secure_exporter import SecureExporter

exporter = SecureExporter()
exporter.export_keys(addresses, format='electrum')  # For Electrum
exporter.export_keys(addresses, format='bitcoin_core')  # For Bitcoin Core
exporter.export_keys(addresses, format='csv')  # Spreadsheet

Custom Balance Checking

from lib.balance_checker import BalanceChecker

checker = BalanceChecker()
balance = checker.check_balance('1YourBitcoinAddress...')

🛡️ Security Best Practices

1. Never share private keys - Anyone with these keys can steal your Bitcoin
2. Work offline when possible - Disconnect internet when handling private keys
3. Delete files securely after transferring:

   # Linux/Mac
   shred -vfz private_keys_file.txt
   
   # Windows  
   cipher /w:C:\path\to\directory

4. Use 2FA on any exchange accounts
5. Consider a hardware wallet for long-term storage

🔍 How It Works

1. Wallet Detection: Analyzes file headers and structure to identify Bitcoin wallets
2. Key Extraction: Uses modified PyWallet to extract private keys
3. Balance Checking: Queries multiple blockchain APIs for reliability
4. Secure Export: Provides keys in formats compatible with modern wallets

📋 Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• Berkeley DB libraries
• Internet connection for balance checking

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt-get install python3-bsddb3 libdb-dev
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

macOS

brew install berkeley-db
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Windows

See detailed Windows instructions

🐛 Troubleshooting

"bsddb module not found"

Install Berkeley DB: sudo apt-get install python3-bsddb3

"Permission denied"

Run with appropriate permissions or check file ownership

"No balance found"

• Wallet might be empty (funds already moved)
• Try running again (API rate limits)
• Check internet connection

Large wallets (1000+ addresses)

The tool handles these automatically but checking may take 10-15 minutes

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md

📜 License

MIT License - see LICENSE

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Original PyWallet by jackjack
• Blockchain APIs: blockchain.info, blockstream.info, blockcypher.com
• The Bitcoin community for years of development

⚠️ Disclaimer

This tool is provided as-is for educational and recovery purposes. Always verify results independently and never trust any single tool with significant funds. The authors are not responsible for any loss of funds.

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