How to send a Lightning payment step by step

Up to now we have covered what Lightning Network is, how wallets work, what an invoice is and what a Lightning address is. All of this is important groundwork. But theory without practice remains just theory. In this article we take the next step: we will walk through the entire process of a real Lightning payment from the moment you open your wallet to the confirmation that the payment has gone through.

We will work with two wallets: Phoenix for those who want a non-custodial solution with full control, and Wallet of Satoshi for those who are just starting out and looking for the simplest possible path. We will look at all three common situations you will encounter in everyday life: scanning a QR code, sending to a Lightning address, and manually pasting an invoice. And because payments are not just about sending, we will also show how to generate your own invoice and receive a payment from someone else.

Before you start: what you need to have ready

Before your first Lightning payment you need to have a few things in order. The first and most important is that your wallet must have some balance. Lightning payments are outgoing transactions and without funds there is simply nothing to send. If you are just installing Phoenix or Wallet of Satoshi for the first time, you need to get bitcoin in there first. The simplest way is to ask someone who has bitcoin to send you a small amount, or to buy bitcoin through one of the available services (I recommend Vexl) and send it to the wallet.

The second thing is an internet connection. Lightning payments require an active network connection. Without internet the wallet cannot communicate with the Lightning network and the payment will not go through. Make sure you have stable Wi-Fi or mobile data.

The third thing to keep in mind with Phoenix is that when you receive and send your first payment, a Lightning channel is automatically opened, which requires a one-time fee. This fee is transparently displayed before confirmation and is a normal part of how a non-custodial Lightning wallet works. Wallet of Satoshi does not have this step because the company manages channels for you.

Scenario 1: Payment by scanning a QR code

This is the most common way to pay in practice. You will encounter it in cafés, shops, at conferences, or anywhere someone displays a Lightning QR code. The procedure is the same in both wallets, only the visual interface differs.

Open your wallet and find the button for sending a payment. In Phoenix it is an upward arrow or the text Send. In Wallet of Satoshi it is a similar Send button or a send icon. After pressing it the QR code scanner usually opens automatically. If it does not open automatically, look for a camera icon or a Scan QR code option.

Point your phone's camera at the QR code you want to pay. The wallet will recognize it in a fraction of a second. The important thing at this moment is to stop and check what appears on the screen. The wallet will show you the payment amount, if it is included in the invoice, and possibly a description of the payment. Look at both values and make sure they match what you expected. If the amount is correct and the recipient looks fine, click Confirm, Pay, or Send.

After confirming, the process of routing the payment through the Lightning network begins. For most payments this takes less than two seconds. The wallet will display a green confirmation symbol or a Payment sent message. That is all. The payment is done. The recipient received the money at that same moment, not minutes or hours later.

If the payment does not go through and the wallet displays an error, for example No route found or Payment failed, it does not mean you did something wrong. It may be a temporary routing or liquidity issue in the network. Try repeating the payment. If it keeps happening, check whether the wallet has a sufficient balance to cover the payment amount including any fees.

Scenario 2: Sending to a Lightning address

A Lightning address looks like an email, for example jan@getalby.com or friend@walletofsatoshi.com. It is a convenient way to send payments when you have the recipient's Lightning address saved in your contacts or when someone writes it to you in a message.

In Phoenix open the sending section and instead of the QR code scanner choose the option to enter an address manually. This is usually a keyboard icon or the text Enter manually. Enter the recipient's Lightning address in the field. The wallet will automatically verify it: it connects to the server of the given domain, verifies that the address exists, and requests a fresh invoice in the background. This all happens automatically without your involvement, usually in less than a second.

After verifying the address the wallet will display a field to enter the amount. Enter the amount you want to send, in satoshis or in the euro equivalent depending on what display your wallet offers. Check the amount and any routing fee, and confirm the payment. The process is the same as with a QR code, only instead of scanning you entered the address manually.

In Wallet of Satoshi the process is very similar. On the main screen click Send and choose the option to enter a Lightning address. The app will automatically recognize it as a Lightning address based on the @ sign format and process it correctly.

One practical tip: if you send someone payments regularly, most wallets allow you to save a Lightning address to your contacts. Next time you do not need to enter the address again, just select the contact from the list.

Scenario 3: Manually pasting an invoice

Sometimes you receive a Lightning invoice not as a QR code but as a text string. It may come via email, via a message, or you copy it from a website. This string starts with the letters lnbc and is fairly long, typically a few hundred characters. Do not try to type it out manually. Simply copy it and paste it into the wallet.

In both Phoenix and Wallet of Satoshi, when you open the sending section, the wallet automatically checks the clipboard and if it finds a valid Lightning invoice there, it offers it to you for payment on its own. This is a very convenient feature: you copy the invoice, open the wallet, and it asks you on its own whether you want to pay the copied invoice. Just confirm.

If the wallet does not automatically load the invoice from the clipboard, find the manual entry option. This is usually a clipboard icon, the text Paste invoice, or a similar option. Click it, the wallet loads the clipboard content and decodes the invoice. It will show you the amount and any description. Check the values and confirm the payment just as in the previous scenarios.

When manually pasting an invoice it is especially important to check that the invoice is current. If you received it an hour or more ago, it may have expired. The wallet will in that case display an error such as Invoice expired or Invoice is no longer valid. The solution is simple: ask the recipient for a new invoice.

How to receive a payment and generate your own invoice

Sending payments is only one side of the coin. Equally important is knowing how to receive a payment, that is, generate your own invoice and share it with whoever wants to send you money. This process is simple and works similarly in both wallets.

