user3994: How do I unlock a bitcoin-qt wallet? I know my passphrase and all.
It says that my wallet is encrypted and locked for now so how do i unlock it?

user1507: It unlocks when you need to spend.  If you try to send money to an address, it'll ask you for a password.  You don't need a password to receive bitcoins.

user35326: To unlock your wallet:
Option 1: Introduce password in prompt that opens when you send coins
Option 2: Console (Help > Debug window > Console)
Type the following:
walletpassphrase "passphrase" timeout

Where passphrase is your password and timeout is the number of seconds you want the wallet unlocked (i.e. 120 = 2 min). This is option is the only one when you want to do something that requires unlocking but you don't want to send coins (like dumping a private key) or when you plan to leave the wallet open and fear forgetting to lock it again.

3994: <p>How do I unlock a bitcoin-qt wallet? I know my passphrase and all.
It says that my wallet is encrypted and locked for now so how do i unlock it?</p>
 1507: <p>It unlocks when you need to spend.  If you try to send money to an address, it'll ask you for a password.  You don't need a password to receive bitcoins.</p>
 35326: <p>To unlock your wallet:</p>
<h3>Option 1: Introduce password in prompt that opens when you send coins</h3>
<h3>Option 2: Console (Help &gt; Debug window &gt; Console)</h3>
<p>Type the following:</p>
<pre><code>walletpassphrase &quot;passphrase&quot; timeout
</code></pre>
<p>Where passphrase is your password and timeout is the number of seconds you want the wallet unlocked (i.e. 120 = 2 min). This is option is the only one when you want to do something that requires unlocking but you don't want to send coins (like dumping a private key) or when you plan to leave the wallet open and fear forgetting to lock it again.</p>
