A block explorer is a website that displays the public blockchain. Anyone can check a payment without asking a bank.
Looking up a transaction
Paste the txid from your wallet. You will see:
- Status: unconfirmed (in the mempool) or confirmed, with the block height and number of confirmations.
- Inputs: the earlier coins (utxos) being spent.
- Outputs: the new coins created. Usually one goes to the receiver and one returns as change to the sender.
- Fee: inputs minus outputs, plus the fee rate in sat/vB.
Why the change output confuses people
If you spend a 0.01 BTC coin to pay 0.002 BTC, the transaction sends 0.002 to the receiver and about 0.008 back to a new address you own. Your wallet hides this, but the explorer shows both outputs.
Blocks and the network
Explorers also show the latest blocks (as of 23 October 2026 the chain tip is around block 972,830), the fee market, and the difficulty.
Privacy warning
The site sees what you search for and your IP address. Looking up all your addresses on one site can link them to you. Better options:
- Use your wallet's own history.
- Use Tor or a VPN when using public explorers.
- Run an explorer on your own node.
Trust, but verify
An explorer only shows what its server says. For final certainty, your own node is the authority.
Takeaway
An explorer turns the public ledger into a readable page. Use it, but mind what it learns about you.