Delete and re-sync blockchain data
This help article shows you how to delete the blockchain data on your machine to get a new copy. When deleting blockchain data you should also delete your wallet data to make sure you do not have data inconsistencies in Daedalus wallet.
What happens when I delete the Blockchain data and my wallet?
When you start Daedalus it will sync as normal because Daedalus needs an up-to-date copy of the blockchain to work. When it does not find the blockchain on your machine it will download it (syncing). Syncing the whole blockchain takes about an hour with a newer machine and a good broadband internet connection; as of June 2022, the Cardano blockchain is 65Gb on disk. When the sync is done Daedalus will look for a wallet, and when it does not find your wallet (wallets folder) it will prompt you to create a new wallet or restore. You can restore your wallet with your wallet recovery phrase. The restore process on a newer machine usually takes an hour. During restore, Daedalus is looking through the whole blockchain for transactions that belong to your wallet.
Important: Make sure you have your wallet recovery phrase before you uninstall. If you do not have a correct wallet recovery phrase you will lose all your ada.
You can check your wallet recovery phrase to see if it is valid.
Delete the chain folder and the wallets folder
Windows
- Reboot your machine to ensure Daedalus is not running
- Open the state directory
- Delete all files contained within folder chain
- Once the folder is deleted, empty the trash.
- Locate the wallets folder and delete it.
- Reboot your machine
- Start Daedalus and allow it to Sync.
- Restore your wallets
macOS
- Reboot your machine to ensure Daedalus is not running.
- Make sure that Reopen windows when logging back in is NOT selected.
- Open the state directory
- Delete all files contained within folder chain.
- Once the folder is deleted, empty the trash.
- Locate the wallets folder and delete it.
- Reboot your machine
- Start Daedalus and allow it to Sync.
- Restore your wallets
Linux
- Open the state directory
- Delete all files contained within folder chain (Note on older versions of Daedalus this folder contains over 1.5 million files so this delete operation could take hours)
- Once the folder is deleted, empty the trash.
- Locate the wallets folder and delete it.
- Reboot your machine
- Start Daedalus and allow it to Sync.
- Restore your wallets