MyEtherWallet (MEW) Keystore Recovery

MyEtherWallet (MEW) was the most popular non-custodial Ethereum wallet from 2016 through 2019 and is still actively maintained. Unlike MetaMask, MEW does not host an in-browser vault — every action requires you to upload the keystore JSON file and type the password. Lose the password and you lose the address. This guide is specifically about MEW keystore files (and the related MEWconnect flow). For a generic Ethereum keystore overview see our Ethereum keystore guide; this one focuses on MEW-specific quirks.

Anatomy of a MEW keystore

MEW uses the standard Ethereum Web3 Secret Storage Definition v3. A typical file from 2018+ looks like this:

{
  "version": 3,
  "id": "8b9b3c8b-1234-4e3a-bfa2-71d29b3d4d8c",
  "address": "abc123...def456",
  "crypto": {
    "ciphertext": "5f2c8b...e9",
    "cipherparams": { "iv": "1d2e..." },
    "cipher": "aes-128-ctr",
    "kdf": "scrypt",
    "kdfparams": {
      "dklen": 32,
      "salt": "9a8b...",
      "n": 262144,
      "r": 8,
      "p": 1
    },
    "mac": "ce8f...8d"
  }
}

Key fields:

• kdf — almost always scrypt; older MEW exports used pbkdf2 with c=262144 or c=10240.
• n — scrypt cost factor. MEW defaults to 262144 ("strong"); some exports use 8192 ("weak", chosen for mobile compatibility).
• mac — Keccak-256 of the second 16 bytes of the derived key concatenated with ciphertext. Used to verify password without decrypting.

Hashcat modes — pick the right one

The order-of-magnitude gap between scrypt and PBKDF2 is the single most important fact about MEW recovery — check the JSON before launching anything.

Cracking with hashcat

# Convert keystore to hashcat hash
python3 ethereum2john.py UTC--2018-10-17T...--abc123 > mew.hash

# Inspect mode
head -c 50 mew.hash
# $ethereum$s*262144*8*1*<salt>*<ciphertext>*<mac>     -> mode 15700
# $ethereum$p*262144*<salt>*<ciphertext>*<mac>          -> mode 15600

# Mask attack: you remember the password starts with "Crypto" + year + 1-2 symbols
hashcat -m 15700 -a 3 mew.hash "Crypto201?d?s"

# Tokenlist with btcrecover (better for 'mostly remembered' passwords)
python3 btcrecover.py \
    --wallet UTC--2018-10-17T...--abc123 \
    --wallet-type ethereum \
    --tokenlist tokens.txt \
    --typos 2 --typos-case --typos-capslock --typos-swap

Where to find lost UTC files

MEW does not auto-store keystores anywhere — it triggers a browser download. Common forgotten locations:

• ~/Downloads/ on the laptop you used in 2017-2019
• Email attachments to yourself ("backup" subject line)
• USB sticks labeled "crypto" or "ETH"
• Old ~/Documents/Wallets/ folders
• iCloud / Google Drive auto-uploaded Downloads folders
• Time Machine / Windows Backup snapshots
• Old phone backups (if you ever opened the file in mobile email)

Search by filename pattern: UTC--* or by extension .json filtered to date range and small file size (1-2 KB).

MEWconnect — different beast

MEWconnect is a QR-pairing flow between the desktop MEW website and the MEW Wallet mobile app. There is no UTC file — the keys live in the mobile app's secure enclave (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore) derived from a 24-word BIP39 mnemonic shown at install. Recovery means one of:

• You have the phone: open MEW Wallet → settings → reveal mnemonic.
• You wrote down the mnemonic: import it into any BIP39 wallet to access funds.
• Neither: funds are unrecoverable. There is no encrypted file artifact on the desktop side.

Recoverable vs not

Related guides

• Generic Ethereum keystore recovery — Geth, Parity, MyCrypto.
• MetaMask vault recovery — different storage, much weaker KDF.
• BIP39 vs PBKDF2 vs Scrypt — KDF deep-dive.
• btcrecover tutorial.

Frequently asked questions