When you create a Bitcoin wallet, you are usually given a set of words that look something like this:
deposit hole october flat brass glide biology feature sand actress public resist
These words go by various names: seed words, seed phrase, recovery words, recovery phrase, recovery seed, mnemonic words, mnemonic phrase, backup words, backup phrase, secret words, secret phrase… In the end, they all refer to the same thing.
Typically, you will be given 12, 18 or 24 words, though this is not universal. You will be instructed to note them down, in the correct order, and store them somewhere safe where nobody but you can find them. They are of crucial importance: should you be unable to access your wallet (for example, your hard drive fails or you lose your password), you can always recreate it with these words.
Unfortunately, many people lose some or all of their seed words. If you still have access to your wallet, it might be possible to view your seed words again – for instance, Electrum has such an option. If the software you use does not allow that, you may want to create a new wallet with new seed words and transfer your funds to it.
That being said, in this article, we will focus on the case where:
- You do not have access to your wallet anymore.
- The last word – and only the last word – of your seed phrase is missing.
Note that this article is geared specifically toward seed phrases that follow the BIP39 standard. That is the standard followed by most wallets, but not all of them, when dealing with seed phrases.
Below, you will find two methods to recover the last word of your BIP39 seed phrase.
First method: BTCRecover
If you are tech savvy, you can use a tool that will automatically try all possible last words for a given seed phrase. However, you will need to know:
- Which wallet software you have used to generate your seed words.
- At least one of the addresses that make up your wallet. Addresses are series of alphanumeric characters that you share
with people so they can send you Bitcoins. They usually start with
1,3,bc1qorbc1p.
To automate the task of trying all possible last words, I recommend that you download BTCRecover. It comes with extensive documentation and I highly recommend that you read it so you can increase the odds of recovering your seed phrase.
Second method: Bitcoin Seed Phrase Recoverer
Another method is to use my software, Bitcoin Seed Phrase Recoverer. It works by taking advantage of the fact that the last word of a BIP39 seed phrase is not purely random, unlike the other words. Thus, when you enter an incomplete seed phrase, my software generates a list of what the last seed word might be. Afterwards, you try each possible seed phrase in your wallet software to see if one of them gives you access to your Bitcoins. If you have the wrong seed phrase, your wallet software may throw an error or show you an empty transaction history.
It is better to enter your seed words in the same wallet software you used to generate them the first time around. You could use a different wallet software, but this might lead to compatibility issues and you may never gain access to your Bitcoins, even with the correct seed words.
If you don’t know which wallet software you have used to generate your seed words, you can use Ian Coleman’s BIP39 Tool. It allows you to input your seed words and generate Bitcoin addresses for various wallet software. Then, you can check the addresses generated through a blockchain explorer to see if they contain any Bitcoins. The exact way to use the BIP39 tool is outside the scope of this article and requires some technical knowledge. Many tutorials are available on the Internet.
My service: I help you recover your seed words
If the steps described in this tutorial are too complex or you are scared of making a mistake, you’re in luck: I offer a service where I help people recover their seed words. I don’t charge any flat, hourly or upfront fee. I only charge a 15% fee on the recovered Bitcoins, and that’s if I succeed. If you want to get in touch with me to talk about your current situation, click on the button below.