Why does my wallet show a zero balance after mining?
Your wallet can show zero after mining because your rewards are still with the mining service, have not reached its payout minimum, or have not arrived in your wallet yet. A wallet that has not finished syncing can also show zero, so check your mining dashboard first, then check the payout and your wallet.
First, find out where your mining rewards are
Mining does not usually send coins straight into your wallet every time your browser does some work. If you use a mining service or pool—a group of miners sharing rewards—your earnings normally build up on its dashboard first.
Look for these separate amounts:
- Pending rewards: Work that has been recorded but has not yet become payable.
- Unpaid balance: Rewards the service owes you but has not sent.
- Paid balance or payout history: Rewards the service says it has already sent.
Your wallet only shows coins sent to an address it controls. An unpaid balance on a website is not yet money in your wallet.
Also check whether the dashboard shows accepted shares. These are records of useful mining work submitted to the pool. A running timer or busy processor alone does not prove that you earned rewards.
Check the payout minimum and schedule
Many services send your XMR only after your unpaid balance reaches a minimum. Some pay on a schedule, require a withdrawal request, or deduct a payout fee.
Check the service’s published rules for:
- The minimum payout amount.
- Whether payouts are automatic or manual.
- How often payouts run.
- Any fees or account requirements.
Browser mining can produce very small rewards, so reaching the minimum may take a long time. A dashboard may also round a tiny balance down to zero.
Do not assume that leaving your browser open guarantees a payout. Your results depend on accepted work, the service’s reward rules, and your computer’s performance.
If a payout was sent, check your wallet
Open the payout record and look for a transaction ID, the reference number for a payment on Monero’s network. If the service only says “processing,” it may not have sent the payment yet.
Next, check these points:
- Correct address: Compare your configured payout address with your wallet’s receiving address or one of its subaddresses.
- Wallet sync: Your wallet must scan the blockchain, Monero’s shared transaction history, to find incoming funds.
- Restore height: If you restored your wallet, its starting scan point must be earlier than the payment. A starting point that is too recent can hide older payments.
- Exchange deposits: If you mined directly to an exchange, check its deposit minimum, required confirmations, and any maintenance notices.
A block explorer can help you check whether a transaction exists and has confirmations. However, Monero’s privacy means you cannot simply search a public address to see its balance.
Zero balance is different from locked funds
Check whether your wallet shows total balance separately from unlocked or available balance.
Normal received funds need 10 confirmations before they can be spent. Newly mined coins have a 60-block lock. An ordinary pool payout is generally a normal received payment, not a direct mining reward.
If a service demands an extra deposit to “unlock” your earnings, stop and investigate. Never share your wallet’s recovery words or private keys with support.
The bottom line
Start with the mining dashboard: was anything earned, and was it actually paid? If a payout exists, check the destination address, wallet sync, and confirmations before assuming your XMR is missing.
