2 · Restoring on the desktop

Epic Cash Desktop can hold several wallets, each with its own password. Restoring means typing the phrase, choosing a password, running Setup once, then unlocking. The blockchain search starts on the first unlock.

Thick green arrows are the usual path. Dashed arrows are side paths. Arrows into the red band are what happens when something goes wrong. In the diagram, tap a box to highlight its links.

Ways to reach Restore

• Welcome › Restore on a computer with no wallet yet.
• Unlock › Add a wallet, which goes to Welcome.
• Settings › All wallets › Restore while a wallet is open.

Step by step

1. Recovery phrase. 24 numbered boxes. 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 words are accepted. Paste fills the boxes and ignores numbering, commas and line breaks. Each word is checked against the word list as you type, and the button reads Use 12 words, Use 24 words and so on once the phrase checks out.
2. Already in the list? If the phrase belongs to a wallet already on this computer, nothing is added: "Open it asks for that wallet's password."
3. Password. At least 8 characters, typed twice. A hint shows how strong it is but never blocks you. Optional Start from a block height: leave it empty. A start height currently leaves the wallet unable to receive or send (known issue 1).
4. Restore wallet. Takes up to a minute. The wallet is listed as "Wallet 2", "Wallet 3"… Rename it in Settings later.
5. Setup (once per wallet): choose a node (the fastest healthy one is picked for you) or the built-in local node, then the Epicbox server, then Save.
6. Unlock with the new password. "Wallet restored." The blockchain search starts now.
7. The search runs in the background. The Overview balance looks dimmed with an "Updating" tag until it finishes.

Restarts, closing, Delete

• App closed during Setup: Setup opens again on the next start ("Setup was not finished last time…").
• Save failed in Setup: a red notice offers Continue without saving. This is the way out of the Setup loop testers met after restoring with 26.10.13–15 (fixed in 26.10.16).
• App closed, wallet locked, or node down during the search: the search is still due. On the next unlock it continues from where it stopped, not from the start.
• Offline mode: no search while Offline. It starts when you leave Offline. The balance reads zero until then, with no hint why.
• Auto-lock waits while the search runs. The Lock button still locks and stops it.
• Changing node during the search: the wallet reopens on the new node and the search continues there.
• Delete wallet (Settings › This wallet): needs the password and a tick for "I wrote down my phrase". It locks the wallet first, which stops the search, Epicbox, HTTP and Tor, then waits up to 30 s for the wallet files to be free. If it still cannot delete, you land on Unlock with the error. It no longer hangs.

Several wallets

• One wallet is open at a time. Switch wallet in the sidebar locks it and returns to Unlock with a wallet picker.
• Delete works only on the open wallet, because it needs that wallet's password. A mistyped password there currently locks the wallet.
• Remove from list (Settings › All wallets, for the others) keeps the files. They appear under "Removed wallets" with Add back.
• The same phrase cannot be restored twice: the app spots a wallet it made or restored itself. It does not yet spot a wallet imported from old software, so the same wallet can end up listed twice.
• Release builds use the main network only. There is no network choice on Welcome.

Password, not PIN

The desktop has a password and no PIN. Remember on this computer keeps it in the system keyring. A forgotten password cannot be reset: the phrase is the only way back. Today the app refuses to restore a phrase that is already in the list, and Delete needs the password. With a second wallet open you can Remove from list the locked one, then restore its phrase (known issue 4).

Known issues