Dogecoin is one of the most interesting cryptocurrencies on the market. What started as an internet meme has gone on to become a maker of millionaires. Boasting a $30B+ market cap, the asset enjoys a vibrant community of holders and traders. Among the most active of these, one wallet stands out: Dogecoin Core.
Dogecoin Core is the official full-node wallet for the Dogecoin blockchain. Anyone using it is running a node and adding their computer to the network. This helps increase the scope of the network as well as its decentralization. But at its heart, it is still a non-custodial crypto wallet.
So, what do you do if you lose it?
Dogecoin Core leaves you in control of your keys, which means you are responsible for backing up and recovering them. Find out how this works, what hitches you might encounter, and how to deal with them in our complete guide to the Dogecoin Core wallet recovery process.
Dogecoin Core Overview
Dogecoin Core is a full-node Dogecoin (DOGE) wallet for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Unlike light wallets that only let you manage your crypto, running an instance of Dogecoin Core makes your computer a part of the Dogecoin network.
This comes with several benefits.
- It makes the network more decentralized.
- Your wallet is able to independently verify transactions. It doesn’t have to rely on a third party since all the data is locally available, which is a big plus for privacy.
- Your wallet keys are managed locally, keeping you in control of your funds.
To get these benefits, however, Dogecoin Core downloads a copy of the blockchain and stores it locally. This is approximately 174 GB worth of data. After adding the necessary overhead and auxiliary data, the total storage required comes to around 230 GB.
Dogecoin Core Wallet Recovery
1. Locate the wallet.dat File
Dogecoin is a Litecoin fork, which is itself a source-code fork of the Bitcoin core client. So, Dogecoin Core uses backup and recovery concepts very similar to Bitcoin Core.
The wallet keeps your private keys in a single wallet database file named wallet.dat. Alongside the keys are your public addresses and labels, transaction history metadata, and your wallet encryption status.
The wallet.dat file is Dogecoin Core’s primary backup tool. There is no mnemonic phrase, as is typical with modern light wallets. To recover your wallet:
- Locate your backup file. Search through your computer files and USB drives for your wallet.dat backup.
- Download Dogecoin Core and place your wallet.dat backup file into the application’s data directory. The location varies by operating system.
- Windows: C:\Users\<YourUser>\AppData\Roaming\Dogecoin\wallet.dat. To open quickly: Press Win+R, type %appdata%\Dogecoin and Enter.
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Dogecoin/wallet.dat. In Finder: Go → Go to Folder… and paste ~/Library/Application Support/Dogecoin.
- Linux: ~/.dogecoin/wallet.dat or in a terminal, press ls -la ~/.dogecoin.
Once that’s done, start the app and let it rebuild its database and sync with the blockchain. Like all core wallets, Dogecoin Core wallet sync time can exceed an hour or two (longer for a fresh install), so you’ll have to be patient.
2. Dogecoin Core Password
Dogecoin Core recommends that you encrypt your wallet by setting a password. Once set, you must provide it to access funds in the wallet. This protects your crypto from unauthorized spending.
The password also encrypts your wallet.dat file. This means any backup you generate from then on will be encrypted. If you ever want to restore your wallet from such a backup, you’ll need to provide the password.
This feature is designed to protect your private keys if an attacker steals the file. But it cuts both ways. If you lose your password, you may not be able to restore your Dogecoin Core wallet.
So, if you are using an encrypted backup, make sure you have the password before any recovery efforts.
Dogecoin Core Recovery Issues
Recovering your Dogecoin Core wallet is easy enough, but only if you have your wallet.dat file and password. Even then, recovery might not go as expected. Let’s explore different scenarios and what you need to do to recover your DOGE.
1. Missing Dogecoin
Sometimes, recovery goes smoothly until you check your balance. If you’re importing an older backup, version 1.10 and older, you might find some addresses missing.
This is because older versions of the wallet required you to create a new backup whenever you generated a new address. So, if you had generated new addresses after making the backup, you might be missing part of your Dogecoin.
To solve this:
- Search your computer’s storage for newer wallet.dat backups
- Check cloud sync folders like Dropbox and Google Drive, or old emails in case you sent yourself backups.
Note that storing your wallet backup online is a security risk. This is because if your email is hacked, your wallet will also be compromised. Make sure to move your backup to a secure, offline location and delete all copies online.
