Exporting your private key

This page will teach you how to export your Koala Wallet's private key using a Windows PC. This is an advanced procedure and not recommended for beginners. This process should be done in private, as anyone with access to the data used could get full access to your account.

Koala Wallet is a non-custodial wallet. This means you are always in full control over your assets. Even if the app ceased to exist this very second, you would still maintain full control. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere!

If you're simply moving to a new device and want to continue using Koala Wallet, you can stop reading this page and follow the restore instructions here. If for any reason you need your private keys to access funds in a different wallet app, you can follow the instructions below:

Overview

While the instructions may look long or intimidating, there are just 5 basic steps:

1. Download the Koala's key derivation script
2. Install the Dart programming language to execute the script
3. Enter a single command to download a required Dart package
4. Use a simple website to convert your Recovery Phrase
5. Enter a single command to execute the script

Step 1: Download Koala's key derivation script

This is the main app that will use the information from your Recovery Phrase to derive the private key

1. Open https://github.com/Eucalyptus-Labs/dart-ed25519-hd-key
2. On the top right part of the page, press the green button labeled "Code", then click on "Download ZIP"
   
3. Extract the downloaded file into a folder. In this example we'll use your Downloads folder: C:\Users\my_user\Downloads
   
   

Step 2: Extract Dart

Dart is the programming language used by the derivation script. You'll now extract the program that will execute it (no real installation is needed).

1. Open https://dart.dev/get-dart/archive
2. On the "Stable Channel" section, make sure the Operating System (OS) is set to Windows
   
3. On the x64 Architecture row, click on "Dart SDK" to download the ZIP
   
4. Extract the downloaded file into a folder. In this example we'll also use your Downloads folder: C:\Users\my_user\Downloads

Step 3: Set up dependent package

The main script needs an extra package to work, that must be set up. To do it, while in the Koala script folder just execute the downloaded dart executable with the "pub get" command.

1. Open a file explorer window and navigate to your Downloads folder, then open the "dart-ed25519-hd-key-master" folder that contains Koala's script.
2. While holding down the Shift key on your keyboard, right click with the mouse and select "Open PowerShell window here"
   
3. This will open a blue window where you can issue text commands. Type "..\dart-sdk\bin\dart pub get", press Enter and wait for the package setup to complete.
   

Step 4: Get and set your BIP39 seed

Your private key is derived from your account's master seed (BIP39 seed), which first must be derived from your Recovery Phrase.

1. Open https://iancoleman.io/bip39/ on your browser and wait for the page to fully load
2. From this point on, for your security, it's highly recommended that you do the rest of the process with your computer offline. Internet connection is not necessary. You can turn off wifi, remove the network cable, etc.
3. Enter your 24-word Recovery Phrase on the box labeled "BIP39 Mnemonic". No other option or text box in that page needs to be changed.
   
4. Two boxes below after "BIP39 Mnemonic", select and copy the value on the box labeled "BIP39 Seed"
   
5. Go to the file explorer window showing the extracted the Koala script folder: dart-ed25519-hd-key-master. Open the "example" folder, right click the file "kadena_koala_derivation.dart" and choose "Edit". This should open the file in a text editor like Notepad.
6. Find a line that starts with "String bip39Seed =" and then a long string of random characters. Replace the long string with the one you just copied. Make sure you keep it inside quotes, and also keep the semicolon at the end of the line.
   
7. Save the file.

Step 5: Execute the script and get your keys

Now you have everything installed and the script is set up with your phrase's Seed. You just have to execute it

1. On the PowerShell window (the blue window) you already have open, enter the command "..\dart-sdk\bin\dart .\example\kadena_koala_derivation.dart" and press Enter.
   
2. The script will display in that window your private key, public key and address. If you did it all correctly, the address will be the same as in your Koala Wallet. You can now import the private key into other wallet apps, to give it access to your assets. For specific import instructions, please contact the support team of the wallet where you're importing the key.

Step 6: Cleanup

For your security, before turning internet back on, it's best to remove all private key and seed data from your computer

1. Close the browser window you opened on step 4
2. Overwrite the bip39Seed value in the "kadena_koala_derivation.dart" file with any other text and save the file.
3. Select any other text and press Ctrl+C to overwrite your private key on your device's clipboard
4. It is now considered safe to turn internet back on.

Final notes

It's a good idea to create a dummy account in Koala Wallet with only a few cents worth of KDA so you can try this procedure with no real value at stake. Get your private key, import it in a different app and see that the address and balance is correctly restored. After that, in case you have a real need to access your private key, there are no surprises during the process.

These instructions require no real software installation or changes to your system. Deleting the downloaded and extracted files will clear all of its traces.

If you think you did something wrong at any step of the process, you can delete the extracted folders and start over.