Over time, it becomes difficult to remember or even save passwords for all the Wi-Fi networks you have connected to and saved in the past. Rather than trying to hunt down passwords from sysadmins, technicians, or using other ways, if you forgot the Wi-Fi password, Windows gives multiple options to see the saved Wi-Fi passwords.
View WiFi password on Windows 10/Windows 11
View Active WiFi Password From Wireless Properties
Windows 10/11 provides a simple way to see the password for your current WiFi connection. Just follow the steps below to see your current WiFi password: You will now see the WiFi password in the text field labeled “Network security key.” This method only works for active connections. That means if you are not connected to a Wi-Fi network, you will not be able to use this method to view the network security key or password. To do this, you will need to follow the steps given in the next section.
Find All WiFi Passwords Saved in Windows 10/11
What if you want to find all the saved Wifi passwords on your Windows computer? There are five ways to find all the saved Wifi passwords in Windows. Let’s discuss both of them.
View WiFi Passwords Using Command Prompt
To see all the Wifi passwords, you will need to run some commands in the command prompt. The command above will reveal the password for the selected WiFi SSID in front of “Key content,” as in the image below:Password revealed for selected Wi-Fi profile If you only want to see the password omitting all other details, you can run the following command instead: You can check all the WiFi passwords saved on your computer using the same command. Just replace the profile name with a different one.
See Wifi Password For A Specific Network
If you want to find the Wifi password of a specific network only, follow the instructions below: This will show the Wifi password in plain text in front of “Key Content.”
Get a List of Saved WiFi Passwords Using PowerShell
The same commands listed above also work in PowerShell. But if you want to list all the passwords in a nice table in PowerShell, you can run the following command. Open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command: You can also download the following PowerShell script and run it on any computer to get a list of saved Wifi passwords. Show All Saved WiFi Passwords.ps1 (353 bytes, 2,034 hits) Once downloaded, right-click the file and click Run with PowerShell. If you want to use a visual medium, you can check out a few software that can do the job for you.
View All Saved Wifi Passwords Using WiFi Password Revealer
If you are not comfortable with using the Windows command line, you can use third-party software called “Magical JellyBean Wifi Password Revealer” which will retrieve all the Wifi passwords saved in Windows.Wi-Fi Password Revealer You just have to download Wifi password revealer, install and run it. No configuration is required. You can select any Wifi connection and press Ctrl + Alt + C shortcut keys to copy the password in the clipboard.
View All Saved WiFi Passwords Using WirelessKeyView
WirelessKeyView is a portable application from NirSoft, which displays detailed information about each wireless network saved on the computer. It’s a very small tool and a very handy one, especially for sysadmins. Download WirelessKeyView from here Unzip the zip file and run WirelessKeyView.exe. This will run the app without installation. Note: Windows Defender detects WirelessKeyView as malware but it is pretty safe. You will need to whitelist the executable before it can be run on your computer. If you are using Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP, the actual Wifi password will not be shown but it will be shown in HEX form. The same HEX password can be used to activate Wifi on any other device.
How to See WiFi Password on MacOS
You can also check your Wifi password on Apple MacOS. Follow the instructions given below to see it: You will now see the password in the text field in front of the checkbox.
How to See WiFi Password on Android
If you are on an Android device, here is how to view the password for a saved Wi-Fi profile:
How to See WiFi Password on iPhone
Apple’s iPhones are designed to ensure maximum security. That is why, at the time of writing this post, iPhones do not allow you to view your WiFi password in plain text. Rather, they only allow you to share it with other iPhones. However, if you sync your WiFi passwords with your iCloud Keychain, you can view your saved network password on your MacOS (which also needs to be synced) using the given method above.
Closing Words
With increasing security, all operating system manufacturers are taking the necessary precautions to secure your intellectual property. That is why Android asks you to authenticate yourself before revealing a WiFi password, and Apple does not allow it at all. This is because a device connected to the same wireless network as yours can infiltrate your network and any device on it. Also see:
How To Run Programs As Administrator In Windows 10How to Change Network Priority in Windows (Ethernet + Wifi Networks)4 Ways To Forget Wi-Fi Network Profile In Windows 11/102 Ways To Automatically Connect To The Strongest Wi-Fi Network3 Ways To Set Windows Local User Account Passwords To Never Expire