2. Lost Password
You need your Dogecoin Core password to decrypt your wallet and access your funds. If you can’t remember this password:
- Check anywhere you might’ve written it down.
- Think of what might have inspired your password, write down all possible combinations, and try them.
If all your efforts fail, don’t give up yet. Bitcoin recovery tools, like hashcat, John the Ripper, and btcrecover, can help you recover partial passwords.
The good news is they are open source and free to use. But for maximum security, you’ll want to be offline. They can also be difficult to use, especially if you lack the necessary technical knowledge.
3. Corrupted Backup
Your backup could be corrupted. You’ll know this is the case if Dogecoin Core fails to load during recovery. The wallet may start and show the message “Error loading wallet.dat: wallet corrupted” or “Error reading from database.”
There could be several reasons why your backup got corrupted:
- Copying while Dogecoin Core is running.
- Disk errors or bad sectors, especially common on old USB drives and failing hard disks.
- Interrupted writing process due to power loss, system crash, or sudden removal of storage media during backup.
- Accidental tampering.
Here’s how to attempt a fix:
- Make a clone of the corrupted file. This clone is what you’ll be working with.
- Consider the built-in salvage feature. This involves launching Dogecoin Core from the command line with extra startup arguments. Try to start Dogecoin Core with dogecoin-qt -salvagewallet. This attempts to recover private keys into a new wallet file.
- Try using key extraction tools like pywallet and btcwalletdump to extract intact keys for the damaged wallet files.
- If the file was deleted or partially overwritten, Tools like PhotoRec, TestDisk, and R-Studio can be used to recover older intact versions.
Even if none of the above steps work, don’t give up. Recovering data from a corrupted file can get pretty complicated. If your wallet backup is corrupted, your best bet at recovery is with a professional.
So, what does professional Dogecoin Core Recovery look like?
Professional Dogecoin Core Wallet Recovery
Dogecoin Core’s development team may not offer much help if you encounter issues during recovery, but that doesn’t mean you’re alone. Professional Crypto Recovery specializes in helping owners recover crypto from non-custodial platforms.
We can help recover your Dogecoin Core wallet if:
- You have your encrypted wallet.dat backup and a partial password.
- Your wallet.dat file is corrupted. Using digital forensics, we may be able to reconstruct the necessary data.
- Your wallet.dat backup is on a dead/dying hard drive. Using specialized tools, we can recover as much of the drive’s contents as possible, including your backup.
- You accidentally deleted your wallet.dat backup and can provide the drive it was stored on
We cannot recover your Dogecoin Core wallet if:
- You don’t have your wallet.dat wallet file or the computer/hard drive.
Professional Crypto Recovery does not charge you ahead of time. We take payment only after a successful recovery, deducted as a fraction of the amount recovered from your wallet.
Best Practices
It helps to regularly back up your wallet. To do this, go to File → Backup Wallet. This will generate a copy of your wallet.dat file with all your wallet data. Make sure to store it somewhere safe, on a device/medium not connected to the internet.
Note that your wallet.dat is a Berkley Database (BDB) file. However, Dogecoin Core also lets you create a plain-text backup containing a list of all your private and public keys. These can come in handy in case you lose your backup.
To do this:
- Go to Help → Debug Window.
- Select the Console tab.
- Temporarily decrypt your wallet if it is encrypted. Use the walletpassphrase command and specify the number of seconds after which the decrypted copy will be deleted. Example: walletpassphrase “yourpasswordhere” 120.
- Once the console returns null, use the dumpwallet command to specify a path for the file.
- Copy the backup to multiple safe locations and keep them offline.
With both wallet.dat and text file backups, it should be harder to find yourself locked out of your Dogecoin Core wallet. But if you are locked out, Professional Crypto Recovery is here to help.
With over two decades in IT, we have the knowledge and experience necessary to recover your DOGE core wallet. Our recovery services are fast and affordable, accessible at some of the most affordable rates in the market. Book your recovery now to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Dogecoin Core Wallet Safe?
Yes. Dogecoin Core is a safe and trusted wallet in the DOGE community. It is even the official full node wallet of the project.
How Much Space Does Dogecoin Core Wallet Take
Being a core wallet, Dogecoin Core requires a lot of data, making it a big application. Dogecoin Core wallet download is around 174 GB, with the final size after installation coming to about 230 GB.