<p>Yes, but having the wallet.dat file is only enough to recover the lost bitcoins if it hasn't been compromised in the meantime (that's why it's a good idea to encrypt your wallet). There have been at least 2 other questions in the last week or two where a user tried to recover an old wallet and found it had been emptied.</p>

<p>If you do encrypt your wallet (and you should, to protect against malware stealing it), then you'll also need your passphrase for the wallet when you want to restore it and reopen it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T08:16:41.153Z
2017-11-28T08:16:41.153Z
Highly Irregular
<p>Yes, your wallet.dat is enough and nothing more care about or copy!.</p>

<p>Copy the file somewhere and if you want to import this file you can easily just stop <code>bitcoind</code> and then move your wallet.dat file to bitcoin directory then run bitcoin process again. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>if you have encrypted your wallet make sure that you know the encrypting phrase. </p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T08:15:56.983Z
2017-11-28T08:15:56.983Z
Tailer
<p>I have been using Bitcoin-qt to mine bitcoin. I am a little worried about losing my coins on my computer, so I have made a backup of my wallet.dat file and put it somewhere safe.</p>

<p>Is this the right way to keep my coins safe from my computer crashing? Am I completely on the wrong track? What else might I need? I haven't encrypted my wallet.</p>

<bitcoin-core><bitcoind><wallet-recovery><recover-private-key>
Is having a copy of my wallet.dat file enough to recover lost Bitcoin?
Barney Chambers
# Is having a copy of my wallet.dat file enough to recover lost Bitcoin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-28)

I have been using Bitcoin-qt to mine bitcoin. I am a little worried about losing my coins on my computer, so I have made a backup of my wallet.dat file and put it somewhere safe.

Is this the right way to keep my coins safe from my computer crashing? Am I completely on the wrong track? What else might I need? I haven't encrypted my wallet.

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, bitcoind, wallet-recovery, recover-private-key


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-11-28. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Yes, but having the wallet.dat file is only enough to recover the lost bitcoins if it hasn't been compromised in the meantime (that's why it's a good idea to encrypt your wallet). There have been at least 2 other questions in the last week or two where a user tried to recover an old wallet and found it had been emptied.

If you do encrypt your wallet (and you should, to protect against malware stealing it), then you'll also need your passphrase for the wallet when you want to restore it and reopen it.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-28. Score: 1

Yes, your wallet.dat is enough and nothing more care about or copy!.

Copy the file somewhere and if you want to import this file you can easily just stop `bitcoind` and then move your wallet.dat file to bitcoin directory then run bitcoin process again.

> if you have encrypted your wallet make sure that you know the encrypting phrase.


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