<p><code>listunspent</code> will list all unspent outputs of addresses the wallets controls, it will not work for any arbitrary address.</p>

<p>You can <code>importaddress</code> to add any address as a watch-only address, but this may take some time as your node will need to rescan the blockchain to find all associated transactions. Also note that when you use <code>importaddress</code>, you will not be able to spend any funds held at that address, since your wallet will not hold the private keys for it. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T08:14:16.813Z
And when you have the (WIF encoded) private keys, you can import them into the wallet, and then also spend the funds...
pebwindkraft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T02:32:09.097Z
2018-06-19T02:32:09.097Z
chytrik
<p>There is one API called <code>listunspent</code>, however it doesn't return any outputs, and some threads say that it may be because the address is not imported into the node's wallet.  </p>

<p>Then how to retrieve the unspent outputs for any address?  </p>

<bitcoind><listunspent>
How to Get Unspent Transaction Outputs from Node
xuanzhui
# How to Get Unspent Transaction Outputs from Node

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-19)

There is one API called `listunspent`, however it doesn't return any outputs, and some threads say that it may be because the address is not imported into the node's wallet.

Then how to retrieve the unspent outputs for any address?

**Tags:** bitcoind, listunspent


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-06-19. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

`listunspent` will list all unspent outputs of addresses the wallets controls, it will not work for any arbitrary address.

You can `importaddress` to add any address as a watch-only address, but this may take some time as your node will need to rescan the blockchain to find all associated transactions. Also note that when you use `importaddress`, you will not be able to spend any funds held at that address, since your wallet will not hold the private keys for it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: And when you have the (WIF encoded) private keys, you can import them into the wallet, and then also spend the funds...  

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