How to Track a Crypto Transaction on a Block Explorer: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

To track a crypto transaction after you send or withdraw cryptocurrency, find the transaction ID, then look it up on the block explorer for that network. Type the explorer's address yourself before you search, because look-alike sites exist. An explorer only displays data, so it never needs your seed phrase.

What you need before you start

• The transaction ID. A block explorer, also called a blockchain explorer, is a website that shows a blockchain's public data. It finds your transaction by this ID. Bitcoin calls it a txid, and Ethereum calls it a transaction hash (opens in a new tab).
• The network you sent on, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Solana. Solana calls the ID a signature (opens in a new tab), which is the first signature of the transaction.
• The receiving address, so you can match it on the explorer page.
• The sending platform's help center, for the steps below that name a place to look.

How to track a crypto transaction, step by step

1. Find the transaction ID and copy all of it

   Open the withdrawal or transaction history in the platform or wallet that sent the crypto, and open the entry. Look for a field named transaction ID, hash, TXID or signature.

   As of October 2026, Robinhood's US help page says (opens in a new tab) it gives you a link for viewing the transaction on the blockchain, and the link goes to a third-party block explorer. Other platforms word and place this differently, so check the entry's details screen and the help center.

   Copy the whole string with the copy button, not by retyping it. If the entry has no ID, ask the platform's support whether the transfer was sent on the blockchain, and give the date and amount.

2. Confirm which network the transfer used

   Find the network named on the withdrawal or send screen. An ID from one network will not be found on another network's explorer, so a search on the wrong one returns nothing. If you are unsure which network you used, see crypto withdrawal networks before you search.

3. Open an explorer for that network by typing its address

   Choose an explorer the network's own documentation names. For Ethereum, ethereum.org lists several (opens in a new tab), such as Etherscan and Blockscout, and the page links each one. For Solana, the Solana Foundation maintains the Solana Explorer (opens in a new tab) at explorer.solana.com.

   For Bitcoin, bitcoin.org's resources page (opens in a new tab) links mempool.space, which the Mempool project (opens in a new tab) describes as a mempool visualizer, explorer and API service. You can also use the link your wallet or platform gives you. If your coin runs on another network, look in that network's documentation for the explorer it names.

4. Paste the ID into the search box

   Paste the whole ID into the explorer's search box and press enter. The page that opens should be for a transaction. If the explorer says it found nothing, go to if the explorer shows nothing.

5. Read the status, then match your address and amount

   Find the status first. Then find the address you sent to and the amount.

   Compare the whole address, character by character, with the receiving address shown in the receiving wallet or on the platform's deposit page, not only with what you pasted into the send screen. If the address differs, stop and contact the sending platform's support with the ID.

   Compare the amount with what the send screen showed. If it differs, check whether your platform took the network fee out of the amount or added it on top, then compare the explorer's amount with the amount the send screen said would arrive. The fields differ by network, as the next section shows.

How to read a transaction on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana

Look for a status, the sender and receiver, an amount and a fee. Labels vary by explorer, so match meaning rather than words. If the page shows a confirmation count, compare it with the number your receiving platform lists for deposits, if it lists one.

For the fee itself, read Bitcoin withdrawal fees or Ethereum gas fees.

Bitcoin: several outputs and change

A Bitcoin transaction has at least one input and one output, and an output is an amount sent to an address. The Bitcoin developer guide (opens in a new tab) says few people hold coins that exactly match what they want to pay, so most transactions include a change output. A change output sends the surplus back to the sender.

So the page can list an address you do not recognize: the sender's change. If you sent from your own wallet, that change address is your wallet's. After a platform withdrawal, it is the platform's. Change looks like any other output. Find the output whose address matches your receiving address, comparing the whole address character by character as described in step 5, and check its amount.

As of October 2026, Robinhood's US help page says (opens in a new tab) many platforms batch several transfers into one transaction, so one hash may include unrelated senders and recipients. It also says not all addresses shown belong to you. After a withdrawal, one or more receiving addresses will be the intended recipient. Robinhood also warns never to send crypto back to a Robinhood address you received a withdrawal from, because it will not reach your account. On any platform, do not send to the sending address shown on a withdrawal. To deposit, use only the address on the platform's deposit page.

