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  • ๐Ÿ‘‹ Welcome, bee!
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  • โ„น๏ธIntroduction
  • ๐ŸšขGetting Started
  • ๐Ÿ•Alby Hub flavors
    • Alby Pro Cloud
    • Other Cloud Options
    • Desktop
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    • ๐ŸงLinux
    • ๐Ÿ†™Updating
  • ๐Ÿ‘›Wallet
    • ๐Ÿ’ซOpen your first channel
    • ๐Ÿ“คSend
    • ๐Ÿ“ฅReceive
    • โฌ†๏ธBuy Bitcoin
      • ๐Ÿ’ฐWithdraw from an exchange
    • โฌ‡๏ธSell Bitcoin
  • ๐Ÿ”—App Connections
  • ๐ŸŽฎApp Store
    • ๐ŸกSub-wallet, Friends & Family
      • Fast sub-wallets (no lightning address)
      • Sub-wallet with lightning address โšก๏ธ
      • Podcaster & musicians sub-wallets
      • โ“Q&A of sub-wallets
    • ๐Ÿ“…ZapPlanner
  • ๐ŸšฐNode
    • ๐Ÿ“ฅIncrease receiving capacity
    • ๐Ÿ“คAdvanced: Increase Spending Balance with on-chain bitcoin
    • โค๏ธNode Health
    • ๐Ÿ’ฐOn-chain Balance
    • Swap In & Out
  • ๐Ÿ”Backups & Recover
  • โ“FAQ
    • How can I access Alby Hub from my phone?
    • Why do I need to link my Alby Account?
    • Should I open a private or public channel?
    • How can I change routing fees?
    • How can I close a channel? What happens to the sats in this channel?
    • Why was my lightning channel closed and what to do next?
    • How can I update my Alby Hub?
    • How can I change my unlock password?
    • How can I check budgets of connected apps?
    • How can I backup my keys
    • Where is Alby Hub physically located?
    • How can I migrate Alby Hub to a different machine?
    • How to use Fly.io to run Alby Hub
    • What to do during times of high onchain fees?
    • What to do if I cannot send a payment?
    • What to do if I cannot receive a payment
    • Should I open multiple channels with the same counterparty?
    • What happens if the healthcheck indicator turns red?
  • ๐Ÿ“šBitcoin Wallet Glossary
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On this page
  • Alby Hub with Pro Cloud
  • On-chain Balance and Spending Balance
  • Alby Hub with Pro
  • On-chain Balance and Spending Balance
  • Alby Hub self-hosted (DIY) with an Alby account
  • On-chain Balance
  • Spending Balance
  • Alby Hub self-hosted without an Alby account
  • On-chain Balance
  • Spending Balance
  • Backup Checklist

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Backups & Recover

Backing up your Alby Hub is essential to ensure your funds can be recovered in case you lose access to your node. Taking the time to do it right ensures everything is safe and easily recoverable.

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This guide applies to the default node implementation of Alby Hub (LDK) only. If you're using a different node backend, please refer to its own documentation for backup instructions.

Jump directly to the setup that applies to you:

Alby Hub with Pro Cloud

On-chain Balance and Spending Balance

Backup: Find and backup your 12-word recovery phrase in your Alby Hub to recover your On-chain Balance and Spending Balance anytime.

Your Spending Balance data is securely encrypted using your 12-word recovery phrase and is dynamically updated in your Alby account. To see if automatic channel backups are enabled for your Hub go to Settings and select "Backups". If you cannot access your Hub anymore, contact our support.

Recover: Start a new Alby Hub in the same Alby account -> Select "Advanced Setup" -> enter your 12-word recovery phrase. Your On-chain and Spending Balance will be fully restored ๐Ÿš€.

As Pro Cloud subscriber you only need to backup your recovery phrase and remember your Alby account.

Alby Hub with Pro

On-chain Balance and Spending Balance

Your Spending Balance data is securely encrypted using your 12-word recovery phrase and is dynamically updated in your Alby account. To see if automatic channel backups are enabled for your Hub go to Settings and select "Backups". If you cannot access your Hub anymore, contact our support.

