How to send Monero: fees, confirmations and the 10-block lock
Paste the recipient's address, check the first and last characters, enter the amount and send at normal priority, which typically costs about 0.00003 XMR or a little more, around two US cents at October 2026 prices. The payment appears within seconds, but the received funds and your change stay locked for 10 blocks, about 20 minutes.
Quick steps
- Sync your wallet. Open your Monero wallet and wait until it shows it is fully synchronized.
- Paste and check the address. Paste or scan the recipient's address and compare the first and last characters with the original. Use a second channel for large amounts.
- Enter amount and priority. Type the amount, keep normal priority unless blocks are congested and review the fee.
- Send a test first. For a new recipient or a large sum, send a small amount and confirm it arrived.
- Confirm and wait for the unlock. Confirm the transaction. It appears within seconds and becomes spendable after 10 blocks, about 20 minutes.
- Save proof if needed. For important payments, save the transaction ID and transaction key so you can prove the payment later.
How to send Monero
- Open your wallet and wait until it is fully synced.
- Tap Send and paste or scan the recipient's address.
- Check the address: compare the first and last 6 characters with what the recipient sent you, through a second channel if the amount is large.
- Enter the amount, choose a priority (normal is fine) and review the fee.
- Confirm. The wallet builds, signs and broadcasts the transaction.
For a first payment to a new address, or any large amount, send a small test first.
Recognising a valid address
| Type | Starts with | Length | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary (standard) | 4 | 95 characters | The wallet's main address |
| Subaddress | 8 | 95 characters | Separate receiving addresses from one wallet |
| Integrated | 4 | 106 characters | Primary address plus an 8-byte payment ID, used by some services |
Not sure about an address? Check it with our address validator, which runs entirely in your browser. Never type a Monero address by hand, and beware of clipboard malware that swaps copied addresses.
Fees
Monero fees are charged per byte of transaction size, not per amount. A typical transaction with one input and two outputs is about 1.5 kB; each extra input adds roughly 0.7 kB. At the node fee estimate of 24 October 2026 (20,000 piconero per byte), a 1.5 kB transaction costs roughly 0.00003 XMR at the lowest priority, about two US cents at that day's price of around $600. Fees rise with more inputs, for example when you spend many small payments at once.
Wallets offer priority levels. Higher priority multiplies the fee and only matters when blocks are full; most of the time normal priority confirms in the next block. See today's figures on Monero fee today, estimate a payment with the fee calculator or read Monero fees explained.
How long a Monero transaction takes
| Stage | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Broadcast and visible to recipient's wallet (unconfirmed) | Seconds |
| First confirmation (included in a block) | Around 2 minutes on average |
| Spendable by the recipient (10 blocks) | About 20 minutes |
| Exchange credit | Set by each exchange; often 10 or more confirmations |
Monero targets one block every 120 seconds, so 10 blocks is roughly 20 minutes, though real block times vary. Use our confirmation time tool to see where a transaction stands.
The 10-block lock, explained
A Monero consensus rule makes every new output unspendable until 10 blocks after the block that included it. It applies to two things people often miss:
- Received funds. They show up immediately but appear as locked or unconfirmed until 10 blocks pass.
- Your own change. When you send, the leftover amount returns to you as a new output and is locked for 10 blocks too. That is why your spendable balance can drop to zero right after a payment.
The lock exists to protect transactions against chain reorganisations, because a transaction whose decoys disappear in a reorg would become invalid. To avoid being stuck, keep your balance in several outputs; Feather's documentation suggests splitting a large output so that one payment does not lock everything.
How many confirmations to wait for
For small personal payments, 10 confirmations (the unlock) is usually plenty. Be more careful with large amounts: after the 6-block and 18-block reorganisations of August and September 2025, the Monero Research Lab advised waiting beyond 10 confirmations for high-value transfers (The Block, Sep 2025). Merchants decide their own policy; see accepting Monero payments.
Proving that you paid
Monero transactions are private, so a block explorer will not show the amount or recipient. To prove a payment:
- Give the recipient the transaction ID, the transaction key and their address. They can verify it in their wallet (in the GUI under Advanced, Prove/check; in the CLI with
check_tx_key). - Or create a payment proof (
get_tx_proofin the CLI). - Save transaction keys for important payments. They are stored in the wallet file and are not recovered from the seed.
Pasting a transaction ID into a third-party block explorer tells that site you are interested in it. Your own node is more private.
If something goes wrong
- Sent but not arrived: check the recipient's wallet is synced and restored from a height before the payment.
- Balance locked: wait 10 blocks. Nothing is lost.
- Sent to the wrong address: Monero transactions cannot be reversed. Contact the recipient if you know them.
- Someone asks you to pay a fee to unlock funds: that is a scam. See Monero scams.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my Monero balance locked?
New outputs, including incoming payments and the change from your own sends, are locked for 10 blocks by a Monero consensus rule. That is about 20 minutes. Your funds are safe and unlock automatically.
How much does it cost to send Monero?
Fees depend on transaction size, not amount. A typical transaction cost roughly 0.00003 XMR at the fee estimate of 24 October 2026. Spending many small inputs at once costs more.
How many confirmations does Monero need?
Funds become spendable after 10 confirmations, about 20 minutes. Exchanges and merchants set their own requirements, and for large amounts waiting longer than 10 is sensible after the 2025 reorganisations.
Can I cancel a Monero transaction?
No. Once broadcast and confirmed, a Monero transaction cannot be reversed. Always check the address and send a test for large amounts.