Lost Keystore password

Question

I want to update my Application to playstore and I lost my keystore password.Now I am trying to create a new one . Will there be any problem if I build APK with another keystore password ?

Answer 1

As @CRUSADER said, Android Keystore Password Recovery might work for you. I could retrieve my password with it. Here is how to do that. I was on Windows 7.

Run the following command,

java -jar AndroidKeystoreBrute_v1.05.jar

Then you will get the following guide,

AndroidKeystorePasswordRecoveryTool by M@xiking

Version 1.03
There are 3 Methods to recover the key for your Keystore:

1: simply bruteforce - good luck
2: dictionary attack - your password has to be in the dictionary
3: smart dictionary attack - you specify a dictionary with regular pieces you use in your passwords. Numbers are automat
icly added and first letter will tested uppercase and lowercase

args:
-m <1..3> Method
-k <path>  path to your keystore
-d <path> dictionary (for method 2 and 3)
-w saves the certificate in a new Keystore with same passwort than key

-start <String> sets start String of the word (for method 1)

-p use common replacements like '@' for 'a'(for method 3) WARNING - very slow!!

-h prints this helpscreen

Max memory: 247M

I've used method 2 because I had some guess of my password. I typed the following command,

java -jar AndroidKeystoreBrute_v1.05.jar -m 2 -k android.keystore -d dict.txt

In case you might wonder, my dict.txt was something like this,

gussedpassword1
gussedpassword2
gussedpassword3

I could successfully retrieve my password and alias.

Answer 2

Well, you are not the first to lose keystore password..

I use this one for bruteforce when I got stuck: Android Keystore recover

You can go with few guesses.

And as @StinePike mentioned.. you cannot continue updating your existing applications

Answer 3

There will be no problem for uploading new application. But you can not continue updating your existing application with new keystore. You need to create new applications by resubmitting them if you want to update your previous applications.

Always preserve the keystore with a best possible way :(

Answer 4

If you have lost the password to the keystore, then the only option is to create a new signing key. There will be no problem doing so.

However, you will not be able to update the existing application. And neither can you upload another application with the same package name.

For example, if you current package is:

com.example.mycurrentapp

You will need to use a different package name to go along with your new signing key. For example, you can change the package name to:

com.example.mynewapp

The above, are of course, illustrations. ;-)

The Google Play ecosystem identifies different applications using their package names and therefore, they have to be unique. Unfortunately, if you have a good user base, unless they install your new app, they will not be able to get updates to the older app.

Answer 5

It's unfortunate, but when you lose your keystore, or the password to your keystore, your application is orphaned. The only thing you can do is resubmit your app to the market under a new key. You will not be able to update your app without the key.

You will have to publish your app again with a new keystore and under a different package name, or remember your password.