Forgot your Bitcoin Core wallet.dat password?
Bitcoin Core wallet recovery may be possible when you still have the encrypted wallet file and enough password context to make a search practical. A public Bitcoin address alone cannot unlock a wallet. Recovery is not guaranteed, and the age of a file does not by itself make the password recoverable.
What you need: Keep an untouched copy of wallet.dat and any older backups. For an initial assessment, describe the software version or approximate year, whether the file opens, and non-sensitive password context such as length and keyboard language.
Limits: If the file is missing, recovering it from an old device is a separate first step. Overwritten data or a strong unknown password may make recovery infeasible.
Fee: Free assessment; 20% of recovered value only on success, with no upfront payment. Request an assessment.
First contact: Describe the problem and which backups or devices you still have. Do not send wallet files, passwords, seed words or passphrases in your first message; our team will explain the agreed handling process if the case is suitable.
Published case: In our deleted Bitcoin Core wallet case, KeychainX reports reconstructing a wallet from a failing drive before recovering its password. This illustrates a two-stage recovery, not a guarantee for other drives.
This page covers professional recovery of encrypted Bitcoin Core wallet.dat files as part of KeychainX’s wallet recovery service. If you are unsure which backup you have, start with our Bitcoin wallet identification guide. For a self-managed search, see the DIY Bitcoin password guide.
How Bitcoin Core wallet recovery works
Bitcoin Core never stores your password. It stores an encrypted master key inside the wallet.dat; your password derives the key that decrypts it. We attack that password — the keys themselves are never brute-forced — and confirm success the moment an encrypted key decrypts cleanly.
Identify the database and wallet type first: older wallets commonly use Berkeley DB; descriptor wallets use SQLite. The legacy tools in the profile above do not cover every modern wallet format. Work from preserved copies and match recovered keys to the wallet’s known addresses.
Isolate the hash
We pull the encrypted master-key hash from the wallet.dat with bitcoin2john. No plaintext keys are ever exposed — the keys inside the file stay encrypted with the password we are searching for.
Hint-driven search
From what you remember — length, fragments, character habits, the era the wallet was made — we build hashcat masks and rules for mode 11300, not blind brute force. Structure is what makes it tractable.
Merged-key forensics
When only some keys decrypt, the wallet often holds more than one key set or a second passphrase. We map which master key covers which keys — a frequent and solvable Bitcoin Core anomaly.
From first message to recovered funds
Tell us what you have
Describe your situation, whether the wallet.dat and older backups survive, and the approximate creation date. Do not attach files or detailed password candidates in the first message. The file-handling and ownership checks follow an agreed service process.
Free assessment within 24 hours
We tell you honestly whether it is recoverable and what the search space looks like. If it is hopeless, we say so.
Sign the agreement
A service contract under Swiss law protects both sides before any data changes hands. We never ask for upfront payment.
We run the recovery
Cracking runs on dedicated offline GPU hardware. On a hit you regain full access to your wallet.dat and pay only the success fee.
Avoiding impersonators
We only use mail@keychainx.io and Telegram @keychainx. We never DM first on Facebook, Instagram, X or WhatsApp, never guarantee 100% success, and never ask for upfront payment or an “unlock fee”. Anyone doing so is impersonating us.
Bitcoin Core recovery questions
Do you need my actual wallet.dat file?
For a password-recovery engagement we require the wallet file, not just an extracted hash, after the service agreement and handling arrangements are in place. Encrypted wallet files remain sensitive and should not be posted publicly. Possession of a file alone does not prove ownership; we assess supporting context as well.
I only remember part of my Bitcoin Core password. Can that still work?
Yes, and it is the best case. Partial recall, length, character habits and known fragments let us build targeted masks and rules rather than blind brute force, which is what makes an otherwise huge search space tractable.
Some of my keys decrypt but others do not. What does that mean?
That merged-key pattern usually means the wallet.dat contains keys from more than one source, or was encrypted under a second passphrase at a later date. We diagnose which master key protects which encrypted key set and treat them separately, which is a case type we handle regularly.
How much does Bitcoin Core recovery cost?
Free assessment; the standard fee is 20% of recovered value, payable only on success. No upfront payment. The scope and handling arrangements are agreed in writing before recovery work.
Locked out of your wallet.dat?
Request a Bitcoin Core wallet recovery assessment by describing the problem and the backups you have. Keep wallet files and password details out of your first message. You pay nothing unless we recover access.