Account index

Under a derivation path, accounts are numbered. That number is the account index. In a BIP-44 path it is the account' component: m / 44' / coin_type' / account' / … Index 0 is the first account. Index 1 is the next. They are different keys. They do not share balances.

Most wallets only let you tap through Account 0, 1, and 2 — or they never show the number at all. GreyWallet lets you set the index during create and import, including indices far past those first slots. The control is part of setup, not a paid mode.

Index is derivation, not a label

If the app lets you name an account, that name is display only. Changing the name does not change the index. The keys come from the number in the path. To open the same account later, you need the same phrase, the same path, and the same index.

Account index vs address index

These are easy to confuse. Account index selects the account branch (account' in the path). Address index selects addresses under that account (the last component). When GreyWallet asks for account index at create or import, it is the account branch — the one other wallets often hide. It is not the receive-address counter.

Why you would set it

• Restore: the original wallet created the funded account at index 5, or 12, or 100. Importing at 0 opens an empty sibling.
• Isolation: you want this account off the first few indices on purpose, and you will record the number.
• Multiple accounts under one phrase: index 0 and index 7 are both valid; they are not the same wallet view.

Worked cases

Same phrase, EVM family, default path, index 0 — one account. Same phrase, same path, index 12 — a different account. Same phrase, Bitcoin family — a different family, different default path, its own index space. Mixing those up is the usual reason an import “failed” when the phrase was right.

If another wallet showed “Account 3,” that is often index 3 or index 2 depending on whether that product counts from zero and whether it skipped unused slots. GreyWallet does not guess. You set the number. If the first try is empty, you are not locked out of the phrase — try the index the original product actually used, and confirm the path.

During create

On a new wallet, index 0 is the straightforward choice. If you set a higher index, you are creating the first account of this wallet at that number. Record it with the phrase and path before you send value. There is no support lookup.

During import

Enter the index the original wallet used for the account you want. If you do not know it, you will have to recall how that wallet numbered accounts. GreyWallet will not scan an unbounded index range and promise to find funds. Set the index you mean.

Limits

GreyWallet does not publish a maximum index. That is not a claim of unlimited accounts. It means this documentation will not invent a cap. Set the index you need. Extremely large values are for matching an existing scheme, not for decoration.

What to record

• Recovery phrase.
• Chain family and derivation path, if not the default.
• Account index, if not 0.

Miss any of the three on restore, and you may be looking at a valid, empty account. See Derivation for the rest of the path, and Troubleshooting if balances are missing after import.