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Signing · MetaMask

Signing a message in MetaMask: step by step

Signing a message is like signing a piece of paper: it proves the address is yours without handing anything over and without moving a cent. It is the standard way to prove wallet ownership, and it takes two minutes.

September 24, 2026 · 4-minute read

What a signature is and isn’t

When you sign, your wallet produces a long code from your private key and the text you typed. Anyone can verify that only the owner of that address could have produced it, but nobody can derive your key from it. Signing transfers nothing and, by itself, authorises nothing.

How to do it

MetaMask has no built-in «sign message» button: the signature is requested by a web page. The usual route is a well-known block explorer’s signature tool, typing its address by hand in your browser.

  1. Open the explorer’s signature tool, typing the address by hand in your browser.
  2. Connect your wallet and select the account you want to prove ownership of. Check the address shown is the right one.
  3. Type the text you were asked to sign. It should be specific and dated, not something generic.
  4. Click sign. MetaMask will show you the exact text you are about to sign: read all of it.
  5. Confirm and copy the resulting code. That is the signature.
  6. Hand over the address, the text and the signature. With those three, anyone can verify it.
Step three matters more than it looks. A signed text should say something like «I am the holder of this address. For KeyStone, 20 September 2026.» With the date inside, that signature can’t be reused elsewhere or passed off as something else.

The two signatures you must never accept

The first: if MetaMask shows a risk warning saying it can’t display what you are about to sign, or that the request is of a type that could compromise your funds, cancel. The second: if what you are asked to sign isn’t readable text but an authorisation for an application to manage your coins, cancel too. A signature proving ownership is always text you can read and understand.

That second one is how most wallets are emptied today: they don’t steal your key, they get you to sign a permission. If you have any doubt about a signature, don’t sign; nobody legitimate is in a hurry.

If you can no longer get into the wallet

Then you can’t sign, and that is exactly the normal situation in a recovery. There are other ways to prove the wallet is yours: see what counts as proof when you can’t get in.

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