Ledger sign message Solana error: sign in with a Ledger
Sign in to Cherry with a Ledger on Solana: turn on Ledger mode, allow blind signing, approve a transaction that is never sent, and link it to a Cherry ID.
This guide fixes the Ledger sign message Solana error on Cherry: you sign in to the Cherry web app at chat.cherry.fun with a Ledger-backed Solana account, then link that Ledger to your Cherry ID. Cherry (cherry.fun) is a wallet-to-wallet messenger and community app for crypto. Its normal wallet sign-in asks your wallet to sign a message, and for a Ledger it offers a second route, Ledger mode, where the device approves a transaction that is never sent to the network instead. It is for traders who keep their bags on a hardware wallet and use it through Phantom or Solflare.
Why the Ledger sign message step fails on Solana
If you press “Sign & Authenticate” with a Ledger account and Ledger mode off, Cherry’s sign-in card shows “Authentication Failed” with the line “Ledger can’t sign messages. Turn on Ledger mode below and try again.” That line is Cherry’s screen describing its own sign-in. Ledger mode replaces the message with a transaction that carries the same sign-in text, which the Ledger’s Solana app can approve once blind signing is allowed.
As of October 2026, Ledger mode is part of the Cherry web app; the iOS and Android apps are outside this guide.
Before you start
- A Ledger with the Solana app installed, your PIN entered and the Solana app open.
- A wallet app connected to the Ledger account you want to use. Cherry’s Add a wallet sheet lists Phantom and Solflare as the apps a Ledger can be reached through.
- A browser on your computer that can reach the Ledger by USB (or Bluetooth, where your wallet app connects that way). In Solflare’s help article, updated 27 January 2026, the device connects over USB and the browser asks you to pick it.
- chat.cherry.fun open in that browser.
Step 1: Allow blind signing on the Ledger
Turn on blind signing in the Solana app before Cherry asks for anything. Ledger’s support article on the Solana app, last updated 17 July 2026, gives the path: open the Solana app until the device shows “Application is ready”, go to Settings, find “Allow blind sign” and select Yes. Solflare’s help article and Cherry’s note call it “Allow blind signing”.
Blind signing means the device approves a transaction whose details it cannot show you in readable form. Ledger’s article says it is required for most transactions involving smart contracts, calls it an advanced feature and recommends disabling it after use.
You know it worked when the device returns to “Application is ready” with the setting on.
Step 2: Connect the wallet app at chat.cherry.fun
Open chat.cherry.fun, choose “Sign in with a wallet” where the card offers it, then the wallet app your Ledger is connected to (“Sign in with” followed by its name). Approve the connection with the Ledger account selected.
You know it worked when the card titled “Secure Authentication” appears with your wallet’s short address on it.
Step 3: Turn on the Ledger hardware wallet switch
Below the “Sign & Authenticate” and “Back” buttons is a row titled “Ledger hardware wallet” with the subline “Approve on the device”. Flip its switch. A note opens under it:
You’ll approve a transaction instead of signing a message. It can never be sent to the network and costs nothing. Your wallet may warn that the transaction “may be unsafe” or that it couldn’t estimate balance changes. That’s expected. On your Ledger, enable “Allow blind signing” in the Solana app settings.
If you already tried without the switch and got the “Ledger can’t sign messages” line, the same switch is still on the card. Turn it on and press “Try Again”.
You know it worked when the note is visible under the row.
Step 4: Approve the transaction on the device
Press “Sign & Authenticate”. The card’s heading changes to “Approve in your wallet”, and its small print reads “Approve the transaction on your Ledger device.” Your wallet app shows the request first, with the warnings the note described; approve it there and confirm on the Ledger.
What you approve: the sign-in text Cherry asked for, wrapped in a transaction with nothing in it that moves SOL or tokens. It is never broadcast, so no fee is paid and your balance stays the same. Approve it only when you started the sign-in yourself on chat.cherry.fun.
You know it worked when the sign-in card closes and the app opens with your Ledger wallet signed in.
Step 5: Link the Ledger to your Cherry ID
A Cherry ID is Cherry’s account: one person with several linked wallets. Not every account can add one yet. An account that exists only as one wallet gets this answer on the Cherry ID screen: “Connect a social account to add a second wallet. That is what creates your Cherry account.” cherry.fun lists Google, Apple or X as the social options: connect one of those first if you signed in with the Ledger alone. An account opened with one of them can add the Ledger straight away.
