using the Monero GUI app, am I able to restore a wallet that I didn't create on the Monero GUI app? For example, can I restore a wallet that i made on mymonero.com onto the Monero GUI?
I'm getting at a larger question: if my computer crashes and was not backed up, will I no longer be able to access any wallet that I had saved on the Monero GUI app (even if i have the public key, private key, mneumonic seed, etc.)?
Thanks
You just need to back up your mnemonic seed and you can restore your wallet through the Monero GUI or Monero CLI using any computer anytime.
However, if you are using a 13-word seed from mymonero you can use the following guide to restore it to the GUI since the GUI does not accept a 13 word seed. How do I use my MyMonero wallet via the Monero Core GUI?
Just an additional information: You can use the 25 mnemonic seed as login in mymonero but you have to pay 1XMR to synchronize your past transactions.
Edit:
Monero GUI Beta 2 was just released. So it is easier to restore your wallet using the keys.
Download Monero GUI Beta 2 https://getmonero.org/2017/03/29/monero-gui-beta-2-released.html
As long as you have your mnemonic seed words, you can set fire to all your computers, back up drives and anything else your wallet was on or backed up on. Doesn't matter. You can always restore your wallet using the mnemonic seed, on any computer you want after it is resynched with the block chain.
The Monero GUI has several options for restoring your account. When starting the GUI for the first time, you will be presented with the following options:
Select the middle one, "Restore wallet from keys or mnemonic seed." Of course, if you have the wallet file and know the password, select the last "Open a wallet from file" instead.
If you are restoring a wallet from keys or mnemonic seed, you will see this new page:
Select "Restore from keys" if you are restoring from keys, and select "Restore from seed" if you are restoring from seed.
Make sure to include a block height if possible. For instance, if you started using this wallet at block height 1,500,000, then enter a number less than this, for instance 1,450,000. Adding this block height will substantially speed up the restoration process. If you do not know when you first used the wallet, then leave this field blank.
If you are using MyMonero, you need to restore the account from keys, not from mnemonic seed.
