How to pay with Electrum App on Android? Sign unsigned transaction?

[bxstover]

I installed Electrum v4.5.8 on Android 14.

Now I want to send bitcoins with this App.
So I scan a QR-code from webpage with the amount and target bitcoin address.
And yes, Electrum successfully read it and showed the current address and amount.

Now I proceeded. At the end Electrum shows me a QR-Code with the remark:
"This transaction should be signed. Present this QR code to the signing device"

On the top of the "On-Chain Transaction" dialog I can read the notification:
"This transaction is not fully signed. Present this transaction to the signing wallet"

What does that mean? 
I am already successfully logged in into my wallet.
Shouldn't my transaction be automatically signed?

What should I do to finalize the BTC send?

[Zaguru12]

That means it is a watch only wallet, how did you import your wallet into this electrum wallet, you need to import the Wallet with either the private key or seed phrase. Maybe you did the importation using a public key or address

[Findingnemo]

^That's right, OP is trying to send funds from the watch-only wallet.

He can import the privkeys or seeds to send the funds that he sees in his electrum wallet or need to sign in the TX from signing device which is HW or cold storage then load the TX to broadcast it. But since he mentioned android the probable thing is he mistakenly imported the wallet using masterkey instead of seeds.

[Mia Chloe]

Just like Zaguru12 mentioned op, you are not currently in your wallet. You are making use of a watch only wallet and as a result that error is popping up because there are no private keys on the wallet to sign the transaction. What you just did was create an unsigned transaction.

Two things are involved here, either you re access the wallet with your seed phrase so you have a private key to sign the transaction or you simply save that created transaction without a Transaction ID and take it to a wallet with keys say a hardware wallet for example to sign it and add a transaction ID then you take it back to a wallet connected to the internet to broadcast the transaction.

[BitMaxz]

Your statement is incomplete. Would you mind telling us where you downloaded the Electrum app?

I installed Electrum v4.5.8 on Android 14.

After you installed it, didn't it ask you to create a wallet? Naming the wallet? Or did you just import any BTC address?
If you just imported a BTC address like the above said, it's a watch-only wallet.

To know if it's a watch-only wallet, tap the wallet name, then tap wallet details.

It should look like this below

Screenshot by me

Then update here...

[Charles-Tim]

Shouldn't my transaction be automatically signed?

You imported the public key or the address. I can go to copy some addresses on blockchain explorer and import the address on my wallet and see the balance. Do not think you will be able to spend the coins. You need the private key or the seed phrase which can generate the private key to spend the coin.

What should I do to finalize the BTC send?

Go and sign the transaction on the wallet that has the private key.

[hosemary]

As already mentioned by others, you have a watch-only wallet and there is no way to make transaction if you don't have the private key (or the seed phraes). The watch-only wallet is used watching the wallet and creating unsigned transactions.
The question now is that how did you create your wallet and how did you end up with a watch-only wallet?

[thoste]

Ok, thank you.

I was confused because on the bottom of the Electrum wallet Balance screen a button "Sent" is displayed.
A "Sent" button should indicate a full rather than a "Watch-only" wallet.

This should be changed in the next release.

A look into wallet details shows "watch-only". ok.

So can I turn this watch-only wallet subsequently (=now) into a full wallet?
Simply by importing seed or private key?
Or do I need a full new installation.

Later I want to toggle this wallet occasionally from watch-only to full and back.
Is this possible without fiddling with seed and/or private keys?

[hosemary]

So can I turn this watch-only wallet subsequently (=now) into a full wallet?
Simply by importing seed or private key?
Or do I need a full new installation.

Simply create a new wallet with your seed phrase (or your private key).

Later I want to toggle this wallet occasionally from watch-only to full and back.
Is this possible without fiddling with seed and/or private keys?

You need to have two different wallets. A watch-only wallet which is created with your address and another wallet created with your seed phrase (or your private key).

May I ask what you want to achieve?
If your purpose is to increase your security, you should create the wallet containing your seed phrase (or your private key) on an offline device (preferably to be air-gapped).

[Yamane_Keto]

Later I want to toggle this wallet occasionally from watch-only to full and back.
Is this possible without fiddling with seed and/or private keys?

watchonly wallet is used when you want to track your balance or open your wallet when the device you are using is not secure, and use seed from a secure and clean device only.

[nc50lc]

I was confused because on the bottom of the Electrum wallet Balance screen a button "Sent" is displayed.
A "Sent" button should indicate a full rather than a "Watch-only" wallet.

I can't see a "Sent" button in Mobile version of Electrum...
The closest thing is the Mobile version's "Send" button below the Main tab (transaction history) which shouldn't be confusing since it's next to "Receive".
If that's what you mean, that "Send" button in watch-only wallet is used by Cold-Storage setup to create an unsigned raw transaction to be able to export the .psbt file/text to the signer offline wallet.
The online watch-only wallet wont be able to sign, but that's one of the process to 'Send' with that setup so the button's name should be fine as it is.

Anyways, suggestions are also welcome if you have a better alternative,
post it as a "feature request" 'issue' or include the code changes with a 'pull request' in Electrum's GitHub repository: github.com/spesmilo/electrum
The developers may implement it if it's reasonable.

[Pmalek]

So can I turn this watch-only wallet subsequently (=now) into a full wallet?
Simply by importing seed or private key?
Or do I need a full new installation.

The software is already installed on your system. You don't need to install it a second or third time. A watch-only wallet always remain a watch-only wallet. It doesn't contain private keys to broadcast transactions.

Later I want to toggle this wallet occasionally from watch-only to full and back.
Is this possible without fiddling with seed and/or private keys?

Do you plan to do that on the same device? You don't gain anything in doing that. Watch-only wallets are useful in combination with a cold wallet installed on a different offline machine. Using both on the same system brings zero benefits.

I assume you have bitcoin in your wallet already, right?