How to Scan Your Computer for Sparrow Wallet Files

2025-11-04 2 min read #Cryptocurrencies

Sparrow Wallet is a Bitcoin wallet designed for users who value privacy, flexibility and security. It supports both single-signature and multi-signature setups and can work with hardware wallets as well as air-gapped devices. While it remains popular among advanced Bitcoin users, many people may have used it years ago and since forgotten where their wallet files are stored.

If you once used Sparrow Wallet and now want to recover your Bitcoins, there are two ways to look for your wallet files: manually or automatically.

The manual way

Sparrow Wallet stores its data in either a JSON file or a H2 database file. The JSON file can be opened with any text editor and might look like the example below. However, many JSON wallets are encrypted by Sparrow Wallet and will appear in your text editor as random characters instead.

 1{
 2  "name": "test",
 3  "policyType": "SINGLE",
 4  "scriptType": "P2WPKH",
 5  "defaultPolicy": {
 6    "name": "Default",
 7    "miniscript": {
 8      "script": "wpkh(bip39)"
 9    }
10  },
11  "keystores": [
12    {
13      "label": "BIP39",
14      "source": "SW_SEED",
15      "walletModel": "SPARROW",
16      "keyDerivation": {
17        "derivationPath": "m/84'/0'/0'"
18      },
19      "seed": {
20        "type": "BIP39",
21        "mnemonicCode": [
22          "tomato",
23          "alpha",
24          "lift",
25          "humor",
26          "present",
27          "tank",
28          "brisk",
29          "logic",
30          "correct",
31          "grab",
32          "better",
33          "entry"
34        ],
35        "needsPassphrase": false,
36        "creationTimeSeconds": 1749606586001
37      }
38    }
39  ],
40  "purposeNodes": [],
41  "transactions": {},
42  "storedBlockHeight": 0
43}

H2 database files can be opened in a text editor, but the data won’t make any sense on its own.

Wallet files can be located almost anywhere on your computer, though the paths below are good places to start.

On Windows, you should check the following folders:

  • C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Sparrow\wallets
  • C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Sparrow\wallets

On Mac, you should check the folder below:

  • /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Sparrow/wallets

The automatic way

Searching manually for wallet files is often slow and error-prone. It may even fail entirely if the files have been renamed, moved or hidden! A much easier method is to use Treasure Hunter. It can automatically scan your drives — including HDDs, SSDs, USB keys, SD cards, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs — and detect Sparrow Wallet files wherever they are.

Treasure Hunter works on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and you can scan your storage devices for free.

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