Wallet

MultiBit Wallet Recovery Service

MultiBit Classic and HD wallet recovery: wallet files, passwords and seed phrases - free assessment, success-based.

Quick answers

What is the difference between MultiBit Classic and HD?

Classic came before recovery phrases: recovery works from the .wallet file, or from a .key private-key export if one was made. A password was optional in Classic, so some of those files open straight away; where one was set, the automatic .key exports carry the same password. HD replaced all of that with a backup phrase of 12 words by default, and with the words the password no longer matters.

Is MultiBit software still needed?

No. Extract the keys (Classic) or the recovery-phrase words (HD) and import them into a current, compatible wallet; you do not need to keep using the discontinued application.

Do special characters break MultiBit passwords?

The MultiBit code family had a known bug that could reject passwords containing unusual characters. If the correct password is rejected, that bug may be the cause.

What if MultiBit will not open at all?

A wallet that will not open on a modern system (Java errors, crashes) is not lost: the .wallet file still holds the keys, and a copy of it is enough to extract them and import them into a current wallet.

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MultiBit was discontinued in 2017, and its two versions are not interchangeable:

MultiBit Classic (2011-2017): a pre-seed wallet. There is no phrase. Your backup is the .wallet file itself; a password was optional, so it is a file problem first and a password problem only where one was set.
MultiBit HD (2015 onwards): a BIP32 wallet with a 12-word backup phrase (called wallet words) and a separate wallet password - a phrase problem, since the password does not matter if you have the words.

The original software no longer syncs reliably against the modern Bitcoin network, so "opening MultiBit and waiting" is not a recovery plan. What still works is extracting what you have and importing it somewhere current.

When professional recovery is genuinely useful

Classic wallet with a forgotten password: the .wallet file is encrypted with a password-derived key. If you remember fragments, a structured search against the file has real odds.
A damaged or truncated .wallet file: keys can sometimes still be extracted from surviving records.
HD words that are partial, uncertain, or in the wrong order: a mnemonic reconstruction problem.
Deleted files: stop using the drive now - recovery depends on what has not been overwritten.
A wallet that will not open at all: MultiBit Classic failing to start on a modern system (Java errors, crashes) is a launcher problem, not a lost wallet - whether the discontinued application can still run has no bearing on the .wallet file sitting next to it, so a copy of that file still parses correctly in current extraction tools.

What is impossible

No .wallet file, no wallet words, no private keys, and no drive to recover from. MultiBit has no cloud, no server-side copy, and no support desk to ask.
Wallets "with a balance" sold online: the seller keeps the keys.

Practical notes

The age of a .wallet file does not change the format - a file from 2013 parses the same way as one from 2016. What changes with age is the address type and the likelihood that the drive still holds the file.
Anything claiming to be "new MultiBit software" is fake. Recovery happens by extracting keys, not by resurrecting the app.