Resetting your wallet on Linux

This page shows how to make Unigrid forget the wallet it opens on, so that it starts on the welcome screen again. How to reset your wallet explains why you might want to, what the files are, and how to get back to a wallet afterwards.

⚠️ Warning: anything you delete is deleted permanently.

A file deleted in a terminal, or with Shift+Delete in a file manager, skips the Trash, and one in the Trash is gone once the Trash is emptied. Nobody can bring it back. Write down the recovery phrase of every wallet you want to keep, and make the copy in step 2, before you delete anything.

1. Quit Unigrid

Close the Unigrid window with the × button in its top right corner. Unigrid quits when its window closes.

2. Make a safety copy

Open a terminal and run:

cp -a ~/.janus ~/janus-copy

This copies everything Unigrid keeps to a folder named janus-copy in your home folder. If something goes wrong, quit Unigrid, delete .janus and rename janus-copy back to .janus. Keep the copy private: it holds your wallets, protected only by their passwords.

3. Delete the file named wallet

Unigrid keeps its files in the hidden folder .janus in your home folder. The file wallet in it names the wallet Unigrid opens on, and holds no keys. Delete it in your file manager or in a terminal, whichever you prefer.

In a file manager

The screenshots show Thunar, the file manager of Xfce. Files on GNOME and Ubuntu, Dolphin on KDE and the others work the same way.

  1. Press Ctrl+L, type ~/.janus and press Enter. The folder opens even though it is hidden. To see hidden files elsewhere, press Ctrl+H.

  2. Select the file named wallet. Take care not to pick the folder wallets next to it, which holds the wallets themselves.

    The wallet file in the .janus folder in Thunar

  3. Press Delete, or right-click the file and choose Move to Trash.

Or in a terminal 

rm ~/.janus/wallet

Together with the safety copy from step 2, and a look at what is left:

Making the copy and deleting the wallet file in a terminal

Either way, the folder now looks like this. The wallets themselves are still in the folders wallets and backups:

The .janus folder without the wallet file

4. Start Unigrid

Open Unigrid from your application menu. It opens on the welcome screen, where you can Create a new wallet or Import existing wallet:

Unigrid opens on the welcome screen

To return to a wallet you had before, choose Import existing wallet and follow Getting back to a wallet.

The screenshots were taken on Ubuntu 22.04 with the Xfce window manager and Thunar.