HomeTechnologyNewsHow to find your Wi-Fi password

How to find your Wi-Fi password

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

[ad_1]

antstang/Shutterstock.com

You can often find your Wi-Fi router’s default password printed on the router itself. You can also view the password on a Windows PC, Mac, Android device, iPhone, or iPad that has previously connected to the network.

What is the password for your Wi-Fi network, anyway? Whether you’ve changed the default password or not, it’s easy to find your Wi-Fi password. You can also look up any Wi-Fi network password if you previously connected to that network from a Windows PC or Mac.

This is essential for connecting new devices to a network. Whether you’ve lost your home network password or you’re visiting someone and don’t want to ask them for the password a second time, here’s how you can find it.

First: Check your router’s default password

If your router still uses the default username and password, it should be easy to find. Modern Wi-Fi routers, and the router/modem combo units offered by many Internet service providers, come with a default Wi-Fi network name and password. Each router has its own default password, which is often random.

To find the default password, find your Wi-Fi router and examine it. You should see a sticker somewhere that contains both the “SSID”, the name of the wireless network, and the password. If you haven’t changed the default password yet, you can use that password to connect to the router.

If you don’t see a default password printed on the router, try consulting the documentation that came with the router for more information.

The back of a router.

What if you don’t have the manual or the password is not on the router’s label? As we mentioned in our guide to resetting your router password, you may be able to find the password using common username and password combinations (for example, “admin” for username and “admin” for password) or by consulting RouterPasswords.com, a database of popular router default logins.

Once you have connected to your router using the default password, be sure to change it and store the password in your password manager so that your router is secure.

How to find the password of the current Wi-Fi network in Windows

If you connected to a Wi-Fi network from a Windows laptop or desktop computer, Windows will remember the password for that Wi-Fi network. You can find the Wi-Fi password on any Windows computer that is currently connected to that Wi-Fi network or has connected before.

Right-click the Wi-Fi icon on your taskbar, then click the “Open Network and Internet settings” option that appears in the context menu.

Note: The procedure to view your Wi-Fi password in Windows 11 is basically the same as it is in Windows 10, shown here, but the user interface is quite different.

RELATED: How to see your Wi-Fi password in Windows 11

Scroll down to the “Advanced Network Settings” section, then click “Network and Sharing Center.”

Click the name of the current Wi-Fi connection next to “Connections.”

Click the “Wireless Properties” button in the Wi-Fi Status window that appears.

Click the “Security” tab and check the “Show characters” checkbox to see the hidden password.

open the tab

How to find passwords for Wi-Fi networks you’ve connected to before

Windows also stores the Wi-Fi password for networks you’ve previously connected to. On Windows 7 and earlier, you can find them in the Network and Sharing Center, but on Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows 11, you’ll need to use the Command Prompt.

Find passwords for other Wi-Fi networks in Windows 7 and earlier

To get started, click the “Manage wireless networks” link in the left-hand menu of the Network and Sharing Center.

You will see a list of previous networks you have connected to. Double-click a network name to open the network’s properties.

In the network properties window, go to the Security tab and check the box next to “Show characters” to see the Wi-Fi password in the “Network security key” field.

Find passwords for other Wi-Fi networks in Windows 8, 10, or 11

In Windows 11, 10, 8.1, you will need to use the command prompt to find the password for an old network. Right-click the Start button and select “Command Prompt”, “PowerShell”, or “Windows Terminal” to open it quickly

Then type the following command:

netsh wlan show profiles

run

You will get a list of Wi-Fi networks you have previously accessed.

To find the password for one of the profiles, type the following, replacing profilename with the name of the profile:

netsh wlan show profile name=profilename key=clear

Look for the “Key Content” line to find the Wi-Fi password for that Wi-Fi network.

run

How to find the password for current or previous Wi-Fi networks on a Mac

If you have a Mac that is currently connected to the Wi-Fi network or connected previously, you can also find the password on that Mac.