Ethereum: status, value and token transfers

On Ethereum's explorers, status shows whether the transaction is pending, failed or a success. A failed transaction exists on the explorer but did not do what you wanted, so read the status and not only whether the page opens.

The value field is the total ETH being transferred, so it counts ETH only. A transfer of a token, a coin that runs on Ethereum, lists the token in a separate tokens-transferred part of the page, so the value can read 0 ETH. The "To" field is the recipient or the smart contract the transaction interacts with. For a token transfer, look in the tokens-transferred part for your address and amount. To confirm that a token is the one you meant, see how to verify a token contract.

A layer 2 network is a separate blockchain that extends Ethereum, so you look up a transfer on it in that network's own explorer, not in the Ethereum list. Arbitrum's docs list (opens in a new tab) Arbiscan and Blockscout for Arbitrum One.

Solana: signature and confirmation levels

Solana's documentation (opens in a new tab) says the transaction ID is the first signature in a transaction. Paste that into the Solana Explorer. For Solana's address and network rules, see how to buy Solana.

Solana's docs (opens in a new tab) describe three confirmation levels. Processed is the newest view and can still be rolled back. Confirmed means a block voted on by more than two-thirds of the network's active stake. Finalized is the strongest. If an explorer shows only processed, check again later before you treat the money as arrived.

Example with made-up numbers

This is a made-up scenario with an invented coin, "Coin X". The numbers are invented, and your platform and explorer may label and group these amounts differently.

• You withdraw 50 Coin X from an exchange. The withdrawal screen showed a network fee of 1 Coin X, so you expect 49 Coin X to arrive.
• The exchange history says "complete", but your wallet balance is 0.
• You copy the ID from the exchange history and open Coin X's explorer. The status says success, and one output of 49 Coin X goes to an address.
• You compare that address with your wallet's receiving address. They match, character by character. But your wallet is set to a different network from the one you withdrew on, so its balance for that network shows 0.
• Result: the explorer confirms the send worked and reached the right address. Switch the wallet to the network you used and look again, and do not send again. If the balance is still 0, contact the wallet maker's support with the ID.

If the explorer shows nothing or pending

Check these in order:

1. You are on the explorer for the network you used (step 2). A layer 2 network has its own explorer, as the Ethereum section explains.
2. The whole ID is pasted, with nothing added or missing.
3. Your history shows the withdrawal as sent and gives an ID. If it does not, ask the sending platform's support.
4. The status says pending. Check the page again later.

If none of these explains it, contact the sending platform's support with the ID, the network, the amount and the time. An explorer only displays data, so it cannot fix a transfer. To see what a normal wait looks like, read how long transfers take on each network.

If the explorer shows success but the deposit is not credited

When the explorer shows a successful transfer to the right address and the receiving platform still has not credited it, the cause is often on the receiving side. Check these:

1. A memo or tag. Some assets need one with the deposit address. Crypto.com says (opens in a new tab) that if you forgot to include a memo or tag, or entered it incorrectly, you can contact its support to recover the deposit manually. Read what a memo or destination tag is.
2. The minimum deposit. Kraken's help page says (opens in a new tab) a deposit below its minimum is marked "Failed", and a later deposit that meets the minimum does not make the first one count.
3. Confirmations. Robinhood in the US says (opens in a new tab) it requires a number of network confirmations before it credits crypto. Compare the explorer's count with the number on your platform's deposit page.

Then contact the receiving platform's support with the ID.

What an explorer shows about you

Explorer pages show public blockchain data. Anyone who has your address or transaction ID can open the same page, so share them only when you need help.

Risks to understand

• Crypto transfers cannot be undone. As of October 2026, Robinhood says (opens in a new tab) transfers are final and cannot be canceled or reversed, even by Robinhood, and an explorer cannot change that.
• Fake support. Do not pay anyone who contacts you offering to recover or speed up a transaction for a fee. Read how to spot crypto scams.
• Address poisoning, where a scammer plants a look-alike address in your history. Read how address poisoning works and check the whole address each time.

Once your crypto has arrived, read what records to keep, and how to store crypto safely before you move it to a wallet of your own.