How do you import a wallet with a private key?
To import a wallet with a private key, you paste the key into a wallet's import screen, which restores that one account but not a whole seed phrase wallet.
To import a wallet with a private key, you open a wallet app's import option, paste the key and confirm. The app then calculates the matching address and shows its balance, because the coins live on the blockchain, not inside the app. The catch is scope: a private key restores one account, so it is not a full substitute for a seed phrase. The difference is explained in seed phrase vs private key.
How do you import a private key into MetaMask?
MetaMask's help center lists these steps for the browser extension:
- Click the account selector at the top of the wallet.
- Select "Add wallet," then "Import an account."
- Paste the private key and click "Import."
On mobile the path is the same, and the key can also be scanned as a QR code. MetaMask warns that copying keys through the clipboard carries risk from clipboard-stealing malware, a threat described in what is clipper malware.
How do you recover an Ethereum wallet with a private key?
The same import works for any Ethereum account, because MetaMask and similar apps derive the address from the key. What matters next is backup. MetaMask says imported accounts are not derived from the wallet's Secret Recovery Phrase and will not appear when the wallet is restored from that phrase. They have to be imported again, so the private key itself needs its own safe copy.
MetaMask also notes that importing a key into a wallet tied to Google, Apple or Telegram sign-in links that account to the social login. A fresh MetaMask install avoids that.
How do you recover a Bitcoin wallet with a private key?
Electrum gives two options. Its FAQ says private keys cannot be imported into a wallet that already has a seed. Instead, a user either creates a special wallet with no seed by choosing "restore" and entering a list of private keys, or sweeps the keys from an existing wallet.
Sweeping sends all the coins the keys control to an address from the user's seed-backed wallet, and the swept keys do not become part of the wallet. A wallet built from imported keys, by contrast, cannot be rebuilt from a seed, and Electrum says it needs its own backup. The formats a Bitcoin key can map to are covered in Bitcoin address types.
What about Solana and other networks?
Phantom lets users choose "Import Private Key" from the welcome screen or extension, pick a network and paste the key. Its help center says a private key gives access to a single address on one network, and that private key wallets do not sync between devices, so the key must be imported on each device separately.
A private key gives full control of its account, so no support agent or website should ever ask for it.
This guide explains how things work. It is not financial, legal or tax advice. Last updated .