In Phoenix open the main screen and find the button for receiving a payment. This is usually a downward arrow or the text Receive. After clicking it the wallet will display a screen with two options: create an invoice with a specific amount, or create an invoice without an amount.

If you know the exact amount you want to receive, choose an invoice with a specific amount. Enter the amount in satoshis or in a fiat currency equivalent, and optionally add a payment description. The wallet generates the invoice and displays it both as a QR code you can show the sender to scan and as a text string you can copy and send via a message.

An important thing when receiving payments in Phoenix: if you are receiving a payment for the first time, or if you are receiving an amount larger than your channel capacity, Phoenix automatically expands the channel. It charges a one-time fee for this expansion, which you can see in the details of the received payment. It is not an error or a scam, it is a normal part of how a non-custodial Lightning wallet works. For subsequent payments within the channel capacity this fee will not occur.

What you see before confirming a payment and what to check

Before you click confirm on any payment, the wallet shows you a summary. It is important to get into the habit of actually reading this summary rather than mechanically clicking confirm. It contains information that can protect you from a mistake or fraud.

The first thing to check is the amount. Does it match what you expected? If you are paying in a shop, does it match the amount on the receipt? If you are sending money to a friend, does it match the amount you agreed on? If the amount is different, do not confirm the payment and verify the invoice with the recipient.

The second thing is the routing fee. Most Lightning wallets display the payment amount and the network fee separately. For small payments the fee is usually so low that it is negligible, we are talking about single-digit satoshis. For larger payments it may be somewhat higher, but it should still be significantly lower than fees for on-chain Bitcoin transactions or bank transfers.

The third thing is the payment description, if one is included in the invoice. Does it match what you are paying for? If you ordered a coffee and the description says something unrelated, it is worth checking before confirming.

What to do when a payment does not go through

Payments via Lightning Network usually go through without problems, but occasionally a payment does not go through. This is a normal part of how a decentralized network operates and is not a reason to panic. The important thing is knowing what to do.

The first step is to check the reason for the error. The wallet usually displays a short message. If you see Invoice expired, the invoice has expired and you need to ask for a new one. If you see No route found or Payment failed, the network did not find a route with sufficient liquidity. If you see Insufficient funds, your balance is not enough to cover the payment amount including the fee.

For the error No route found try repeating the payment in a few minutes. The state of channels in the network is constantly changing and a route that was not available a moment ago may be available shortly. If it still does not help after several attempts, try using a different wallet.

When a payment fails, your funds are automatically returned to your wallet. It cannot happen that money leaves but goes nowhere. Lightning Network is designed so that a payment either completes successfully or the money is returned. There is no state where money stays stuck somewhere in the middle of the network forever.

Payment history and verifying a transaction

After a successful payment it is good to know where to find confirmation and transaction history. In both wallets you can find transaction history in a section usually called Transactions, Activity, or History. Each transaction in the history contains the amount, date and time, routing fee, and any description if it was part of the invoice. Phoenix additionally shows the payment preimage, which is a cryptographic proof that the payment actually took place. You can use this proof as an irrefutable technical piece of evidence in case the recipient ever disputes receiving the payment.

Unlike bank transfers, Lightning transactions are not publicly visible on the blockchain. The blockchain only records the opening and closing of channels, not individual payments through them. From a privacy perspective this is an advantage: nobody external can track your Lightning payments. From a proof perspective it is a trade-off: the only proof of payment is the preimage stored in your wallet, not a public record on the blockchain.

Summary

Sending a Lightning payment is simple and fast in practice, but behind this simplicity lie several important principles. Always check the amount and recipient before confirming. Watch out for invoice expiration, and if a payment does not go through try repeating it without panic: your funds are safe and will be returned automatically. Never mix up a Lightning invoice and a Bitcoin address.

In the next article [Lightning Network in practice] we will look at specific everyday situations where Lightning makes the most sense: purchases from merchants, NFC payments, Lightning cards, and other real-world uses.

Frequently asked questions

What if the scanned QR code is not a Lightning invoice but something else?

The wallet automatically verifies what the QR code contains. If it is not a valid Lightning invoice or Lightning address, it will display an error or warn you that it does not recognize the QR code content. It will never happen that the wallet accidentally processes an incorrect QR code as a payment.

Can I cancel a Lightning payment after sending it?

No. Lightning payments are instant and irreversible, similar to a cash payment. Once you confirm the payment and it goes through successfully, the recipient has received the funds and the transaction cannot be reversed. That is why it is so important to check the amount and recipient before confirming. If you accidentally sent a payment to the wrong address or for the wrong amount, the only way is to arrange with the recipient to voluntarily return the money.

Why does the wallet sometimes suggest a higher fee than I expected?

The fee amount depends on the current state of the Lightning network and the route the wallet finds to the recipient. If the direct route is busy or unavailable, the payment must travel through a longer path with more nodes, which increases the fee. You can try canceling the payment and repeating it in a few minutes, when the network may find a cheaper route.

How long does a Lightning payment take?

Most Lightning payments complete in less than two seconds. If the network needs to find a more complex route it may take five to ten seconds. If a payment does not complete within thirty seconds, the wallet usually automatically cancels it and notifies you of the error.

What happens to the money if I turn off my phone during an ongoing payment?

A Lightning payment either completes successfully or is automatically canceled and the funds are returned. Turning off the phone in the middle of a payment may cause the payment to fail, but your money is safe. After turning your phone back on and opening the wallet you will see in the history whether the payment went through or was canceled.

Can I send Lightning payments abroad?

Yes, and this is one of the strongest features of Lightning Network. A payment to Japan, Argentina, or Nigeria goes through just as quickly and under the same conditions as a payment to a neighbor. There are no international fees, no conversion rates, no waiting for interbank settlement.