How to create an Ethereum address with MetaMask

Published in

Yang Gang Coin

4 min readOct 3, 2019

This is designed to be a complete beginner’s guide for anyone wanting to get their first Ethereum address. There are many different ways to get an Ethereum address, but we will focus on using MetaMask as it is one of the simplest and easiest ways to get started. If you are looking for an alternative to MetaMask, MyCrypto and MyEtherWallet are also reliable, trustworthy, and easy services to use.

Step 1: Go to Metamask.io and click “Get Chrome Extension”

In your browser, go to https://metamask.io/ and click on “Get Chrome Extension”. If you are using a different web browser, click on the name of the browser that you are using. MetaMask is also available on Android and iOS.

Step 2: Click “Add to Chrome”

Step 3: Click “Add extension”

Also allow MetaMask to add itself as an extension by clicking on “Add extension”

Step 4: Click “Get Started”

You should see a new little fox head on the top corner of your browser once the MetaMask extension has been added.

Step 5: Click on “Create a Wallet”

Step 5b: Help Improve MetaMask?

MetaMask may ask you are willing to provide them some anonymous data to help them improve their service. Your data will always be private and never sold. It is up to you whether you want to send them this data or not.

Step 6: Create a Password

Create a password, any password and click the box to agree to the Terms of Use.

Step 7: Secret Backup Phrase

Your secret phrase is a set of words that basically controls your Ethereum address. This is the most important information to keep secret and safe. They are twelve English words that can unlock your Ethereum address form anywhere and then be used to move any tokens or coins from that account. Also if you lose this secret phrase, you will not be able to access your Ethereum address again so please keep it somewhere safe.

The backup phrase below is for an account I will never use.

Step 8: Confirm Secret Backup Phrase

To make sure you really wrote down or copied your secret phrase somewhere, MetaMask will ask you to repeat the phrase back to them in the correct order.

Congratulations!

That’s it! You did it. You are now the proud owner of a new Ethereum address. You are in complete control of this address and no one can shut it down or take the ownership away from you.

Your Ethereum address will be on the left side of the screen. It is the long number starting with “0x”. You can copy your Ethereum address by clicking on that number. The address for this example account is “0x72d22E3115f5EE410640aFb8784f573B4e27B676".