How to recover your Liana wallet

Watch the walkthrough

What you will need

• Your wallet descriptor backup (the text file exported at setup, or access to your Liana Connect account if the wallet was linked there)
• The signing devices you have access to (primary key, recovery key, or both)
• A computer with the latest version of Liana installed

Step 1: Open Liana and add an existing wallet

Open Liana and click Add an existing Liana wallet. This is the entry point whether you are restoring to a new machine, switching backends, or preparing to spend via a recovery path.

Step 2: Choose a backend

Select how Liana will connect to the Bitcoin blockchain. If the wallet was previously linked to your Liana Connect account, selecting it here lets you restore by logging in. If you prefer your own node, select Use your own node and configure the connection in the next step. See the backend guide if you need help deciding.

Step 3: Load your wallet

How you load the wallet depends on your backend choice:

• Liana Connect: if the wallet was previously linked to your account, it will appear under Load a previously used wallet. Otherwise choose Load a wallet from descriptor and import your descriptor file or paste the descriptor string.
• Own node: click Import backup and select your descriptor or wallet backup file, or paste the descriptor string directly.

The descriptor is the compact text string that encodes your full spending policy. It was exported from Settings at wallet creation.

Step 4: Import a mnemonic if needed

If all your keys are stored on hardware signing devices, skip this step. If one of your keys was a mnemonic phrase stored on your computer rather than on a hardware device, you will need to import those words here. Do not type the seed phrase of a hardware signing device into your computer. Seeds for hardware devices should stay on the device only; entering them on a computer defeats the security model entirely.

Step 5: Register the descriptor on your signing devices

Connect the hardware signing devices you have access to. Liana will list detected devices. Select each one and follow the on-screen instructions to register the descriptor. This lets the device recognise the wallet for future signing. A green mark confirms registration is complete.

Step 6: Access your restored wallet

Once registration is done, Liana opens the wallet. If you are using Bitcoin Core and the balance shows as zero, you need to rescan the blockchain to retrieve your transaction history. Go to Settings > Bitcoin Core and run a rescan. This may take some time.

Spending via a recovery path

If you need to spend using a time-locked recovery key, the timelock must have matured first. The wallet dashboard shows the countdown for each unspent output. Once a recovery path is marked as available, go to the Recovery menu option to create a transaction to a wallet you fully control, sign with the recovery device, and broadcast.

If the timelock has not matured yet, you will need to wait. Liana will show how many blocks remain. As long as the primary key is still available, you can also reset the countdown by making any transaction from the wallet.

What if I don't have my descriptor?

Without the descriptor, your funds are likely gone. Liana wallets are defined by their full spending policy, not just a seed. Without the descriptor there is no reliable way to reconstruct which addresses belong to your wallet. This is why backing it up at creation time is critical. See the backup guide for how to store it safely.