How to set up a Monero wallet

A Monero wallet takes a few minutes to set up and needs no account or ID. This guide covers choosing one, keeping it safe and receiving your first coins.

1. Pick a wallet

All of these keep your keys on your own device. Phone wallets are easiest; desktop wallets give you more control.

Cake Wallet – Open-source mobile wallet for Monero, Bitcoin and more.
Feather Wallet – Lightweight open-source desktop wallet for Monero.
Monero GUI – The official Monero wallet from the Monero project, with a full node built in.
Stack Wallet – Open-source multi-coin wallet with Monero support.
Monerujo – The original Android Monero wallet. Open source, with built-in swaps.
Monero.com – Monero-first mobile wallet from the Cake Wallet team.
Unstoppable Wallet – Open-source, non-custodial multi-coin wallet with Monero and Zcash support.
Edge – Non-custodial mobile wallet for Bitcoin, Monero and many other coins, with built-in swaps.

2. Write down your seed phrase

When you create a wallet, it shows a list of words: 25 words for most Monero wallets, or 16 for wallets that use the newer Polyseed format. These words are your wallet. Anyone who has them can take your coins, and if you lose them and your device, your coins are gone.

Write them on paper, in order. Do not screenshot them or store them in the cloud.
Keep the paper somewhere safe and private. Some people keep a second copy in another place.
Note the wallet's creation date or "restore height". It makes restoring much faster later.

3. Receive your first XMR

Your main address starts with a 4. Wallets can also make subaddresses, which start with an 8. Use a new subaddress for each person or service that pays you, so no one can link your payments together.

Incoming Monero shows up within a couple of minutes, and can be spent after 10 confirmations, about 20 minutes.

4. Nodes, in brief

Your wallet talks to a Monero node to see the blockchain. Light wallets connect to a remote node for you. A remote node never sees your keys or your balance, but it can see your IP address, so connect over Tor or a VPN if that matters to you. The official Monero GUI can run a full node of your own.

Next steps

Ready to fill it? See how to buy Monero without KYC or swap bitcoin for Monero.

Monereo only links to services; we never hold your funds. Always check a service yourself and start with a small amount.