Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) plays a relevant role in the performance of prestressing steel wires. In this framework, the knowledge of residual stresses and plastic strains in wires due to cold-drawing (manufacturing-induced residual stresses), as well as of wires hydrogenation from harsh environments are the keys to successful predictions of wire lives. This paper advances previous analyses of HE in cold-drawn prestressing wires via numerical modelling, first, of the cold-drawing process to gain the distributions of residual stresses and plastic strains, and next, of the stress-strain assisted hydrogen diffusion in wires towards creation the conditions for HE nucleation. Generated results prove the relevant role of residual stress-and-strain field in hydrogen diffusion in the wires, as well as their possible consequences for HE.