Then:
- Open your profile and press “Edit”, or open Settings and choose “Cherry ID”. Either one opens the Cherry ID screen.
- Choose “Add wallet”. The sheet that opens is titled “Add a wallet”.
- Pick the “Ledger” row, subline “Approve on the device”. It asks “Which app is it connected through?” and lists the installed apps it can use.
- Choose the app your Ledger is paired with. With neither installed, the row says “Install Phantom or Solflare, connect your Ledger in it, then come back to this screen.”
- Approve the same kind of transaction as in Step 4, in the wallet app and then on the Ledger. The wallet app may warn that it cannot tell what the transaction does; with blind signing allowed, that warning is the expected one.
You know it worked when the sheet’s heading reads “Added” with the Ledger’s short address, followed by “Choose how much of it shows on your profile.” The app then offers four choices: Everything, What I own, Counted and Hidden. Every Solana address and its holdings are public on-chain whatever you pick; the choice only changes what your Cherry profile shows next to your name. Close the sheet and the Ledger appears among your wallets on the Cherry ID screen.
Step 6: Turn blind signing off again
Back on the device, open the Solana app’s Settings and turn “Allow blind sign” off. While it is on, the device will approve transactions it cannot show you, so switch it off once Cherry has what it needs and back on the next time you sign in or link.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Ledger can’t sign messages. Turn on Ledger mode below and try again.” | The switch was off for a Ledger account | Turn on “Ledger hardware wallet” and press “Try Again” |
| “Signature declined” though you declined nothing | Some wallet apps report a failed message on a Ledger account as a refusal | Turn on the switch and try again |
| “Your Ledger refused the request. Approve it on the device and allow blind signing in the Solana app.” | Blind signing is off, or the approval was rejected on the device | Do Step 1, then approve on the device |
| Nothing happens on the device | The Ledger is locked or the Solana app is closed | Enter your PIN, open the Solana app, try again |
| “Your wallet signed with another account. Switch it to this one and try again.” | The wallet app is on a different account than the one on the card | Switch the wallet app to the Ledger account |
| The wallet app cannot find the Ledger | The browser has no USB or Bluetooth access to the device | Use a browser your wallet app supports for Ledger, reconnect the cable, approve the browser’s device prompt |
| Blind signing was on and is now off | A Ledger OS or Solana app update | Ledger says updates turn it off; repeat Step 1. If it will not turn on, Solflare suggests updating the Solana app and firmware and restarting the device |
| A transaction request appears for a wallet that is not a Ledger | Ledger mode was switched on for a software wallet | Turn the switch off and sign the message with “Sign & Authenticate” |
| “That … account is already added” while linking | The wallet app handed over an account already on your Cherry ID | Switch accounts in the wallet app and press “Try again” |
Related guides
- Manage several wallets with one Cherry ID
- Wallet identity on Cherry
- Sign In With Solana , the message signature Ledger mode replaces
- Is it safe to connect your wallet? , a checklist for reading any wallet prompt
- Encrypted DMs with no phone and no KYC
- What a seed phrase is , the one thing no sign-in ever needs from your Ledger
Your Ledger is ready once blind signing is on, so open chat.cherry.fun and turn on the Ledger switch on the sign-in card.
FAQ
Why can’t my Ledger sign a message on Solana?
On Cherry, when a Ledger-backed account fails the sign-in message, the card says “Ledger can’t sign messages. Turn on Ledger mode below and try again.” That is Cherry’s screen describing its own sign-in. Ledger mode avoids the message: your Ledger approves a transaction that carries the sign-in text instead.
Is it safe to approve a transaction to sign in?
On chat.cherry.fun, the sign-in transaction carries the sign-in text and nothing that moves SOL or tokens, and the app’s note says “It can never be sent to the network and costs nothing.” Approve it only when you started the sign-in yourself on chat.cherry.fun. Treat a request from any other site as a separate decision.
Does signing in with a Ledger cost SOL?
No. The Ledger mode note in the Cherry web app says the transaction “can never be sent to the network and costs nothing”, so no network fee is paid and your balance does not change.
Do I have to keep blind signing on?
No. Turn it on before you approve and off when you are done. Ledger’s support article on the Solana app, last updated 17 July 2026, recommends disabling blind signing after use and notes that a Ledger OS or Solana app update turns it off anyway.
Sources
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