# Fast Full Node Syncing

## What is a bootstrap and why you need it for full node

{% hint style="danger" %}
Always close down your full node wallet completely before changing/editing any files or folders within your Zelcash data directory. Data can be corrupted if files are edited with wallet open, including lose of your local wallet.dat copy. **BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP!**
{% endhint %}

* The bootstrap file contains most of the current blockchain data in a downloadable zip file. You can use this data with your full node to more quickly sync your full node.
* This method is much faster because you do not need to download every block over the p2p node network, which can take many hours or days depending on internet speed.
* A full reindex of the chain data is needed for ZelNodes as you need to have `txindex=1` in your zelcash.conf file, which requires a complete re-download of the chain data
* **Copy/paste the bootstrap folder into your data directory AFTER ZelCore/Swing forces a reindex so you don't end up reindexing twice with the `txindex=1`parameter being added to the zelcash.conf file.**

## **Bootstrap Process**

#### Download the bootstrap zip file (txindex is enabled which is needed for ZelNodes).

Link: [Download Bootstrap file (\~ 2.1 GB, June 20, 2019)](https://zelcore.io/zelcashbootstraptxindex.zip)

#### Unzip the bootstrap. There will be two folders, `blocks` and `chainstate`.

#### Navigate to your \Zelcash data directory

{% hint style="info" %}
**Windows:** C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Zelcash\
**MacOS:** \~/Library/Application Support/zelcash\
**Linux:** \~/.zelcash/
{% endhint %}

#### Copy the two bootstrap folders and paste into your \Zelcash data directory. Overwrite the current `blocks` and `chainstate` folders if necessary.

#### Launch the full node wallet. You will see that the `height` and `headers` are already about 250,000 getting you much closer to current block height, saving many hours of syncing.


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