A desktop wallet is the preferred method of storage and accessing your wallet. Please make sure that you save your wallet file and your wallet password in at least two locations, one physical (paper wallet or flash drive) and one digital (2FA protected vault, local on your computer in an encrypted archive). The following directions will aide your in setting up the Ethereum wallet, Mist.
Mist
- Navigate to Mist’s GitHub page
- Scroll down to “Downloads” and click on the release that most matches the Operating System you will be using.
- Install and launch the wallet
- Set up a new wallet using the main network
- Since we do not have a wallet file, click “Skip” when asked to import your existing wallet
- Choose a complex wallet password. Do not lose this.
- Wait for the blockchain to finish downloading (this may take several hours or close to a day to complete).
- Your wallet address is listed here
If you’re having trouble following these instructions, please watch the following video:
Backing up Wallet
- Click Accounts > Backup Accounts
- Your keystore location will open. If it doesn’t for some reason, navigate to one of the following:
- Linux: ~/.ethereum/keystore
- Mac: ~/Library/Ethereum/keystore
- Windows: %APPDATA%/Ethereum/keystore
- Your keystore location will open. If it doesn’t for some reason, navigate to one of the following:
- Just like anything else, ensure that you have this file saved in several locations
- Ensure you have your password from the above steps saved as well.
**If you fail to backup both your private key and its password, you will be unable to re-import your wallet later on. It is not recoverable, period.
Restoring Wallet
- Drag private key onto the import window