diff --git a/src/mainwindow.cpp b/src/mainwindow.cpp
index ef52210..1e69e33 100755
--- a/src/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/src/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -1132,21 +1132,22 @@ void MainWindow::doImport(QList<QString>* keys) {
         return;
     }
 
+    DEBUG(" keys.size= " << keys->size() );
+
     if (keys->isEmpty()) {
         delete keys;
-        ui->statusBar->showMessage(tr("Private key import rescan finished"));
         return;
     }
 
-    // Pop the first key
-    QString key = keys->first();
-    keys->pop_front();
-    bool rescan = keys->isEmpty();
+    // Get the first key
+    QString key = keys->takeFirst();
 
-    if (key.startsWith("SK") ||
-        key.startsWith("secret")) { // Z key
+    bool rescan = false;
+    if (Settings::getInstance()->isValidSaplingPrivateKey(key) ) {
+        DEBUG("importing zaddr privkey with rescan=" << rescan);
         rpc->importZPrivKey(key, rescan, [=] (auto) { this->doImport(keys); });
     } else {
+        DEBUG("importing taddr privkey with rescan=" << rescan);
         rpc->importTPrivKey(key, rescan, [=] (auto) { this->doImport(keys); });
     }
 }
@@ -1247,7 +1248,6 @@ void MainWindow::payHushURI(QString uri, QString myAddr) {
     }
 }
 
-
 void MainWindow::importPrivKey() {
     QDialog d(this);
     Ui_PrivKey pui;
@@ -1259,20 +1259,27 @@ void MainWindow::importPrivKey() {
                         tr("Please paste your private keys here, one per line") % ".\n" %
                         tr("The keys will be imported into your connected Hush node"));
 
+    // if rescan is not checked, disable the rescan height input
+    QObject::connect(pui.chkrescan, &QCheckBox::stateChanged, [=](auto checked) {
+        pui.rescanfrom->setEnabled(checked);
+    });
+
     if (d.exec() == QDialog::Accepted && !pui.privKeyTxt->toPlainText().trimmed().isEmpty()) {
         auto rawkeys = pui.privKeyTxt->toPlainText().trimmed().split("\n");
 
         QList<QString> keysTmp;
-        // Filter out all the empty keys.
+        // Filter out all the empty keys and comment lines
         std::copy_if(rawkeys.begin(), rawkeys.end(), std::back_inserter(keysTmp), [=] (auto key) {
             return !key.startsWith("#") && !key.trimmed().isEmpty();
         });
 
         auto keys = new QList<QString>();
+        // ignore anything after the first space of a line, such as if you paste a line from z_exportwallet output
         std::transform(keysTmp.begin(), keysTmp.end(), std::back_inserter(*keys), [=](auto key) {
             return key.trimmed().split(" ")[0];
         });
 
+
         // Special case.
         // Sometimes, when importing from a paperwallet or such, the key is split by newlines, and might have
         // been pasted like that. So check to see if the whole thing is one big private key
@@ -1283,13 +1290,52 @@ void MainWindow::importPrivKey() {
             delete multiline;
         }
 
-        // Start the import. The function takes ownership of keys
-        QTimer::singleShot(1, [=]() {doImport(keys);});
+        // Finally, validate all keys, removing any which are invalid
+        auto keysValidated = new QList<QString>();
+        auto settings = Settings::getInstance();
+        std::copy_if(keys->begin(), keys->end(), std::back_inserter(*keysValidated), [=] (auto key) {
+            bool isValid = settings->isValidSaplingPrivateKey(key) || settings->isValidTransparentPrivateKey(key);
+            if (!isValid) { DEBUG("privkey " << key << " is not valid"); }
+            return isValid;
+        });
+        DEBUG("found " << keysValidated->size() << " valid privkeys");
+
+
+        bool rescan = pui.chkrescan->isChecked();
+
+        // avoid giving invalid data to RPCs and a rescan if there were no valid privkeys
+        if(keysValidated->size() == 0) {
+            QMessageBox::information(this, "No valid keys",
+                tr("No valid private keys were found, please make sure you copy and pasted correctly"),
+                QMessageBox::Ok);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Start the import. The function takes ownership of keysValidated
+        QTimer::singleShot(1, [=]() {
+            // we import all keys without rescanning and then finally decide if we will rescan once
+            doImport(keysValidated);
+
+            if (rescan) {
+                //TODO: verify rescanfrom is a valid integer
+                rpc->rescan(pui.rescanfrom->text().trimmed().toInt() , [=] (QJsonValue response){
+                    qDebug() << __func__ << ":rescanning from height " << pui.rescanfrom->text().toInt() << " finished" << response;
+                    ui->statusBar->showMessage(tr("Rescanning finished"), 5000);
+                });
+            }
+
+        });
 
