Here's How to Find All Your Wi-Fi Passwords on Windows and Mac
You have to have a different password for pretty much every account you own if you care about privacy. However, this can make keeping up with all your passwords challenging, but thanks to password managers, you don't have to remember more than one password. Unfortunately, we tend to forget to add our Wi-Fi passwords to these managers.
If you're completely stumped about your Wi-Fi password, you can always check the back of your router, if you never created your own custom password. Typically, it can be found there, but if it's not, don't sweat it. Somewhere on your computer, there's a place that stores the passwords to ALL the Wi-Fi networks you've ever connected to. It's not just the one you're on right now.
As long as your Windows or Mac computer has connected to that network before, the Wi-Fi password is permanently stored in your settings. It may require some digging on your part, but all the passwords are saved and ready to be shared with anyone who wants to connect to Wi-Fi.
Here's how to find the passwords to all of the Wi-Fi networks you've ever connected to on MacOS and Windows. For more, discover 17 essential settings for customizing your MacBook or how to automatically clean up your storage on Windows 11.
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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 you want the password for and double-click on it.
4. Finally, check the box next to Show password and enter your password when prompted.
The password field will then show the password you used to log in to that Wi-Fi network. You can double-click in the password field to select the password and copy it to your clipboard if needed.
Finding the password to the Wi-Fi network you're currently connected to is simple on Windows, but getting your hands on all stored Wi-Fi passwords takes a bit of work, so we'll discuss both methods below.
To find the password to the Wi-Fi network you're currently connected to on Windows:
1. Click the Start button and then go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center (Windows 11) or Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Network and Sharing Center (Windows 10).
2. Next to Connections, click your Wi-Fi network name highlighted in blue.
3. In the Wi-Fi Status page that opens, click Wireless Properties and then on the Security tab.
4. Finally, check the box next to Show characters to display your Wi-Fi network password above it.
However, this isn't the only way to find your Wi-Fi network passwords. The method above only allows you to view the password to whatever Wi-Fi network you're currently connected to, but there is a way to find the passwords to all the Wi-Fi networks you've ever connected to on your Windows computer.
To find all your Wi-Fi network passwords on Windows:
1. Right-click on the Windows icon in the taskbar on your desktop.
2. Click Windows Terminal (Admin).
3. Type in netsh wlan show profile and hit Enter on your keyboard to view every Wi-Fi network you've connected to.
4. Once you find the Wi-Fi network you want the password for, type in netsh wlan show profile "(Wi-Fi network name)" key=clear (for example, netsh wlan show profile "Netgear667" key=clear), and then hit the Enter key.
Settings for profile, connectivity, security and more will appear. The Wi-Fi network password will appear under Security settings, and next to Key Content. In addition to Windows Terminal, you can also use the Command Prompt application to type in the commands listed above to find your Wi-Fi passwords.
If you want to read more about passwords, whether on your computer or your smartphone, check out the best password managers to use and the nine rules to follow when creating a password.
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