# Recover an Old Zcash Wallet Before the Sprout Freeze: wallet.dat, zc Addresses and Sprout Recovery **URL:** \ **Category:** Technical Support\ **Created:** [September 20, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/recover-an-old-zcash-wallet-before-the-sprout-freeze-wallet-dat-zc-addresses-and-sprout-recovery/57718 "2026-09-20T15:53:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 32
**Author:** ![vaspholdings](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/vaspholdings/32/30024_2.png) [@vaspholdings](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/vaspholdings)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 10:38am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/recover-an-old-zcash-wallet-before-the-sprout-freeze-wallet-dat-zc-addresses-and-sprout-recovery/57718/32 "2026-10-06T10:38:25Z")
Thanks for putting that post together - it’s important the **Sprout is going on ice** message gets out to as many people as possible. Just a few corrections to the article for anyone finding it as it is today: **Sprout does have a deadline.** NU7 is targeted for **Nov 5th 2026** , and disabling V4 freezes today’s Sprout spending path. Also, **zecd is not a Sprout recovery replacement for zcashd**. Current options are **Argos** for many old `wallet.dat` / key recoveries, or the **constrained zcashd sidecar behind Zebra/Zakura**. And Argos `wallet.dat` recovery starts at **v1.2.0** , not v1.1.0. Current pool migration guide: [https://zechub.wiki/research/zec-pool-migration/view](https://zechub.wiki/research/zec-pool-migration/view) --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/recover-an-old-zcash-wallet-before-the-sprout-freeze-wallet-dat-zc-addresses-and-sprout-recovery/57718)._