Wallet Cleanup
Spam NFTs on Solana: what to do with them (hide or burn?)
Spam NFTs on Solana are harmless until you visit their claim link. When to hide them, when burning returns SOL rent, and why compressed NFTs return nothing.
Key takeaways
- A spam NFT sitting in a Solana wallet cannot move funds; wallets get drained when the owner visits the NFT's claim site and signs a malicious transaction.
- Hiding a spam NFT in Phantom or Solflare only changes what the wallet displays, while burning removes the NFT from the chain permanently.
- Burning a regular Metaplex NFT on Solana closes its token, metadata and master edition accounts and usually returns between 0.006 and 0.01 SOL of rent.
- Compressed NFTs on Solana are entries in a shared Merkle tree and hold no rent, so burning a compressed spam NFT returns no SOL.
- The SOLTidy NFT Burner charges 5% of the SOL reclaimed, lists only NFTs that return rent, and never opens the links inside a spam NFT's metadata.
The short answer#
Do not open the link, and do not try to "claim" or sell anything the NFT advertises. A spam NFT sitting in a Solana wallet is harmless; the website it points to is the attack. Hide it if it is a compressed NFT, which returns nothing when burned. Burn it if it is a regular Metaplex NFT, because the burn returns the SOL rent held in its accounts, usually 0.006 to 0.01 SOL.
Why do spam NFTs show up in your wallet?#
Spam NFTs show up because anyone can send an asset to any Solana address without the recipient's permission. Your address is public the moment you make a transaction, and scammers build recipient lists from on-chain activity: recent traders, NFT holders, airdrop claimers.
The economics favour the sender. Compressed NFTs store their data in a shared Merkle tree instead of in separate accounts, so minting thousands of them costs very little. The NFT usually looks like a voucher, a prize, a "1,000 USDC airdrop ticket", or an imitation of a known collection, with a URL in the name, the image or the description.
Receiving one says nothing about your wallet's security. No key was exposed and nothing was approved. The spam is an advertisement delivered to your wallet's gallery.
Are spam NFTs dangerous?#
A spam NFT is not dangerous while it sits in the wallet; the danger is entirely in interacting with the site it promotes. An NFT is data in accounts. It cannot run code against your wallet, and holding it gives the sender no authority over anything you own.
The scam needs you to act:
- You visit the "claim" or "redeem" site named in the NFT.
- The site asks you to connect your wallet, which by itself only reveals your address.
- The site presents a transaction. Instead of claiming a prize, the transaction transfers your tokens and SOL, or grants an approval over them.
- You approve, and the assets move in that same transaction.
Most drains on Solana come from signing a malicious transaction like this one, not from old approvals and not from the NFT. The broader habits, such as using burner wallets and reading simulations, are in the Solana wallet security checklist. If you have already signed something on a site like that, move your remaining assets to a new wallet first, then check for leftover approvals with the free delegation revoke tool.
Some rules that cost nothing to follow:
- Never visit a URL found in an NFT's name, image or description.
- Do not list an unknown NFT for sale or accept an "offer" on it. Fake offers are another route to the same kind of site.
- Do not send the NFT back. It achieves nothing and costs you a fee.
- Treat "your wallet is eligible" messages as spam until you can confirm them through the project's official channels.
Should you hide or burn a spam NFT?#
Hide compressed spam and burn regular NFTs that you want gone for good. The two actions do different things:
| Hide or report as spam | Burn | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Removes the NFT from your wallet app's view | Destroys the NFT on chain |
| Reversible | Yes, unhide it in the wallet's settings | No |
| Cost | Free, no transaction | A network fee, plus a tool fee if you use a tool |
| SOL returned | None | Rent from the NFT's accounts, if it has any |
| Visible elsewhere | Yes, in explorers and other apps | No |
| Best for | Compressed NFTs and anything you are unsure about | Regular Metaplex NFTs you are certain are junk |
In Phantom and Solflare, the hide option is in the individual NFT's menu, and both wallets filter a good share of known spam into a hidden or spam section automatically. Both have also offered a burn option for individual NFTs in the same menu. Wallet menus change between versions, so look in the item's options instead of relying on a screenshot in an old guide. For one or two spam NFTs, the wallet's own burn option is all you need.
Does burning an NFT return SOL?#
Burning a regular Metaplex NFT returns SOL because the NFT consists of several rent-holding accounts that the burn closes. A standard NFT has a token account in your wallet, a metadata account and a master edition account. Each holds a rent-exempt deposit, which is the refundable storage balance explained in what Solana rent is. The Metaplex Token Metadata program's burn instruction destroys the token, closes those accounts and pays the lamports to the owner.
| Asset type | What burning returns |
|---|---|
| Regular Metaplex NFT (master edition) | Usually 0.006 to 0.01 SOL |
| Programmable NFT (pNFT) | The same, plus roughly 0.0014 SOL from its token record |
| Print edition, or a token with no Metaplex accounts | 0.00203928 SOL, the token account only |
| Compressed NFT (cNFT) | Nothing |
The spread in the first row comes mostly from the size of the metadata account, which varies between NFTs. The 0.01 SOL creation fee that Metaplex charges when metadata is first created is not part of what comes back.
In the case of spam, the scammer funded those accounts, so burning a regular spam NFT sends the scammer's deposit to you. It is a small amount, but it is the one case where spam pays the recipient.