Recover: Start a new Alby Hub in the same Alby account -> Select "Advanced Setup" -> enter your 12-word recovery phrase. Your On-chain and Spending Balance will be fully restored ๐Ÿš€.

As Pro subscriber you only need to backup your recovery phrase and remember your Alby account.

Alby Hub self-hosted (DIY) with an Alby account

On-chain Balance

Recover: Enter the 12-word recovery phrase into a new Alby Hub or another bitcoin wallet.

Spending Balance

Backup: Alby stores a static channel backup automatically in your Alby account.

As an Alby account user you only need to backup your recovery phrase.

Alby Hub self-hosted without an Alby account

On-chain Balance

Recover: Enter the 12-word recovery phrase into a new Alby Hub or another bitcoin wallet.

Spending Balance

Backup: You need to make this backup each time you have a new lighting channel. If new channels were made after the backup, you could risk losing funds.

  • Go to the working directory of your Alby Hub

  • Back up the newest file in .data/ldk/static_channel_backups/

Without an Alby account you need to manually back up your recovery phrase and create backups of your channels each time you have a new channel. If new channels were made after the backup, you could risk losing funds.

Backup Checklist

Where are Alby Hub self-hosted internal files on Windows?
Where are Alby Hub self-hosted internal files on Unix or macOS?

For other operating systems, we use the XDG implementation, specifically the XDG_DATA_HOME folder type.

Thanks for your understanding!


Congratulations! ๐ŸŽ‰ You've successfully learned how to back up your Alby Hub, ensuring the safety of your funds and channels. Remember to always keep your Recovery Phrase and latest channel backup handy. With your backups in place, your hub is now well-protected and ready for any situation! ๐Ÿ”


Thank you for stopping by! This section was created with contributions from Renรฉ, Roland & Jean-Paul

Backup: Find and backup your 12-word recovery phrase in your Alby Hub to recover your On-chain Balance and Spending Balance anytime.

Backup: Find and backup your 12-word recovery phrase in your Alby Hub to recover your on-chain balance anytime.

Recover: Use to recover the sats of your Spending Balance. It asks your channel partners to force-close the channels to your node. Funds from channels may take up to 14 days to return to your on-chain balance. You will need to open new channels to continue sending and receiving transactions.

Backup: Find and backup your 12-word recovery phrase in your Alby Hub to recover your on-chain balance anytime.

Recover: Use to recover the sats of your Spending Balance. It asks your channel partners to force-close the channel to your node. Funds from channels may take up to 14 days to return to your on-chain balance. You will need to open new channels to continue sending and receiving transactions.

Please note that the data files for Alby Hub on Windows can be found here: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\albyhub. โš ๏ธ Be very careful with these files, as they contain crucial information about your lightning network channels and cannot be recovered if deleted. If you wish to migrate your hub to another computer, it's recommended to use the proper migration flow instead of simply copying and pasting this folder to ensure all data is safely transferred. ๐Ÿ˜Š

On Unix, Alby Hub stores important data in ~/.local/share, while on macOS, itโ€™s located in ~/Library/albyhub. ๐Ÿ˜Š For more details about XDG folder implementation, you can check this link: ๐Ÿ“‚๐Ÿ‘

๐Ÿ”
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XDG Implementation Guide

Get a subscription to Pro Cloud! โ˜๏ธ Unlock 24/7 availability for your self-hosted wallet by subscribing to Pro Cloud. Never worry about downtime again!

Learn more about your on-chain balance! ๐Ÿ’ฐ Discover the on-chain side of your self-custodial wallet. Click here to learn more about managing your Savings Balance securely.

Migrate your Hub! ๐Ÿ”„ Planning to move your Alby Hub? The migration process is similar to a backup in many ways. Click here to explore more on how to migrate your hub seamlessly!

here
Alby Hub with Pro Cloud
Alby Hub with Pro
Alby Hub self-hosted with an Alby account
Alby Hub self-hosted without an Alby account