How to Set Up a Bitcoin Wallet: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

To set up a Bitcoin wallet on your phone or computer, install the app, create a new wallet, back it up, check a receive address and receive a small test. Get the app only through the wallet maker's own website, because a fake app can take your recovery phrase before any bitcoin arrives.

What you need before you start

• A phone or computer to install the app on.
• Pen and paper for the recovery phrase.
• A private place where nobody can see your screen or your paper.
• Optional: a small amount of bitcoin on an exchange, for the test at the end.

If you would rather keep the keys on a dedicated device, read how to set up a hardware wallet instead.

Choose a Bitcoin wallet app

A non-custodial BTC wallet is one where you hold the keys instead of a company. Read custodial and non-custodial wallets first if the terms are new. Blockstream says (opens in a new tab) it does not have a copy of your recovery phrase, so keeping the backup is the user's responsibility. Other makers may differ, so read your maker's help pages before you choose.

Check which coins the app supports on the maker's website. A wallet that lists Bitcoin is enough for this guide.

As of October 2026, BitBox's receive guide (opens in a new tab) says to choose Native SegWit or Taproot according to what the sender supports, and says Native SegWit is the default in the BitBoxApp, which is a hardware-wallet app. Native SegWit addresses start with bc1q. The address type your wallet uses must be one the exchange you send from accepts. For the formats, read Bitcoin addresses and networks.

Get the real app

Ledger says (opens in a new tab) official app stores also include fake and malicious apps designed purely to steal your crypto. It advises checking the app's publisher and the wallet's official website before you install.

To do that, type the wallet maker's web address yourself, then follow its link to the store listing. Compare the developer name on the listing with the maker's name. If the listing does not match, or you cannot find the link on the maker's site, do not install it.

On a computer, the wallet may be a download from the maker's own website instead of a store listing. Download it only from the website whose address you typed yourself, and do not use a link from a search ad, message or email.

Some fake apps copy a familiar look. Ledger describes some that claim you must type in your recovery phrase to regain access to your account. A new wallet does not need a phrase you already have, so if an app asks for one at the first screen, close it.

Blockstream says (opens in a new tab) its support will never ask for your recovery phrase and that you should report anyone who does.

How to set up a Bitcoin wallet, step by step

As of October 2026, the button names below come from the Blockstream app's help pages (opens in a new tab). Other apps label things differently, so follow your own app's screens and use these as the pattern.

1. Install the app from the maker's listing

   On a phone, use the store link on the maker's website (see get the real app) and check the developer name before you tap install. On a computer, download the installer from the maker's own website, reached as described there. Open the app once it is installed.

2. Create a Bitcoin wallet in the app

   In the Blockstream app, you open the app and select Get Started to create a new mobile (software) wallet. If you want to use a phrase you already generated in another wallet of your own, the app has a separate Restore from backup option. That is not what you want now.

   Never restore from a phrase someone gave you. Whoever gave it to you knows it, and anyone with access to a recovery phrase can steal the funds.

3. Set the app lock

   The Blockstream app secures the wallet with your device's biometrics by default. If biometrics are off or the app lacks permission, you can set a PIN instead. After you set the lock, close the app and open it again to check that it asks for your biometrics or PIN.

4. Write down the recovery phrase

   The recovery phrase is a list of words that restores your wallet. Blockstream says (opens in a new tab) it is the only way to restore your wallet and reach your bitcoin if something happens to your device. When and where an app shows the phrase differs: some apps show it while you create the wallet, others from a backup option afterward.

   In the Blockstream app, you set up the wallet first. Then you tap Security, then Backup Now, and the app shows the phrase. Until you finish, it keeps showing a backup notice, including on the Buy and Receive screens. Finish the backup before you copy a receive address, so bitcoin never arrives in a wallet you cannot restore. Follow these rules:

   • Write the words on paper, in order, and keep the paper offline in a safe place only you can reach.
   • Never save it as a photo, screenshot, note or cloud file. Blockstream warns (opens in a new tab) against saving it on any internet-connected device.
   • Never type it anywhere except when you restore your own wallet in the maker's official app, or in your own wallet app's backup check.
   • Anyone who sees or copies the phrase can take everything in the wallet, even while you still have the paper.

   For the full rules, read what a seed phrase is and how to keep it safe.

5. Pass the backup check

   After you write the phrase, the Blockstream app runs a check that you wrote it correctly and in the right order. If your app offers a check, complete it. If it fails, start the backup again, compare your paper with the words word by word, fix the paper and try again.

How to verify a receiving address

A Bitcoin wallet address is where bitcoin is sent to you. Your wallet makes it; an address someone else gives you is not yours. Open the receive screen and copy the address only from there, never from a message, an email or a search result.

Why the address changes

Blockstream says (opens in a new tab) its app generates a new, unused address each time you tap to receive. Every address stays connected to the same wallet, and you can access funds sent to any of them. Even bitcoin sent to an older address still arrives. Using a new address for each payment also makes it much harder for others to link your transactions. A new address each time is expected, not a sign of a problem.

Check the address after you paste it

Address-swapping malware watches your clipboard. Microsoft describes (opens in a new tab) how, when you paste on a computer, it replaces the copied wallet address with the attacker's address. Addresses are long, so it is highly possible to miss that the pasted address differs from the one you copied.

After you paste, compare the whole address with the one on your receive screen, character by character, not only the first and last few. Do the same after you scan a QR code. BitBox advises (opens in a new tab) checking again after pasting or scanning. If one character differs, do not send. Copy the address again; if the pasted address differs a second time, stop and do not send from that device.

A check on a hardware wallet's own screen needs that device; see how to set up a hardware wallet. For lookalike addresses, read crypto address poisoning; for the ownership checks some exchanges ask for, read how to send crypto to a wallet.

How to receive Bitcoin: a small test

To receive bitcoin for the first time, send a small amount from your exchange. Copy the address as above, then follow the withdrawal steps in how to send crypto to a wallet. If the exchange is Kraken, how to transfer bitcoin from Kraken has its screens.

Then open the wallet's activity list and find the transaction. If it shows a status such as pending or unconfirmed, wait for it to change before you send more; labels differ between apps. If nothing appears, look at the withdrawal status on the exchange before you try again, so you do not send twice.

Example with made-up numbers

These amounts are invented and ignore fees.

• First test: you copy address A from the receive screen. A sender sends 0.0005 BTC to it.
• Second receive: later, the wallet shows address B. A sender sends 0.0015 BTC to it.
• Both addresses belong to your one wallet, so the balance is the sum: 0.0005 + 0.0015 = 0.0020 BTC.

Fees

Look for the fee on the withdrawal screen of the platform you send from before you start the test. When you later send bitcoin out of your wallet, look for the network fee on its send screen too.

Before you confirm any send, find the network fee and the amount that will arrive. A fee page and the confirmation screen can differ: Kraken says (opens in a new tab) its fees can change and may differ from those on its fee page, and that the final fee is shown when you confirm. Read the fee and the amount that arrives on the confirmation screen, and if either is missing or unclear, ask support before you confirm. For how the fee types work, read crypto exchange fees explained.

Risks to understand

• A lost or broken phone. Blockstream says (opens in a new tab) that if you lose or break the phone, there is no way to access your funds unless you backed up your recovery phrase. Without the phrase you could lose all the bitcoin in the wallet.
• Scams that reach you through messages or fake support. Read how to spot crypto scams.

Before you buy bitcoin for this wallet, read how to buy Bitcoin and how to send crypto to a wallet.