Bitcoin Wallet for Android
Android Bitcoin Wallet: the .wallet file and its key
If you used the Bitcoin app for Android years ago and at some point tapped the backup option, you have a small file with a .wallet extension saved on the phone or emailed to yourself. That file is your wallet, and its password is not your phone’s.
Where that file usually turns up
- In the phone’s own downloads or documents folder.
- In an email you sent yourself: search your inbox for the word «wallet» or for the extension.
- In an old phone backup, of the kind the system made automatically.
- On a USB stick or in a cloud folder where you dumped the phone before replacing it.
The file’s password
When you made the backup, the app asked for a password to encrypt it. It is not your phone’s or your email’s: it is one you chose at that moment, and often something quick and simple because «it was only a backup». For recovery, that is good news: passwords set in a hurry are far easier to reconstruct than considered ones.
What decides the outcome
| Situation | Outlook |
|---|---|
| You have the file and one or two candidates | Very good outlook |
| You have the file and remember the style | Workable |
| You have the file and remember nothing | Depends on length; sometimes it works |
| You have a working phone with the app | Make a backup today and put it somewhere safe |
| Neither file nor phone | No case |
If you are going to dig through an old phone or phone backups, do it methodically: the steps are in how to find an old wallet and they work just as well for phone backups.