When transferring your full ETH balance from one wallet to another, most wallets leave a tiny amount of "dust" behind. This happens because they slightly overestimate gas fees to prevent transaction failure under volatile conditions.

But sometimes, you want zero balance left — no dust, no leftovers — for example, when migrating to a new wallet, shutting down an address, or sweeping all funds.

Here's how you can do it perfectly, using only MetaMask and Chrome console.

🛠 Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Open your Chrome browser.
  2. Unlock your MetaMask extension.
  3. Transfer all valuable tokens, NFTs, and other assets
  4. Open DevTools → Console tab (F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I).
  5. Paste and REPLACE the RECEIVER address as you intended
  6. Execute the following script: 
(async () => {
  const sender = (await ethereum.request({ method: 'eth_requestAccounts' }))[0];
  const receiver = '0xReceiverAddress'; 
// 🔥 Change this to your destination address

  const balanceHex = await ethereum.request({
    method: 'eth_getBalance',
    params: [sender, 'latest'],
  });

  const gasPriceHex = await ethereum.request({
    method: 'eth_gasPrice',
  });

  const gasLimit = 21000; // Standard gas for basic ETH transfer

  const gasFee = BigInt(gasPriceHex) * BigInt(gasLimit);
  const balance = BigInt(balanceHex);
  const amountToSend = balance - gasFee;

  if (amountToSend <= 0n) {
    throw new Error('Not enough balance to cover gas fee.');
  }

  const txHash = await ethereum.request({
    method: 'eth_sendTransaction',
    params: [{
      from: sender,
      to: receiver,
      value: '0x' + amountToSend.toString(16),
      gas: '0x' + gasLimit.toString(16),
      gasPrice: gasPriceHex,
    }],
  });

  console.log('Transaction sent! TxHash:', txHash);
})();

Confirm the transaction in MetaMask popup.

✅ Done! Your account will now be completely emptied.

🧠 Why Not Just Use Wallet UI?

Wallet UIs like MetaMask intentionally overestimate gas fees to reduce transaction failure risks.

This means:

  • They cannot send the full balance.
  • They must leave a small "dust" amount as a safety margin.

By manually calculating gas cost and subtracting it ourselves, we can send the maximum possible safely.

📝 Why I Care About This

When EIP-1559 was introduced, dynamic fees made gas price calculations trickier, and wallets became even more conservative.

I often found myself frustrated by the "dust problem" when I simply wanted to sweep a wallet clean. This method helped me move entire balances safely and efficiently, many times over.

Feel free to bookmark this guide for the next time you need a clean sweep. 🧹✨