How to Access Your Wallet
Now that you have created your wallet, we want to make sure that we can access this wallet, now and in the future.
If you can successfully unlock your wallet and send ETH out of the wallet, you can rest assured that you will have access to any funds you send to it.
Accessing your Wallet
- Navigate to the Send Page.
- Select your keystore file or your private key.
- If the wallet is encrypted, a text box will automatically appear. Enter the password.
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Click the
Unlock Walletbutton. - Your wallet information should show up.
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Find your account address, next to a colorful, circular icon. This icon visually represents your address.
- If you printed out your wallet, check to be sure the circles match. They should be the same colors, and shapes. Otherwise, something went wrong and you should start over.
You can share your address with others so they can send you ETH. Your account will not be compromised, just make sure to send them your PUBLIC wallet address and not your private key.
TIP: If you are planning on holding a large amount of ETH, we recommend you send a small amount to test first, before depositing a large amount.
The Future
While we used the Send page to access your wallet this time, it is not recommended that you do so in the future. You only need your address in order to see your balance. Do not enter your private key anywhere if you just want to check the balance or see incoming and outgoing transactions.
Instead, search your address (or bookmark it) on etherscan.io.
While you are at it, you should bookmark https://www.myetherwallet.com as well.
MyEtherWallet is a client-side wallet, which means you hold your own keys. If someone gets your private key (keystore file, mnemonic, passwords), they have complete access to your funds. There is no stopping transactions, canceling transactions, or resetting passwords. Once a transaction is on the blockchain, it's final.
For this reason, it is very, very important to keep your private key a secret and use it as rarely as possible. Only enter it on sites after double-checking to be sure you are on the correct site.