If you’re using Ledger Live to manage your cryptocurrency assets, you may have experienced the frustration (and worry) of seeing an incorrect balance and asset allocation displayed. Most probably you experiencing this right now.
If that’s the case then you have arrived at the right place! In this article, I’ll go over different troubleshooting steps and fixes you can try to get your balance showing correctly again. For those that are looking for quick answers:
The most common fix for Ledger Live showing inaccurate balance is clearing the application cache which will force resynchronization with the blockchain. If that doesn’t work then make sure there aren’t any synchronization errors and your transaction(s) have actually been added to the blockchain.
However, the root cause of an incorrect balance being shown in Ledger Live can have a variety of different reasons. Let does next go over each of them in more detail!
Before We Start – Your Funds Are Safe
It’s important to note that your crypto assets are not stored on Ledger Live or your hardware wallet.
Your crypto assets are actually stored on the blockchain and all that Ledger Live does is query each of your accounts for the full transaction history and account balance. This information from the blockchain is aggregated and displayed in Ledger Live.
If you were seeing the correct balance earlier and suddenly it shows an incorrect balance, the problem is likely with the Ledger nodes being unable to query the information from the blockchain.
The key takeaway here is that unless you see unexpected transactions to unknown external addresses, your funds are most likely completely safe!
So now that I have hopefully calmed you down a bit, let’s go over the different steps you can take to potentially solve any balance updating issues.
Clear Cache
Clearing the cache of the Ledger Live is often the go-to solution for fixing incorrect balance issues. This process will solve any temporary data manipulation issues and force a new synchronization, which will recalculate your overall balance and asset allocation.
To clear the Ledger Live cache, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings cogwheel (top-right)
- Open the “Help” tab
- Click on “Clear Cache“
If you see any error messages during (re)synchronization, then go ahead and click on the link to troubleshoot syncing issues. In case clearing the cache didn’t solve your issues, proceed to the next steps in the article.
Disable Discreet Mode
If your portfolio and asset balances are showing as asterisks (***) instead of real numbers, it is because the discreet mode is enabled. I have seen numerous cases where people have accidentally enabled the functionality and don’t understand what is happening.
To disable Discreet mode in Ledger Live:
- Open the Settings Cogwheel (top-right)
- Open the “Security” tab
- Toggle off Discreet mode
Wait for Your Transaction to be Confirmed
If you’ve recently initiated a transaction (e.g. moving funds from a centralized exchange to your Ledger cold storage accounts), you may just need to wait a bit longer for the transaction to be added to the blockchain (and the changes displayed in Ledger Live).
I personally had several mini-heart attacks at the beginning of my crypto journey, wondering if I did something wrong and if my funds are lost permanently. This didn’t turn out to be true and all that was needed was a little patience.
Most of the time you can check the status of your transaction from the exchange itself or using a blockchain explorer. Look for information about when the latest block was added to the blockchain and any details about your transaction.
Note! If you want to know more, I have previously written a separate article explaining why your transaction might not be confirmed (yet).
Update Ledger Live
If you see a notification in Ledger Live telling you that an update is available, it’s a always good idea to install it. The new software version may happen to also fix any balance issues you’re experiencing.
To update the Ledger Live application:
- Click “Download update“
- The new version will download and the “Install now” button will appear
- Click “Install now“
- Ledger Live will close and the installation will begin
- Once the installation is complete, click “Finish“
- A new version of Ledger Live will launch
You can also force an update by downloading the Ledger Live setup from the Ledger website and installing it. See if after installing the latest version anything changed regarding your portfolio balance calculation.
Missing Countervalues
Some crypto assets, especially newer ones with a lower market cap, may not have a countervalue listed in fiat currency (e.g. USD or EUR). In this case, you’ll see a dash (-) instead of the actual value.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to fix this issue. You can try using a different fiat currency or using a different portfolio tracking tool that may have the countervalue listed.
Remove / Add Account
Removing and adding accounts can sometimes fix balance synchronization issues. It’s also totally safe to do this since after you delete and re-add the account, updated information is queried from the blockchain and the balance is updated.
Here’s how to remove an account in Ledger Live
- Open Accounts (left menu)
- Click on and open a specific account
- Click on Settings (wrench tool)
- Click on “Remove from Portfolio“
After you have removed the problematic account, follow these steps to re-add the account:
- Connect your Ledger wallet
- Open Accounts (left menu)
- Click on Add account
- Choose the correct crypto assets
- Ledger Live will automatically query information about all the addresses associated with the account
- Choose the accounts you need and click Add
See if after removing and re-adding, the account balance issue is now solved. If you are getting unexpected zero balance accounts when re-adding, click on the link to read my previous article explaining some potential troubleshooting tips.
Fix Synchronization Issues
If you’re seeing any of the following error codes, it could indicate a synchronization issue:
- Synchronization error
- API HTTP 403
- API HTTP 503
- API HTTP 500
- API HTTP 400
- 503 service unavailable
- Server couldn’t handle your request
This most likely indicates that there is an issue with Ledger blockchain explorer (Nodes) or the overall network. Check the Ledger service status to see if there are any known issues with Ledger Explorers and Countervalue API. Also, scroll down and see if there are any ongoing Incidents.
If there are any issues, all you can do is simply wait until the problems are resolved. You can also contact Ledger Support to confirm the root cause of your ongoing problem.
Disable Experimental Features
If you’ve enabled any experimental features in Ledger Live, it’s possible that they could be causing balance calculation issues.
Follow these steps to disable experimental features:
- Open the Settings cogwheel (top-right)
- Open the “Experimental Features” tab
- Disable any features that have been enabled
- Clear the Ledger Live cache to force a balance re-synchronization
Use Your XPub to See All Transactions (and Correct Balance)
In the case of Bitcoin, you may (or may not) have noticed that your receiving addresses changes every time you receive a transaction. Ledger Live users your extended public key (stored locally on your computer) to automatically generate all your public addresses.
Your extended public key (xpub) can be used to retrieve the full transaction history for all the addresses associated with a specific account (and calculate the correct balances).
Follow this Ledger tutorial on how to get your xpub and manually retrieve full account transaction history, total received/sent, and balance.
Check Ledger Twitter / Subreddit
Ledger’s official Twitter Support account and Ledger Subreddit are both managed and moderated by actual employees of Ledger. If there are any general issues that could be affecting your balance, you’ll likely be notified and get the latest information on these platforms.
Contact Ledger Support
If you’ve tried all the above steps and are still having issues with your balance, it’s time to contact Ledger support. Be as precise as possible in your problem description, including which crypto asset is affected, what you did, and what you expected to happen. Also, be sure to mention any steps you’ve already taken to try and fix the issue.