<p>I found my old <code>wallet.dat</code> file taken from the bitcoin core wallet I used when mining around 2013, nothing serious tho, just fiddling around. Never been too much into the subject, and now I'm totally out of the loop.</p>

<p>Will explain what I did so far:</p>

<p>I downloaded the latest bitcoin core, opened it and after a few seconds closed it properly, replaced the default <code>wallet.dat</code> file (with a size of 1416kb) with a copy of my old one (only 88kb) and opened the program again to let it download blockchain, then noticed that as soon as the program opened, the <code>wallet.dat</code> (my old one) file size changed to 688kb, waited for the  whole blockchain to download and noticed the balance it's still 0, the send/receive/transactions screens are also blank, as a vanilla wallet.</p>

<p>Maybe my old wallet file is somewhat an old format and get's erased and treated like a new one?</p>

<hr>

<p>I put back the default wallet created by the program and from inside the program opened my old wallet file, a small window with a progress bar appeared saying "opening wallet <em>filename</em>", but it keeps loading forever. Also the file size changed again from 88kb to 688kb.</p>

<p>Any clue of what is happening?</p>

<p>I wan't to transfer whatever is there to some online wallet like coinbase.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-26T00:59:10.973Z
If you look at the `debug.log` file, it should indicate whether the wallet was successfully read or not.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-26T01:00:47.230Z
Have a look at https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/59699/opening-an-old-wallet-dat?rq=1 which is very similar.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-26T01:01:54.743Z
And it should go without saying but: make a backup of the original version of the file!
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-21T18:57:15.683Z
You could try checking balance from blockchain, just click on receive and copy the address and search in blockchain.com, youll see you'll how much you got there.
Bikash Kumar Yadav
<wallet.dat>
Trying to open an old wallet.dat (from ~2013)
Alvaro Castro
# Trying to open an old wallet.dat (from ~2013)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-25)

I found my old `wallet.dat` file taken from the bitcoin core wallet I used when mining around 2013, nothing serious tho, just fiddling around. Never been too much into the subject, and now I'm totally out of the loop.

Will explain what I did so far:

I downloaded the latest bitcoin core, opened it and after a few seconds closed it properly, replaced the default `wallet.dat` file (with a size of 1416kb) with a copy of my old one (only 88kb) and opened the program again to let it download blockchain, then noticed that as soon as the program opened, the `wallet.dat` (my old one) file size changed to 688kb, waited for the whole blockchain to download and noticed the balance it's still 0, the send/receive/transactions screens are also blank, as a vanilla wallet.

Maybe my old wallet file is somewhat an old format and get's erased and treated like a new one?

---

I put back the default wallet created by the program and from inside the program opened my old wallet file, a small window with a progress bar appeared saying "opening wallet *filename*", but it keeps loading forever. Also the file size changed again from 88kb to 688kb.

Any clue of what is happening?

I wan't to transfer whatever is there to some online wallet like coinbase.

**Tags:** wallet.dat

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: If you look at the `debug.log` file, it should indicate whether the wallet was successfully read or not.  
> **username_1**: Have a look at https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/59699/opening-an-old-wallet-dat?rq=1 which is very similar.  
> **username_1**: And it should go without saying but: make a backup of the original version of the file!  
> **username_2**: You could try checking balance from blockchain, just click on receive and copy the address and search in blockchain.com, youll see you'll how much you got there.  

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## 0 answers

