Atomic Wallet Password Recovery

Atomic Wallet is an Electron-based multi-chain wallet that stores all encrypted state inside Chromium's IndexedDB — a LevelDB-backed key-value database buried in your user profile. If you have forgotten the password and the 12-word recovery phrase was not saved, the encrypted seed blob inside the IndexedDB folder is your only hope. This guide shows exactly how to extract it, analyze the encryption, and attack it.

About Atomic Wallet

Atomic Wallet launched in 2018 and supports over 500 coins and tokens across multiple blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, and Binance Smart Chain. Unlike native wallets that store a single file, Atomic uses an embedded Chrome IndexedDB — the same storage engine used by browser-based apps — persisted through LevelDB on the local filesystem.

The encrypted seed material, transaction history, and wallet metadata are all stored inside this database. The wallet does not write a single neat file like a .dat or .json; instead the data is spread across multiple LevelDB segment files (*.ldb, *.log) that must be reassembled before the encrypted seed can be extracted.

Atomic Wallet encryption details

Locating the Atomic Wallet data folder

Extracting the encrypted seed from LevelDB

The IndexedDB database is stored as a LevelDB directory containing .ldb files, a LOG file, a MANIFEST-* file, and a CURRENT file. To read it you need a LevelDB reader — Python's plyvel library is the most reliable:

# Install plyvel
pip install plyvel

# Extract all Atomic Wallet encrypted seed entries
python3 << 'PY'
import plyvel, json, os

db_path = os.path.expanduser(
    "~/AppData/Roaming/atomic/IndexedDB/file__0.indexeddb.leveldb"
)

db = plyvel.DB(db_path, create_if_missing=False)
for key, value in db:
    if key.startswith(b"data-"):
        try:
            rec = json.loads(value.decode("utf-8", errors="ignore"))
            if "cipher" in rec and "iv" in rec and "salt" in rec:
                print(f"=== Found encrypted seed entry ===")
                print(f"Key:   {key.decode()}")
                print(f"Salt:  {rec['salt']}")
                print(f"IV:    {rec['iv']}")
                print(f"Nonce: {rec.get('nonce', 'N/A')}")
                print(f"Cipher:{rec['cipher'][:80]}...")
                print()
        except (json.JSONDecodeError, KeyError):
            pass
db.close()
PY

The output will show the base64-encoded salt, iv, and cipher values. Save these — they are the raw material for the password cracking step.

Running btcrecover against Atomic Wallet

Since there is no dedicated hashcat mode for Atomic Wallet, the most practical route is btcrecover with its built-in Atomic Wallet support:

# btcrecover with Atomic Wallet custom module
python3 btcrecover.py \
    --wallet-type atomic \
    --wallet-path ~/atomic-backup/IndexedDB/ \
    --passwordlist candidates.txt \
    --typos-capslock --typos-case \
    --dsw

# Or use the generic IndexedDB approach with custom extraction
# Build a dictionary from personal hints
hashcat --stdout -a 6 personal-words.txt ?d?d?d?d \
    | python3 verify-atomic.py extracted_seed.json

# GPU-accelerated custom script (PyCryptodome)
python3 << 'PY'
import hashlib, binascii, json
from Crypto.Cipher import AES

salt = binascii.unhexlify("...")   # from extraction
iv   = binascii.unhexlify("...")   # from extraction
ct   = binascii.unhexlify("...")   # from extraction

with open("wordlist.txt") as f:
    for line in f:
        pw = line.strip()
        key = hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac("sha512", pw.encode(), salt, 50000, 32)
        try:
            cipher = AES.new(key, AES.MODE_CBC, iv)
            pt = cipher.decrypt(ct)
            # Check PKCS7 padding
            pad = pt[-1]
            if 1 <= pad <= 16 and pt[-pad:] == bytes([pad]) * pad:
                print(f"PASSWORD FOUND: {pw}")
                break
        except Exception:
            pass
PY

Recovery feasibility

Step-by-step recovery guide

1. Stop Atomic Wallet immediately. Close the application so it releases file locks on the IndexedDB folder.
2. Back up the data folder. Copy the entire %APPDATA%/atomic/ directory to an external drive.
3. Install plyvel and run the extraction script above to locate the encrypted seed blob. Note the salt, IV, and ciphertext values.
4. Build a candidate wordlist from everything you remember: names, dates, places, pet names, favourite numbers, common suffixes, and keyboard patterns.
5. Run btcrecover with the Atomic Wallet module pointing at your backup folder. Let it run for 24-48 hours on a modern CPU or GPU.
6. If btcrecover fails, write a custom Python script using PyCryptodome that tests candidates with PBKDF2-SHA512 + AES-256-CBC. A GPU can accelerate this via CUDA if you port the KDF loop.
7. If still stuck, submit the backup folder to a professional recovery service. We accept zipped Atomic IndexedDB folders and run custom attacks against them.

When to give up and use the seed phrase

If you have your 12-word Atomic Wallet seed phrase anywhere — written down, in a password manager, or in a photo — stop the recovery attempt. Install Atomic on any machine, choose "Restore wallet," enter the 12 words, and all your coins will appear. The local password you forgot only protects the IndexedDB file on that specific computer; the seed phrase is the true master secret for every chain.

Related guides

• Exodus, Atomic & Trust Wallet combined guide — comparison of all three wallets.
• Exodus wallet password recovery — dedicated guide for Exodus .seco files.
• btcrecover complete tutorial — how to use the primary tool for Atomic attacks.

Frequently asked questions