Why compressed NFTs return nothing#
A compressed NFT returns nothing because it has no accounts of its own. A compressed NFT is a leaf in a Merkle tree account that belongs to whoever created the tree; ownership is recorded as a hash, and the full data is served by indexers. There is no token account in your wallet and no metadata account to close, so there is no deposit to refund. Burning one is possible, but it costs a network fee and gains nothing beyond tidiness. Most mass spam today is compressed for exactly this reason, so the honest advice is to hide it. The Metaplex documentation at developers.metaplex.com describes the compressed NFT model in detail.
What about frozen NFTs and pNFTs?#
Frozen and locked NFTs cannot be burned until they are released, and programmable NFTs need the Metaplex burn instruction instead of a plain token burn.
- Programmable NFTs (pNFTs). A pNFT's token account is kept frozen by design, which is how royalty rules are enforced. A plain SPL burn fails on it. The Token Metadata program's burn instruction handles pNFTs and also closes their token record account.
- Staked or listed NFTs. When you stake an NFT or list it through a delegate, the token account is frozen or the pNFT's token record is marked locked or listed. The Metaplex program refuses to burn an asset in that state. Unstake or delist first.
- Spam delivered frozen. Some spam tokens come from mints whose freeze authority freezes your token account on arrival. You cannot burn or transfer them, and only the freeze authority could thaw the account. Hide them and move on. Freeze authority is explained further in mint authority vs freeze authority.
- Token-2022 NFTs and print editions. These burn as plain tokens and return only the token account's rent.
How does the SOLTidy NFT Burner handle spam?#
The SOLTidy NFT Burner scans your wallet for token accounts holding a single indivisible token, reads each one's Metaplex metadata and edition accounts from the chain, and shows the exact SOL that each burn returns. The fee is 5% of the SOL reclaimed, paid inside the same transaction; a burn that returns nothing is not charged, and scanning is free.
Details that matter for spam:
- The burner never opens an NFT's off-chain links. Names and symbols come from the on-chain metadata account, and a thumbnail is shown only when the RPC provider serves one through its own image proxy.
- Each row is labelled by type (NFT, pNFT, edition or plain token), and items that return only token-account rent are marked as such.
- Frozen or locked items are greyed out with the reason shown.
- Compressed NFTs are not listed at all, because burning them returns nothing. Hide those in your wallet.
- A transaction fits roughly five Metaplex burns within Solana's 1,232-byte limit, so larger selections are split across several approvals, each carrying its own proportional fee.
The process is short:
- Connect your wallet and let the scan finish.
- Search or scroll, and tick only the items you are certain about.
- Review the summary: rent reclaimed, the 5% fee and the net SOL.
- Tick the confirmation box and approve each transaction in your wallet.
Burning is irreversible, and "Select all" is where mistakes happen. If you hold NFTs you care about in the same wallet, select items individually. Fungible spam tokens, as opposed to NFTs, belong in the token burn tool (0.005 SOL per transaction), and the empty accounts left over from normal trading go through the Token Account Closer at 5% of recovered rent. Whether account cleanup in general is risky is covered in is it safe to close Solana token accounts. I keep all of these in one place because I got tired of doing wallet chores across several sites; more about that is on the about page.
Bottom line#
A spam NFT on Solana is an advertisement, and the only way it harms you is if you visit the site it advertises and sign a transaction there. Hide compressed spam in Phantom or Solflare, because burning it returns nothing. Burn regular Metaplex spam if you want it gone permanently, and collect the 0.006 to 0.01 SOL of rent that comes back with it. For a couple of items your wallet's own burn option is enough; for a gallery full of junk, a bulk burner saves time in exchange for 5% of the SOL reclaimed.
Questions & answers
Can a spam NFT drain my Solana wallet just by being in it?
No. Receiving an NFT requires no signature from you and gives the sender no authority over your wallet. A token or NFT sitting in your wallet cannot execute anything. The risk starts only if you follow the link in its name, image or description and approve a transaction on that site. Leave the NFT alone, hide it or burn it, and never sign anything on the site it advertises.
Is it safe to burn spam NFTs on Solana?
Yes, provided you burn from a wallet or tool you chose yourself and not from a site the NFT pointed you to. A burn transaction references only that NFT's own token, metadata and edition accounts, and your wallet shows it for approval. Burning is permanent, so the real risk is selecting a genuine NFT by mistake. Check the selection before you sign.
Do you get SOL for burning spam NFTs?
For regular Metaplex NFTs, yes: burning closes the token account, the metadata account and the master edition, and usually returns between 0.006 and 0.01 SOL to the owner. Print editions and tokens without Metaplex accounts return only the token account's 0.00203928 SOL. Compressed NFTs hold no rent, so burning them returns nothing, and most mass spam today is compressed.
Why do random NFTs keep appearing in my Solana wallet?
Because wallet addresses are public and sending is permissionless. Anyone can send a token or NFT to any Solana address without the recipient's approval, and compressed NFTs cost the sender a tiny fraction of a cent each. Scammers collect active addresses from on-chain activity and airdrop to thousands at once. Receiving spam does not mean your wallet has been compromised.
Should I hide or burn a spam NFT?
Hide it if it is a compressed NFT, because burning returns nothing and hiding is instant and free. Burn it if it is a regular Metaplex NFT and you want it gone for good, since the burn returns the rent held in its accounts. Hiding only affects what your wallet app displays; the NFT stays on chain and still appears in explorers and in other apps.
Why can't I burn or transfer one of the NFTs in my wallet?
Its token account is probably frozen or locked. Regular NFTs are frozen while staked or listed through a delegate, and programmable NFTs carry a token record that can be marked locked or listed. The Metaplex program refuses to burn an asset in that state. For your own NFTs, unstake or delist first. For spam deliberately sent in a frozen state, hiding is the only option.
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