         // Show the dialog that keys will be imported.
-        QMessageBox::information(this,
-            "Imported", tr("The keys were imported! It may take several minutes to rescan the blockchain. Until then, functionality may be limited"),
+        if(rescan) {
+            QMessageBox::information(this, "Imported",
+            tr("The keys were imported! It may take several hours to rescan the blockchain. Until then, functionality may be limited"),
             QMessageBox::Ok);
+        } else {
+            QMessageBox::information(this, "Imported",
+            tr("The keys were imported! You chose to not rescan, so funds in that address will not show up in your wallet yet."),
+            QMessageBox::Ok);
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/privkey.ui b/src/privkey.ui
index 57c3d8f..26596de 100644
--- a/src/privkey.ui
+++ b/src/privkey.ui
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
    <string>Private Keys</string>
   </property>
   <layout class="QGridLayout" name="gridLayout">
-   <item row="1" column="0">
+   <item row="1" column="0" colspan="3">
     <widget class="QPlainTextEdit" name="privKeyTxt">
      <property name="plainText">
       <string/>
@@ -22,6 +22,38 @@
     </widget>
    </item>
    <item row="2" column="0">
+    <widget class="QCheckBox" name="chkrescan">
+     <property name="text">
+      <string>Rescan</string>
+     </property>
+     <property name="checkable">
+      <bool>true</bool>
+     </property>
+     <property name="checked">
+      <bool>true</bool>
+     </property> 
+    </widget>
+   </item>
+   <item row="2" column="1">
+    <widget class="QLabel" name="rescanlabel">
+     <property name="text">
+      <string>Rescan Height</string>
+     </property>
+    </widget>
+   </item>
+   <item row="2" column="2">
+    <widget class="QLineEdit" name="rescanfrom">
+     <property name="text">
+      <string notr="true">1</string>
+     </property>
+    <property name="minimumSize">
+      <size>
+       <width>50</width>
+      </size>
+    </property>
+    </widget>
+   </item>
+   <item row="3" column="0">
     <widget class="QDialogButtonBox" name="buttonBox">
      <property name="orientation">
       <enum>Qt::Horizontal</enum>
diff --git a/src/rpc.cpp b/src/rpc.cpp
index 335d113..e55bcbc 100644
--- a/src/rpc.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc.cpp
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ void RPC::importTPrivKey(QString privkey, bool rescan, const std::function<void(
             {"jsonrpc", "1.0"},
             {"id", "42"},
             {"method", "importprivkey"},
-            {"params", QJsonArray { privkey, "", "false", "0", "128" }},
+            {"params", QJsonArray { privkey, "", rescan , "0", "128" }},
         };
     } else {
         qDebug() << "Detected new-style HUSH WIF";
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ void RPC::importTPrivKey(QString privkey, bool rescan, const std::function<void(
             {"jsonrpc", "1.0"},
             {"id", "42"},
             {"method", "importprivkey"},
-            {"params", QJsonArray { privkey, (rescan? "yes" : "no") }},
+            {"params", QJsonArray { privkey, "", rescan }},
         };
     }
 
diff --git a/src/settings.cpp b/src/settings.cpp
index f10d16a..2a154cf 100644
--- a/src/settings.cpp
+++ b/src/settings.cpp
@@ -134,13 +134,6 @@ bool Settings::isSaplingAddress(QString addr) {
            (!isTestnet() && addr.startsWith("zs1"));
 }
 
-bool Settings::isSproutAddress(QString addr) {
-    if (!isValidAddress(addr))
-        return false;
-
-    return isZAddress(addr) && !isSaplingAddress(addr);
-}
-
 bool Settings::isZAddress(QString addr) {
     if (!isValidAddress(addr))
         return false;
@@ -435,6 +428,30 @@ double Settings::getMinerFee() {
     return 0.0001;
 }
 
+bool Settings::isValidTransparentPrivateKey(QString pk) {
+    if (pk.length() > 52) {
+        DEBUG("privkey invalid, too long");
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (pk.length() < 51) {
+        DEBUG("privkey invalid, too short");
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    // TODO: can a taddr privkey start with anything else?
+    if (pk.startsWith("U") || pk.startsWith("5") || pk.startsWith("L") || pk.startsWith("K") || pk.startsWith("7")) {
+        // verify only contains base58 characters
+        QRegExp exp("^[U5LK7][123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz]{51,52}$",  Qt::CaseSensitive);
+        bool valid = exp.exactMatch(pk);
+        if(!valid) { DEBUG("privkey invalid, not base58"); }
+        return valid;
+    } else {
+        DEBUG("privkey invalid, wrong prefix");
+        return false;
+    }
+}
+
 bool Settings::isValidSaplingPrivateKey(QString pk) {
     if (isTestnet()) {
         QRegExp zspkey("^secret-extended-key-test[0-9a-z]{278}$", Qt::CaseInsensitive);
diff --git a/src/settings.h b/src/settings.h
index a3b1a74..7e752bd 100644
--- a/src/settings.h
+++ b/src/settings.h
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ public:
     void    setTestnet(bool isTestnet);
 
     bool    isSaplingAddress(QString addr);
-    bool    isSproutAddress(QString addr);
 
     bool    isValidSaplingPrivateKey(QString pk);
+    bool    isValidTransparentPrivateKey(QString pk);
 
     bool    isSyncing();
     void    setSyncing(bool syncing);