# Cardano Secret Key from October 2017

**URL:** <https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632>\
**Category:** Community Technical Support\
**Created:** [7 April 2021 08:59 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632 "2021-04-07T08:59:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![edwardj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3d9bf3/32.png) [@edwardj](https://forum.cardano.org/u/edwardj)\
**Post date:** [7 April 2021 08:59 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632/1 "2021-04-07T08:59:22Z")

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Hi all,

Hoping someone can help. I obtained Cardano right at the start, emailed myself a secret key and forgot about it, until now.

It’s a long string of random characters that ends with “…nGenesis walletŸ‚ €oGenesis accountÿŸ‚ € €ÿ”

Tried pasting it into a secret.key file to import to Daedalus but it says ‘no wallets found’.

Any idea on how I can access this? Is there a structure to the secret.key file that I need to encapsulate the string in?

Really hoping you could help.

Thanks,  
Ed.

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**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\
**Post date:** [7 April 2021 09:04 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632/2 "2021-04-07T09:04:01Z")

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> [@edwardj](#):
>
> string of random characters tha

You don’t need to access it… just save the file on desktop for example, install the latest daedalus and restore the wallet via import option…

U will need the spending password in order to move the funds out of the wallet.

> **[Importing wallets](https://iohk.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000623463-Importing-wallets)**
>
> The wallet import feature has been reenabled in Daedalus. This feature enables you to import wallets from ‘secret.key’ files of old versions of Daedalus (Daedalus version 0.15.1 and before.) Please...

Cheers,

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**Author:** ![edwardj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3d9bf3/32.png) [@edwardj](https://forum.cardano.org/u/edwardj)\
**Post date:** [7 April 2021 10:25 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632/3 "2021-04-07T10:25:36Z")

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Hi Alex,

I only have the string of text for the key in an email. Is there any sort of structure to the secret key that I should put around the string? i.e. tags that encapsulate the key?

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**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\
**Post date:** [7 April 2021 10:40 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632/4 "2021-04-07T10:40:36Z")

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hmm… try to create a new file and paste the string inside… and save it like secret.key file

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**Author:** ![edwardj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3d9bf3/32.png) [@edwardj](https://forum.cardano.org/u/edwardj)\
**Post date:** [7 April 2021 10:46 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632/5 "2021-04-07T10:46:05Z")

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Just tried that, no dice ☹

Unsure if the key file requires anything else in it.

![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/uploads/cardano/original/3X/a/e/ae0fa7e137749006259fa773799ad766f4b61b5e.png)

Here’s what the key looks like:

![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/uploads/cardano/original/3X/0/c/0c13bb21a8024d4132bef4964b06d60a72e23276.png)

Maybe it’s encrypted, unsure what it’s supposed to look like as I can’t find any examples online.

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**Author:** ![Alexd1985](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/alexd1985/32/23759_2.png) [@Alexd1985](https://forum.cardano.org/u/Alexd1985)\
**Post date:** [7 April 2021 15:26 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632/6 "2021-04-07T15:26:36Z")

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hmmm… then u can open a ticket to IOHK support team

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**Author:** ![edwardj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3d9bf3/32.png) [@edwardj](https://forum.cardano.org/u/edwardj)\
**Post date:** [7 April 2021 17:11 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-secret-key-from-october-2017/56632/7 "2021-04-07T17:11:08Z")

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Thanks Alex, logged a ticket with them. Guess this is a more unique problem.