I had restarted the laptop after making those changes. And yes it’s the same laptop I used when I first installed daedalus about 5 years ago
ok, then go and search for the secret.key
store/bkp the files on an usb or on another location, then try to uninstall the daedalus and install it again, then go to restore the wallet via secret.key ( you must know the spending password in order to move the funds out from byron wallet)
Before using the secret key method, could I try with 12 word recovery phrase first?
Should I also fully clear all wallet and chain folders/files before reinstalling 4.5.2 mainet?
if u tried the 12 seed words on adalite.io and the balance is 0 then you will have same result on daedalus
so, you should try with the secret.key, and follow the steps provided above for a complete uninstallation… but do this after you bkped the secret.key
Thanks I’ve backed up secret key.
Daedalus did connect to the network for first ~90% and then dropped in and out, when it was connected I could see my old transactions there which looked like the total amount of ADA I have, daedalus didn’t show the balance as it couldn’t fully sync.
Thanks again for your help I will try both phrase and secret key recovery methods after full reinstall and let you know how I go…
Can you confirm if yoroi is not an option for my current situation?
Hello I have a similar problem.
I first setup Daedalus on Mac back on 18 August 2021. I don’t recall if this was Shelley or Byron version. I only log in every few months because it is so much RAM on my 8Gb RAM old Mac. Today I finally logged in again and was prompted by “the Delegation Center is not available becuase you do not have any Shelley-compatable wallets”. So I found “Restore a Wallet”. I entered in my 24 word phrase phrase. That worked
But now on Step 3 of 3 “Restore a Wallet” I am getting “An Error Occurred” each time after I post my Wallet Name and Password. I am not sure if I am using the original name of the wallet. I have the original address I transferred to to from Binance. Can someone from Cardano/Daedalus support help me to access my wallet?
there is not a must to use the original wallet name and spending password… I know that more people had this issue but I don’t know how they solved it… I know u must have a strong password (min 10 characters, etc)
can u try with another strong password which should include @$- characters?
If still not working u can contact the IOHK team and they should be able to solve the issue
https://iohk.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/360000877653-Mainnet-Daedalus-Wallet
click on ? mark → search for daedalus → press contact us and fill the form
Cheers,
Thank you. I tried another strong password as you suggested with @$- and still not working so am contacting support as you suggest. Thanks so much 
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You have the possibility to restore the daedalus walllet on other wallets like yoroi,adalite.io (if it’s an emergency)… but my suggestion is to wait for the IOHK answear
Hi Alex,
I am having the same problem. I already increased my page file.
But i dont have a secret key and i have a diffrent pc also.
I have no idea what else to do. I only have a my 12 word recovery.
I did make an yoroi wallet and got this error.
Please help?
Try to restore the wallet on adalite.io if still not working then contact IOHK support team
https://iohk.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/360000877653-Mainnet-Daedalus-Wallet
If anyone is reading this in 2025 I’m posting my experience with recovering an ADA wallet in Daedalus. Twice I tried to recover the ADA by downloading the latest Daedalus Mainnet. Both times, after two days, it couldn’t get past a 53% resoration of the ADA blockchain. I hadn’t visited the wallet since 2019.
I was then unsuccessful using my seed-phrase to recover in, Eternl.io, and Yoroi.io. Fortunately, I was successful by using Adawallet.io. It scanned quickly and synched 100%. I was able to then move my ADA to Exodus, and finally to my Trezor T account. I’ve read some posts that say regularly visiting your Daedalus account keeps the blockchain scan up to date and easy viewing of your wallet. I’ll avoid Daedalus and manage the ADA in my Trezor Suite.
Hope this helps someone.)
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Just FYI (and for anyone else), Daedalus dowwloads and maintains a copy of the full blockchain (212 G on my machine) while something like Adawallet (and Eternl and Yoroi) does not (and therefore it did not need to sync).
Likely the main reason Daedalus was not working for you is that you did not have enough system RAM. My laptop has 32 G of RAM and if I do not shutdown nearly everything else on the machine when I run Daedalus, Daedalus itself crashes or locks up/freezes the machine.
That might be the reason. More RAM is always better. I was running with 16GB RAM and the task Manager said that the Mainnet plus a few small programs were taking up only 60-70% of the CPU and RAM. The Mainnet didn’t freeze up, but after 45% just slowed to the point that I gained .01% every hour.
I don’t trade ADA often so this won’t be a problem for me going forward.
Yeah, zero chance of it working with 16G. Even with 32 G I have to shut down nearly everything else.