Transaction Pending: Metamask Guide

A guide on how to speed up transactions on Metamask, when they have been processing for too long.

Why is my transaction pending?

Usually, the reason for that is because the Ethereum network is heavily loaded and the gas settings that you've chosen are too low. When this happens, it might cause your transaction to be lowered to the bottom of the priority list.

Miners on the Ethereum network are rewarded with the gas fees you pay when making any transaction. Unfortunately, they are in the business of making a profit so they search out the transactions with the highest gas price to process first.

If you have selected an insufficient amount of gas to save a few dollars, then expect your transaction to end up at the bottom of the list to be processed. Depending on the amount of gas you chose, the tx may even get ignored completely – which could leave you with a pending tx, indefinitely.

Steps To Speed Up A Transaction

STEP 1:

In the Metamask interface, navigate to the pending transactions list, and identify the transaction that you wish to speed up. You need to click on the “Speed up” button.

STEP 2:

On the next page, you'll be shown options for different gas fee settings. Slow, average, and fast. As you most likely have already chosen a slow or average gas fee for your transaction, it is recommended to select the “Fast” option as this will help get your transaction processed on the network the fastest.

STEP 3:

If your transaction is still pending due to extreme network load (after choosing the “Fast” option in the previous step) and you would like to go one step further in attempting to speed up the transaction, then try the following:

From the Metamask UI, once again select “Speed up”. This time, when you get to the gas settings, find and click “Advanced” located at the top.

STEP 4:

Manually adjust the gas price (GWEI) to your desired amount. Preferably, higher than the previous “Fast” gas limit setting that you selected in the previous step.

Increasing your GWEI above the previous amount can be quite effective in getting your transaction processed quickly – especially at times when the network is heavily congested. Click “Save”. Hopefully, now your transaction gets confirmed in no time!