Importing wallets

The wallet import feature is designed for the quick import of wallets from the previous version of Daedalus and to help Daedalus users who have lost their wallet recovery phrase but have a backup of their Daedalus state directory.

Daedalus 1.0.0 can import wallets from:

• an earlier version of Daedalus
• a Daedalus state directory
• a secret.key file

As of Daedalus 1.0.0, spending passwords are mandatory. Users will need to set a spending password for any imported wallets which do not already have one.

Daedalus state directory

The state directory is where Daedalus stores a user’s wallets, their settings and preferences, and a copy of the Cardano blockchain. 

The location of the state directory varies depending on the operating system:

Windows:

C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Daedalus

macOS:

/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Daedalus

Linux:

~/.local/share/Daedalus/mainnet

The secret.key file

The secret.key file contains the private keys for all of a user’s Daedalus wallets. If users have lost their wallet recovery phrases, they can still use the secret.key file to import wallets, even without a full state directory backup. Without the full state directory, however, Daedalus will be unable to import wallet names, making it harder to match wallets with spending passwords. Users importing from just a secret.key file will need to try their known spending passwords against all imported wallets to correctly identify them.

The secret.key file is located in a subdirectory named Secrets-1.0 on Windows and macOS platforms, and a Secrets subdirectory on Linux, within the state directory location for each operating system.

Using the import feature

1. Initiating wallet import

The wallet import feature will run automatically when Daedalus 1.0.0 is first launched and an older version of Daedalus is installed on the same computer. 

The wallet import feature can also be used at any time by clicking the Add wallet button and then clicking the Import button.

Windows users must close all other versions of Daedalus before importing wallets. Attempting to import a wallet while other versions of Daedalus are still running will cause an error message to appear.

2. Selecting a state directory or a secret.key file

Daedalus will automatically select the default state directory location, based on the operating system. Click the pencil icon to choose a different location if the state directory backup is elsewhere. 

Users with just the secret.key file should use the ‘Select Daedalus ‘secret.key’ file’ option and click the pencil icon to select the file they want to import from.

Click Import wallets to continue. 

3. Selecting wallets

Select wallets to import and edit wallet names if desired. Unnamed wallets will require a name to import them.

Click Import selected wallets. Wallets can be selected and imported individually, or all at once.

4. Setting spending passwords

Users will need to set a spending password for any imported wallets which do not already have one. As of Daedalus 1.0.0, spending passwords are mandatory and wallet functionality is locked until a spending password is set. Daedalus will prompt users to set a spending password and provide step-by-step instructions when users try to access a wallet without a spending password.

5. Moving funds from a wallet with lost recovery phrase

After importing a wallet for which you have lost your wallet recovery phrase, please create a new wallet and transfer all funds from the old wallet to the new wallet. Keep the wallet recovery phrase for your new wallet secure.