If you accidentally sent ERC-20 tokens to your wallet address that does not support ERC-20 tokens, you may retrieve the ERC-20 token by importing the address to another wallet interface that supports ERC-20 tokens.
(For a comprehensive list of wallets that support both ETH and ERC-20 tokens, feel free to visit our wallet directory here.)
Kindly follow the following steps:
Find out if the receiving wallet service provider allows you to export the private key.
- Some wallets (like centralised ones in exchanges) hold your addresses’ private keys. If you accidentally sent your ERC-20 tokens to this kind of wallet, kindly communicate with the support team of the exchange for further assistance on the subject matter.
- If you have the private keys for your ETH address, you can proceed to step 2.
Export the private key for your ETH address
- Private keys should never be exposed, shared or stored online. The best way to keep your private key is to print/write it on a piece of paper and keep it some place that only you would know.
- If you fear that your address might be exposed to online threats after exporting the private key, we would advise creating a new address altogether to store your assets after you are done with recovering your ERC-20 tokens.
Access the address through an Ethereum-compatible wallet. In this example, we will use MyEtherWallet v5 (Or any other wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens).
- At the homepage, select Access My Wallet.
- Select the Software option.
- Choose whether to log in with your Keystore File, Mnemonic Phrase or Private Key.
Once you have gained access to your address, look for your ERC-20 token at the Tokens section (the section should be on the right side of the dashboard).
Move the ERC-20 tokens to the right address.
If you do not want to move the tokens, the alternative would be to switch from using the previous wallet that does not support ERC-20 tokens and only access the address via MyEtherWallet (or any other wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens) in the future.
*If you are not in urgent need for the ERC-20 tokens, or you are not planning to use it for a while, we recommend just leaving the tokens in the ETH address. Exporting private keys should only be done and treated as a last resort.
**Never share your private keys, backup phrase or keystore file to anyone, not even to our support. Anyone asking for private keys is looking to steal your funds.
