How to Find Your Wi-Fi Password on Windows

Are you looking to retrieve passwords on Windows? Windows has provided many easy ways of recovering saved passwords, whether you may have lost them or just wanted them back for some troubleshooting. In some simple steps discussed below, you will recover Wi-Fi passwords, securing your network and giving you the confidence you need.

How to retrieve a password?

Find the Wi-Fi Password using settings.

Start by opening the Settings. Click on the Start, then select the Settings.

Switch to Network and Internet: Then, choose Network and Internet.

Select Wi-Fi: Click on the Wi-Fi tab from the left-hand menu.

Manage known networks: Scroll down and click “Manage known networks.”

Choose the network: Your cable internet service provided your network name. Find the Wi-Fi network and click on it (the one whose password you want to retrieve.

View password: Click the Wi-Fi security key option button to reveal your password in a pop-up window.

Find the Wi-Fi Password using Network Settings.

1. Open control panel -> Click on Network and Internet
2. Select Network and Sharing Center, and click on the Change adapter settings option to open the Network Connections window.
3. Right-click the Active network adapter, select status, and the Wireless properties button on the Wi-Fi Status pop-up window.
4. Move to the Security tab and toggle the Show characters checkbox to view your Wi-Fi password.

Find Wi-Fi Password using Command Prompt (cmd)

1. Open Command Prompt: Press Win + X and choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the Power User menu.
2. Run to command: Type the command WLAN show profiles and press Enter.
3. Select network: Identify the Wi-Fi network profile for which you want to view the password and type the following command (replace “NETWORK_NAME” with the actual network name):

WLAN show profile name=”NETWORK_NAME” key=clear

4. Look for the “Key Content” field in the output to find the Wi-Fi password.

Find Wi-Fi Password on Router Wi-Fi Settings

1. Access Router Settings: Open the web browser and enter your router’s IP address. Log in with your router’s username and password.
2. Move to Wireless settings: Find the Wireless or Wi-Fi settings section in your router’s admin interface.
3. View network details: Look for the list of connected devices or wireless networks. Find the network name (SSID) corresponding to the Wi-Fi network.
4. Retrieve password: Once you’ve located the network, the password should be displayed either in plain text or as a hidden field that you can reveal.

When you connect your laptop to a wireless network, you log in with a password. This is also the case when you visit cafés and libraries or stay in your own home or at somebody else’s home. It is necessary that you log into this once; the next time you connect, the computer remembers the password itself.

This automatic connection happens without you being able to see the password in plain text. This automation can be a pain if you’ve forgotten your password and need to connect another device to the same network. The same goes for trying to help someone else connect to your Wi-Fi network over any internet connection, even if you are using fiber internet service.

To view the passwords saved on your computer, you can use a classic free program called Wireless Keyview. However, if you have Windows 11, you don’t need to get this program; you can find the password via the Windows 11 settings menu. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Settings via the Start button in the bottom left corner or by pressing the Windows+I.
2. Select Network and Internet in the left-hand menu and then click Wi-Fi.
3. Go to Properties for your network and scroll down.
4. To the right of the Show Wi-Fi security key is the button View. Press it, and you will see the password in plain text on the screen. You may need to re-enter your Windows 11 password before seeing the password.

Here’s how to find the passwords to all the Wi-Fi networks you’ve ever connected to on MacOS and Windows.

How to find Wi-Fi passwords in MacOS

Every password you’ve entered and saved on a Mac is stored in Keychain Access, the password management system for MacOS. And that includes Wi-Fi network passwords. 

To start, use the search feature to open the Keychain Access app and do the following:

1. Click on System under System Keychains in the sidebar.

2. Next, click on Passwords at the top of the window.

3. Find the Wi-Fi network for which you want the password and double-click on it.

4. Finally, check the box next to Show password and enter your password when prompted.

Conclusion

Finding a Wi-Fi password on a computer that has Windows installed is pretty simple. You can easily get your Wi-Fi password through the above mentioned steps using Network and Sharing Centre, Command Prompt, or any third-party application like Wi-Fi Password Revealer. These methods present an expedited way of recovering a lost password of your network or accessing some other network to which you had connected earlier but forgot the password. Just make sure to use these responsibly and access only the ones that feature passwords for networks you are authorized to use.