WIF Private Key Converter

Every Bitcoin private key is a 32-byte number. Most wallet software does not show you that number directly: it encodes it as a Wallet Import Format (WIF) string first, a Base58Check-encoded form that looks like KwDiBf89QgGbjEhKnhXJuH7LrciVrZi3qYjgd9M7rFU73sVHnoWn and is easier to copy, type, and verify than 64 raw hex digits. This tool converts in both directions.

Switch to Hex → WIF to encode a 64-character hex private key, choose mainnet or testnet and whether the wallet derives a compressed or uncompressed public key. Switch to WIF → Hex to decode a WIF string back to the raw key, with a full checksum verification and a breakdown of every field.

Field Reference: What Each WIF Byte Means

• Version byte: 0x80 for mainnet, 0xEF for testnet. Mainnet compressed keys start with K or L, mainnet uncompressed keys start with 5, and testnet compressed keys start with c.
• 32-byte private key: the raw key, big-endian.
• Compression flag: the byte 0x01 appended after the key when the wallet uses a compressed 33-byte public key (SEC format, prefix 02 or 03). Omitted when the wallet uses the older uncompressed 65-byte form (prefix 04). The same private key produces two different Bitcoin addresses depending on which form is used, and this flag records which one.
• 4-byte checksum: first four bytes of SHA-256(SHA-256(version ‖ key ‖ flag)). Base58Check uses this to catch single-character typos. A mismatch means one character is wrong.

Worked Example: Decoding a Compressed Mainnet Key

Click the Mainnet Compressed chip on the WIF → Hex tab to load: KwDiBf89QgGbjEhKnhXJuH7LrciVrZi3qYjgd9M7rFU73sVHnoWn. The tool decodes it to hex key 0c28fca386c7a227600b2fe50b7cae11ec86d3bf1fbe471be89827e19d72aa1d, reports mainnet · compressed, and shows both the given and computed checksum bytes side-by-side. Click Send to Hex → WIF panel to verify round-trip and the encoder re-derives the same WIF from those bytes, confirming no information was lost in either direction.

When Not to Use This Tool

• Never paste a private key controlling real funds into any website, including this one. The test vectors loaded by the preset chips are from the Bitcoin Wiki and BIP-32 test suites; they are not real wallets. Treat any tool that asks for a live private key as hostile by default.
• WIF encodes a single raw private key only. It does not encode extended keys (xprv / yprvb / zprv), BIP-32 derivation paths, or seed phrases. Use the BIP-39 generator on this platform for mnemonic phrases.
• The maximum private key value is the secp256k1 curve order (approximately 1.158 × 10⁷⁷). An all-zero key and any value at or above the curve order are invalid — the encoder catches the all-zero case explicitly.