To find the Wi-Fi password on your Mac, press Command + Space to open the Spotlight search dialog, type “Keychain Access” without the quotes, and press Enter to launch the Keychain Access app.

Press Command+Space, type

Select “System” on the left, choose the “Passwords” tab, then double-click your Wi-Fi network in the list to view the network details.

Note: You can also click the “i” icon near the top of the window to display the Wi-Fi network details.

Click the “Show password” checkbox in the window that appears.

check the box

You will need to enter your username and password to gain access to the password, or use TouchID. You will need an administrator account for this. Assuming your Mac account is an administrator account, simply type your account username and password.

After doing so, your Mac will show you the password of the Wi-Fi network.

The password for the

How to find the password of a Wi-Fi network on an Android device

Android has a convenient way of viewing your built-in password. You must access the Network configuration menu; you can do this by navigating to Settings, then tapping on “Network & Internet” or by long-pressing on “Internet” on the slide-out menu.

press

Touch the name of the Wi-Fi network you are currently connected to; in this case, it is “Network Example”.

I touched

If you want to see a Wi-Fi network you’ve connected to in the past, tap “Saved Networks” which is a little further down the page.

touch

Once you select the network you want to view, either from the Saved Networks list or from your current network, you will see a “Network Details” screen. Touch “Share” to display the network password.

The plain text password is displayed below the QR code.

The Wi-Fi password is displayed in plain text under a QR code.

How to find the password of a Wi-Fi network on an iPhone or iPad

The only way to find the password for a Wi-Fi network on an iPhone or iPad with an iOS version earlier than iOS 16 is to jailbreak your device first. Talk about a headache.

RELATED: How to view saved Wi-Fi passwords on iPhone or iPad

Starting with iOS 16, the process is much easier. You can find the password for any Wi-Fi networks you’ve previously connected to by going to the Settings app, then tapping on the “Wi-Fi” option.

Open the Settings app, then tap

Touch the “i” icon to view the network details.

Tap the obfuscated password to reveal your password. You can press the “Copy” button to copy the password to your clipboard and then paste it wherever you want.

Tap on the "Key code" field to reveal the password of the Wi-Fi network.

If you want to see the password of a Wi-Fi network you have previously connected to, tap the “Edit” button instead of the “i” icon.

All networks you have previously connected to are saved and available in a list. Tap the “i” button next to the network to see the details.

Touch the password field to view your current password in plain text.

Once again, touch the button "Key code" field to display the network password in plain text.

How to find the password of a Wi-Fi network from the web interface of the router

RELATED: 10 useful options you can configure in your router’s web interface

If you have access to the router’s web interface, you can also try looking for it there. This assumes that the router is using your default username and password for you to log in, or that you know the router’s current username and password.

Go to your router’s web interface and log in with the current username and password your router requires. Look through the router’s interface for a “Wi-Fi” or similarly labeled section. You’ll see the current Wi-Fi password displayed on this screen, and you can also choose to change it to anything you’d like from here.

The web interface of a router showing the Wi-Fi password.

If all else fails: Reset your router to its default Wi-Fi password

RELATED: How to access your router if you forget the password

Can’t find your Wi-Fi network password and don’t have access to your router’s web interface, or just don’t want to bother? Don’t worry. You can reset your router and force it to use the default Wi-Fi passphrase printed on the router once more.

Look for a small “reset” button on the router. Often it’s a button with a pin hole that you’ll need to press down with a bent paper clip or similar small object. Press the button down for ten seconds or so and your router’s settings will be completely erased and reset to their defaults. The Wi-Fi network name and password will be restored to the default on the router.

The reset button on the back of a router.

Not sure what the Wi-Fi network name (or SSID) of your router is? Just look at the Wi-Fi settings on any device connected to the Wi-Fi network and you’ll see the name of the network. If there are no connected devices yet, you should see this information printed on the router itself or in the router’s documentation.

[ad_2]

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
Stay Connected
16,985FansLike
2,458FollowersFollow
61,453SubscribersSubscribe
Must Read
- Advertisement -
Related News
- Advertisement -