<p>According to <a href="https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The default wallet file is called default_wallet, which is created when you first run the application and is located in the /wallets folder, inside the datadir.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, as Claris commented, <code>wallet.dat</code> is a name used by Bitcoin-core and you can't expect Electrum to read a file created by different software for its own purposes.</p>
<p>See <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/12763/13866">How can I transfer a Bitcoin-qt wallet to Electrum?</a> but take care to understand the implications of importing private keys into a HD wallet which has a recovery phrase. There is a danger that any future recovery process will lose your money.</p>
<hr />
<p>You could instead download bitcoin core, run it and stop it, then replace its wallet.dat with a copy of your old wallet.dat then rrestart bitcoin core to see if it loads that file.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-08T16:56:36.357Z
Ok, i never realised about core. So is electrum redundant, i can just open the wallet.dat another way? The wallet was created in electrum about 6 or 7 years ago.
Derple
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-08T16:59:31.360Z
@Derple: Could you have experimented with Bitcoin core 6 or 7 years ago and then decided to use Electrum instead? As far as I know, Electrum never creates a file named wallet.dat. Also see updates answer.
RedGrittyBrick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-08T21:01:33.873Z
There is nothing redundant about Electrum, it's just a separate project, unrelated to Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin Core uses `wallet.dat` files; Electrum does not.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-06T09:53:40.477Z
Electrum wallets used to be named wallet.dat
Abdussamad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-08T11:21:39.503Z
2021-11-08T17:01:25.983Z
2021-11-08T17:01:25.983Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I have an old Electrum <code>wallet.dat</code> that is password protected.</p>
<p>I know the password, but the seed is lost.</p>
<p>Can this be recovered?</p>
<p>When trying to open the wallet in Electrum, there is an error:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Stymh.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Stymh.png" alt="Error message: Cannot load wallet (1), WalletFileException('Cannot read wallet file. (parsing failed)')" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-08T05:12:45.237Z
`wallet.dat` is not an Electrum wallet, it is a Bitcoin Core wallet.
Claris
<electrum><wallet-recovery>
Electrum wallet.dat
Derple
# Electrum wallet.dat

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-08)

I have an old Electrum `wallet.dat` that is password protected.

I know the password, but the seed is lost.

Can this be recovered?

When trying to open the wallet in Electrum, there is an error:

[![Error message: Cannot load wallet (1), WalletFileException('Cannot read wallet file. (parsing failed)')](https://i.sstatic.net/Stymh.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Stymh.png)

**Tags:** electrum, wallet-recovery

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: `wallet.dat` is not an Electrum wallet, it is a Bitcoin Core wallet.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-11-08. Score: 1

According to <https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html>

> The default wallet file is called default\_wallet, which is created when you first run the application and is located in the /wallets folder, inside the datadir.

So, as username_1 commented, `wallet.dat` is a name used by Bitcoin-core and you can't expect Electrum to read a file created by different software for its own purposes.

See [How can I transfer a Bitcoin-qt wallet to Electrum?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/12763/13866) but take care to understand the implications of importing private keys into a HD wallet which has a recovery phrase. There is a danger that any future recovery process will lose your money.

---

You could instead download bitcoin core, run it and stop it, then replace its wallet.dat with a copy of your old wallet.dat then rrestart bitcoin core to see if it loads that file.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ok, i never realised about core. So is electrum redundant, i can just open the wallet.dat another way? The wallet was created in electrum about 6 or 7 years ago.  
> **username_2**: @username_0: Could you have experimented with Bitcoin core 6 or 7 years ago and then decided to use Electrum instead? As far as I know, Electrum never creates a file named wallet.dat. Also see updates answer.  
> **username_3**: There is nothing redundant about Electrum, it's just a separate project, unrelated to Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin Core uses `wallet.dat` files; Electrum does not.  
> **username_4**: Electrum wallets used to be named wallet.dat  

---

