MyEtherWallet (often abbreviated as MEW) is one of the most popular Ethereum wallets ever created. It allows users to generate and manage Ethereum addresses directly from their browser, and it has been widely used since 2015. Because it gives users full control over their private keys, many early Ethereum investors used MyEtherWallet to store their ETH or ERC-20 tokens. However, if years have passed since you last accessed your wallet, you may no longer remember where your wallet file is located.
If that sounds familiar, there are two ways you can find it: manually or automatically.
The manual way
Older versions of MyEtherWallet would generate wallet files with the Ethereum address in their filename. For example,
if you know that your address is 0xD9111841bb84eaDA42760c399F0d6E03428186aF, you can search your computer for a file named
0xD9111841bb84eaDA42760c399F0d6E03428186aF-unencrypted.json or 0xD9111841bb84eaDA42760c399F0d6E03428186aF-encrypted.json.
Newer versions no longer include the address in the filename, but they rely on a predictable pattern. For instance, the
wallet file might be named UTC--2025-06-25T09-15-01.945Z--87956771eefeebc1c3e19c45d770921ccf659622 or
UTC--2017-05-30T06-16-46Z--a928d7c2-b37b-464c-a70b-b9979d59fac5. Thus, you can search your computer for a file whose
name matches the mask UTC--*-*-*T*-*-*Z--*.
The wallet file is a JSON document that may look like this:
1{
2 "address": "0x00b5dfb07f7df8dae658c15272cd0a95c6f0a5e8",
3 "encrypted": true,
4 "locked": true,
5 "hash": "86b35d93205d5c23c46ccabb447e3dc33bfffe7beae4cb94b805e077b8ed1b32",
6 "private": "U2FsdGVkX19232dmon3IeUqXNhRw/jd+A93yClgLtx9YzsNDGo393hANFa8NS2w9XMblDNPhPoEdxqF4nHwAxypmYjgTj0jjsbTV4A1tcIDVn5x0yxowTQw5CwFP/2QFce0e",
7 "public": "U2FsdGVkX19Egk8gVo/HYG6mZ3Dg9H0Hj1HqButEBFU33D96o+gJGIyLfqqFm1gDj8qcL+bn1ZjCcsmZw3P1KEb5BlB5qt2xb9hihDQlhNE8V06PsxCI7lE3uJ5WywWW9VU/ZaIaRC9NqM96H53TTiuRAe3LhwsnWuJ1VRyleKJLEHN2sKXADbOx9iP6hba3WU9pyHpspjmcA1OVy3/IYg=="
8}
Or it may look like this:
1{
2 "version": 3,
3 "id": "d0a74e6c-47d6-4d36-8d23-0fa60530d5e5",
4 "address": "87956771eefeebc1c3e19c45d770921ccf659622",
5 "Crypto": {
6 "ciphertext": "3f480b494f9152afc6a02e522e20715f83d02633a9a044cf12d5854f7979c87e",
7 "cipherparams": {
8 "iv": "5c6c80a340990a82ce598fc7a6afdff4"
9 },
10 "cipher": "aes-128-ctr",
11 "kdf": "scrypt",
12 "kdfparams": {
13 "dklen": 32,
14 "salt": "a0dd7c630f14b29df04a967353f2ef856497bab2d8b0d5ad069f3b2f1445c484",
15 "n": 1024,
16 "r": 8,
17 "p": 1
18 },
19 "mac": "2f4ccee5de1ac915e3154664bed6635ac590088bdc238ff57a3d2fb9d6ffa640"
20 }
21}
In any case, there are too many variations to list them all.
Unfortunately, these files can be stored virtually anywhere on your computer, which makes them difficult to find manually — especially if they were renamed or moved around.
The automatic way
Manually searching for MyEtherWallet files can take hours and yet lead nowhere. Even if you know what to look for, files can be hidden under different names or stored in obscure folders. This process is tedious and prone to error.
That’s why I created Treasure Hunter. It automatically scans your computer and external devices — HDDs, SSDs, USB keys, SD cards, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs — for MyEtherWallet files. Treasure Hunter works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It can detect wallet files even if they have been renamed or hidden.
So, what are you waiting for? Click on the button below for a free scan of your storage device.