This guide assumes you have minimal knowledge about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. By the end of reading it, you will know what a Bitcoin wallet does, how to get one, and how to use it. Don’t get overwhelmed by the length of this guide, it’s mostly pictures!

IMPORTANT: feel free to skip around as you desire, but please please please make sure you backup your wallets once they hold a balance. You can find out how to do this in the section titled ‘The Settings Tab.’

What is a Bitcoin Wallet

A bitcoin wallet is an application that lets you send and receive bitcoin. Just as you have a physical wallet to manage your paper money, a Bitcoin wallet helps you manage your bitcoin.

Downloading a Wallet on Desktop

There are many different wallets apps to choose from, but I’m personally fond of the Bitcoin.com Wallet. It’s easy to use, reliable, and available on most phones and desktop computers.

To start, navigate to wallet.bitcoin.com in your web browser. Once you’re there, click on the operating system you’re running. I’ve circled the options in red in the picture immediately below.

The file will begin to download. Wait for it to complete and then install as you would any other program on your computer.

Downloading a Wallet on Mobile

If you’re on a mobile device, open up it’s app store. This will be “App Store” on an iPhone and “Google Play” on an Android. Search for “Bitcoin.com Wallet.” Click and install the one published by Bitcoin.com.

A Bit of Navigation

At the bottom of your screen you’ll see different tabs.

The Home tab displays your balances and services or resources.

The Receive tab is where you go if you want to request or receive bitcoin from someone else.

Go to the Scan tab if someone presents you with a QR code. This means you will be sending money.

From the Send tab, you can send funds to an alphanumeric address.

In the Settings tab, you can set up passwords, notifications, and other features that you might find helpful when managing your wallet.

Without going into much depth, the most important features of each tab will be explained. Before the end of this article you will know enough to start using your bitcoin wallet at a level sufficient enough for most purposes.

The Home Tab

As stated above, the home tab lets you view your balances. Highlighted in red below are the default Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Core wallets.

To create additional Bitcoin Cash wallets, click the ‘+’ sign to the right of the words Bitcoin Cash. Similarly for Bitcoin Core. It’s a pretty simple process, so I won’t be covering it.

To see the balance and transaction history of a wallet, click on it’s name. In this case, I’m clicking my Bitcoin Cash wallet named ‘Personal Wallet.’

By clicking and holding on the balance (0.00 USD in the example), you’re able to hide the balance. A list of transactions made from this wallet will be displayed on the bottom half of the screen. Since this is a fresh wallet, there are no transactions to see.

You can return to the home screen by pressing the back arrow in the upper left hand corner.

The Receive Tab

When you need to receive funds, click on the Receive tab.

You can change where you want to receive funds by clicking on the wallet displayed just above the navigation tabs, and then clicking on the destination for the funds.

Once you have the right destination, you have two options for giving someone your public address

Show them the QR code

Copy the address and give it to whoever is sending funds

The QR code is the square made up of black and white blobs. If someone in the same room as you wants to send money, it’s easiest to show them this.

When you’re not in the same room as someone, click the long string of letters and numbers to copy your address to your clipboard. Then paste in the body of a message and send to whoever is paying you.

You can also request a specific amount by clicking the box labelled ‘Request Specific Amount.’ I won’t be going into the details on this method, but it’s pretty easy to figure out.

When you receive money, the QR code will turn into a green check mark.

The Scan Tab

Anytime you need to send someone money and they give you a QR code, move on over to the ‘Scan’ tab. Use your camera to view their QR code on your phone.

Once the QR code is recognized, enter the amount of money you wish to send. Then click (or slide) to finalize the transaction.

The Bitcoin.com wallet will give you confirmation that the payment has been made.

The Send Tab

If you need to send funds to someone via their public address, move to the ‘Send’ tab.

Enter the address in the search bar labelled ‘Search or enter bitcoin address.’

The Settings Tab

The ‘Settings’ tab is full of features and functionality. I’m going to focus on backing up your wallets and removing clutter.

Decluttering

I’ll start off with removing the clutter. In my mind (and many others), it doesn’t make any sense to use Bitcoin Core so I’ll be showing you how to remove the Bitcoin Core wallet from the homepage. While you’re in the settings tab, scroll down until you see your wallets listed.

Click on the Bitcoin Core ‘Personal Wallet.’ You should see a screen like the one below.

Scroll down to the bottom and select the ‘More Options’ button. Then choose ‘Delete Wallet.’

When you click ‘Delete Wallet,’ you will get a warning. Please make sure any funds you had in your wallet have been moved before you delete your wallet.

Again, click ‘Delete Personal Wallet.’ Go ahead and click ‘OK’ when the pop up appears and the selected wallet will be removed from your phone.

Backing up Your Funds

Navigate back to the settings tab, and find the wallet you’re going to backup. You’ll see a message saying whether or not you have backed up your wallet.

Click on the wallet name and select ‘Backup.’

The app will warn you not to backup your wallet with anyone nearby or watching. This is because when you backup your wallet, you’re retrieving all the information you need to spend your bitcoin. If anyone has this information, you may have your money stolen.

When you click ‘Got it,’ the app will you give you another warning that screenshots are not secure. Take this advice and keep your backup phrase somewhere safe and separate from your phone or computer.

You will now be presented with a 12 word phrase. Write this down and put it in safe keeping. If this hasn’t been made clear yet, this phrase is extremely sensitive and important information. (I’m leaving a screenshot, but this is okay because there is no money associated with this phrase, and there never will be).

Click “I’ve written it down,” and place the words in the correct order on the next screen.

Click ‘Confirm,’ and the app will let you know that you had the correct order. Again, the important thing is the phrase you’re saving. When you’re done with the backup process on the app, the only differences you will notice are visual.

Conclusion