What is a Monero view key, and what does it reveal?

What is a Monero view key?

A view key is one of the two sets of private and public keys that every Monero account has. The Moneropedia entry calls the private view key the key required to view all transactions related to the account. The documentation at docs.getmonero.org puts it the same way: the private view key is used to recognize your incoming transactions on the otherwise opaque blockchain, while the private spend key is used to spend moneros.

The split is what lets Monero hide payments from the public yet still let a wallet find its own. Each payment goes to a random one-time address, and the view key is how the recipient's wallet tells which of them belong to it. Your public address is built from both keys.

What does a view key reveal, and what does it not?

A view key reveals every incoming payment to its address, and it does not move any funds. By sharing a view key, the Moneropedia says, a person allows access to view every incoming transaction for that address.

Two limits matter. First, outgoing transactions cannot be reliably viewed with a view key: the entry notes this as of June 2017, and warns that a balance shown through a view key should not be relied upon. Second, the view key does not spend: spending needs the spend key, which is a different key.

So a view key is not harmless. It gives a stranger your full incoming history, including amounts, which is precisely what Monero hides from everyone else. Treat it like a statement of account: share it only with someone who may read that history.

Why does a host use a view key to check a Monero payment?

A host uses its own view key because a public explorer cannot tell it whether a payment arrived. Monero hides the sender and the amount from the public, so the only party who can confirm an incoming payment is the owner of the receiving wallet, or someone holding its view key.

For each payment we keep what matching it requires: the amount, the coin, the network, the transaction ID and the date. A Monero payment is checked in our own wallet with its view key, because a public explorer shows neither the sender nor the amount. The view key in question belongs to Gloamport's wallet, not to yours. You never hand yours over: An order asks for three things: a plan, a coin and, only if you want one, an email address. There is no name field, no postal address, no phone number, no card and no identity document anywhere in the process. A Monero payment is credited after 10 network confirmations, about 20 minutes.

Sending to a host's address does not give the host a view of your wallet. It sees one incoming payment, to its own address. What stays linked is on the account side: Monero keeps a payment off the public record, but not out of your account: Gloamport still links your orders, the IP addresses of your VPS and the transaction ID you declare to your account number. For the coin comparison, read Monero or Bitcoin: which is more private for paying a VPS?.

How do you make a view-only wallet?

You make one with the Monero command-line wallet, from a standard address and a secret view key. The wallet reference describes the option as one that restores a view-only version of the wallet to track incoming transactions; the view key is typed in hexadecimal. Inside any wallet, the viewkey command prints the secret view key and the public view key.

monero-wallet-cli --generate-from-view-key view-only-wallet
# the wallet asks for the standard address and the secret view key
# inside a full wallet, `viewkey` shows the keys

Is a view key the same as a transaction key?

No: a view key covers every incoming payment of an address, while a transaction key covers one payment. The wallet reference describes the get_tx_key and check_tx_key commands as the way to learn and verify a transaction's private key. A successful check shows that an amount was directed to an address in that transaction. It does not prove that the recipient can still spend those funds, because outputs may be time-locked or already spent.

That difference makes the transaction key the better thing to share when you need to prove one payment, for example to a host's support desk. It reveals one payment, not your whole history. The steps are in How do I prove a Monero payment with the TXID and tx key?.

How many VPS hosts accept Monero?

A majority of surveyed hosts accept it, so the view-key mechanics matter when buying. According to Gloamport's survey of 10 November 2026, 26 of the 42 active hosts accept Monero (62%), and 6 of them also ask for no email address or leave it optional. The full table is in Which VPS hosts accept Monero?.