Guide to Install MetaMask and Add Polygon network.

7 min readSep 20, 2023

A Guide to Install Metamask & add Polygon Network

When you’re navigating the world of DeFi, you’re going to need a wallet. Unlike centralized finance (CeFi), which provides a place to store your tokens, DeFi differs. DeFi is decentralized, meaning no one entity is controlling your funds. You are in complete control.

There are many wallets to choose from; the most popular is MetaMask. MetaMask is a crypto wallet you control that stores the keys to your tokens on a blockchain. Think of MetaMask as a wallet of keys allowing you to send and receive tokens from it.

If you’d like to try your hand at DeFi, you’ll need a wallet, and there’s no better one to try out first than the most popular: MetaMask.

What is MetaMask?

MetaMask is an application that organizes your tokens in one spot. MetaMask originally started as a browser extension created in 2016 by ConsenSys, a blockchain software company focusing on Ethereum-based tools and infrastructure.

Although still a popular implementation of MetaMask, you can also find this wallet as an Android and an iOS application. MetaMask is cross-chain, meaning you can control your tokens on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Polygon, and more.

Through its ability to add custom networks or chains, you can control your tokens on many different networks. This article will focus on setting up MetaMask to handle your tokens stored on the Polygon network!

Installing MetaMask

Although MetaMask is a mobile application, the most popular application is a browser extension, so we’ll cover how to set that up.

To install the MetaMask browser extension:

Navigate to the MetaMask download page and click on Install MetaMask for Chrome, where your browser will open a new tab showing the MetaMask extension. Click Add to Chrome.

2. Once complete, you’ll see a fox icon in the upper-right corner of your browser. Click on the fox icon. A new tab will open to get started setting up your MetaMask wallet. Click Start now.

3. Next, click Create a portfolio since you’re setting up a new wallet.

Once you click the button, MetaMask will gather usage data to understand better how their users interact with the extension.

4. If you don’t mind MetaMask tracking anonymous data about how you use the software, click on I agree.

5. Next, define a secure password. Be sure to define a password with plenty of letters, numbers, and symbols longer than eight characters.

Check the box I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and click the To Create button.

MetaMask will then ask you to watch a video to learn about your recovery phrase and how to keep your wallet safe.

If you ever forget your MetaMask password, all hope isn’t lost. MetaMask secures access to your tokens with a secret phase. This secret phrase is a series of words you MUST securely document somewhere away from prying eyes! Anyone with your secret phrase can access ALL of your tokens.

6. Next, click on the box to see your secret phrase. Write them down on paper or any safe place and click Next.

7. To ensure you know your secret phrase, confirm your phrase and click Confirm.

8. Once you’ve confirmed your secret phrase, you’re done! Click All Ready to complete the installation.

If you have any questions or see anything suspicious, you can contact their customer service here.

Once installation is complete, MetaMask should open, where you’ll see it’s currently connected to your account on the Ethereum network, as shown below.

MetaMask has a list of default networks you’ll see later. When you first install it, you’ll see that it’s connected to the Ethereum network.

Adding Polygon Mainnet to Metamask

Now that you have MetaMask installed, you have a brand new crypto wallet! MetaMask is a multi-chain wallet, meaning you can manage tokens from many different chains with it.

To manage tokens on other chains, you must add their respective network. By default, MetaMask has the Ethereum Mainnet and a few test networks. To manage Polygon tokens, you must manually add the Polygon network. To do that:

Click the fox icon in your browser’s extension bar to open your MetaMask wallet.

Click on the network selection button at the top left of the app. The button is probably set to Ethereum Mainnet now. Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Add Network.

Blockchains use a remote procedure call (RPC) URL to access the network. An RPC URL is like a software product’s application programming interface (API) or where you can interface with the service remotely.

3. Under Add a Network, Select Polygon Mainnet or Click “Add a network manually” and provide the following details and click Save:

A Network Name of your choosing (probably just Polygon or Polygon Mainnet)
The New RPC URL of https://polygon-rpc.com
The Polygon Chain ID of 137
The Polygon symbol is MATIC.
The URL (Block Explorer URL) that MetaMask will link to when providing transaction links will be https://polygonscan.com/

You now have a wallet setup on Polygon. The next step is to add some tokens to your wallet!

Adding Polygon Mumbai (Testnet) to Metamask

Same for Polygon Mumbai Testnet, Under Add a network Manually enter the following details and click Save:

Network Name: Mumbai
New RPC URL: https://rpc-mumbai.maticvigil.com/
Chain ID: 80001
Currency Symbol: MATIC
Block Explorer URL: https://mumbai.polygonscan.com

Once you’ve entered the details, click “Save” to add the Polygon Mumbai testnet to your MetaMask.

Acquiring Testnet MATIC from the Polygon Testnet Faucet

To get your hands on some test MATIC for the Polygon Mumbai testnet, follow these simple steps:

Visit the Polygon Testnet Faucet website at https://mumbaifaucet.com/, powered by Alchemy.
Enter your wallet address in the specified field and click “Send me MATIC” to receive 0.2 MATIC. If you create an account on Alchemy, log in, and make another request, you will receive 0.5 additional testnet MATIC from playing!
Your test tokens will be transferred to your Polygon Testnet wallet address within 2 minutes.

*During registration, you will be asked for bank details for other services Alchemy offers. However, it is not mandatory to enter them.

You can also get 0.2 testnet MATIC on this Polygon faucet: https://faucet.polygon.technology/.

Managing Polygon Tokens to MetaMask

First of all, be sure the MATIC Network is selected. Click on the network selection button at the top of the app. Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Matic Mainnet.

Now that you’ve got a Polygon wallet set up, it’s time to manage some tokens with it! Your MetaMask wallet is essentially a pointer to tokens. You can set up MetaMask to manage tokens without ever having any. You’ll see a quantity of 0.

If you’re adding another token, you can also head over to CoinMarketCap, where you’ll see a link to the contract address and even a handy link to add the token directly to MetaMask.

About BillionsQuest

BillionsQuest is a fantasy game that is built on the Polygon blockchain. It enables players to build portfolios of real, publicly traded companies and compete in daily battles to earn rewards.