How to Find Your WiFi Password on a Windows 10 PC

Because our computers log in to your WiFi network, most of us tend to forget our WiFi passwords. So, what happens if you need your WiFi password for some reason, and you didn’t write it down? You’re in luck because there are ways to retrieve it if your computer is already connected to your network. Here’s how to find your WiFi password on a Windows 10 PC.

How to Find Your WiFi Password on a Windows 10 PC

To find your WiFi password on a Windows 10 PC, open the Windows search bar and type WiFi Settings. Then go to Network and Sharing Center and select your WiFi network name > Wireless Properties > Security > Show characters.

Note: This guide is only for Windows 10 PC users. If you are a Mac user, you can check our article on how to find passwords on your Mac.

1. Click the magnifying glass icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen. If you don’t see this button, you can also click the button with the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of your screen or the Windows button your keyboard.
2. Then type WiFi Settings into the search bar and click Open. You can also hit enter on your keyboard.
3. Scroll down and click Network and Sharing Center. You will see this under Related Settings on the right side of the window.
4. Select your WiFi network name. You can find this next to Connections on the right side of the window.
5. Then select Wireless Properties.
6. Nest, select the Security tab. This is found next to the Connection tab at the top of the window.
7. Finally, click the Show characters box to find your WiFi password. The Network security key box will then change the dots to display your Windows 10 WiFi network password.

Once you know how to find your WiFi password on a Windows 10 PC, check out our guide on how to change your WiFi password.

How to Find Wifi Password in Windows 10 Using Command Line

There are times when we forget the Wifi password of our network but it is still saved in our computers. In this article, we will show you how to find Wifi password in Windows 10.

We can access the Wifi password using Network Connections but the command line way would be a quick way to get the specifi Wifi password.

The visual way only works when you are connected to that specific network while the command line method will work on online as well as offline networks.

Find active Wifi password through Network Connections

Let’s first go through the steps to find Wifi password visually.

1. Finding Wifi passwords of a connected network
2. Go to Run –> control (This will open Control Panel)
3. Open Network and Internet –> Network and Sharing Center
4. Click on the connected Wifi network to open its status window.
5. Click on Wireless Properties button
6. Under Security tab, check the checkbox “Show characters”

This will show the Wifi password.

Find Wifi password using command line tools

Getting all saved Wifi passwords in Windows 10

If you want to get all the passwords saved in the computer, open PowerShell in administrative mode and run the following command:

Get Wifi password of a specific network

If you want to find Wifi password of a specific network only, follow the instructions below:

Open Command Prompt in administrative mode

1. Run the following command:
   netsh wlan show profiles
   This command will list all the saved Wifi profiles in the computer. Copy the network profile name which you want the password for.
2. Run the following command:
   netsh wlan show profile name=”network-profile-name” key=clear
   Replace network-profile-name with your copied network name.

This will show the Wifi password in clear text.

Find Wifi passwords using third party tools

If you are not comfortable with Windows tools or you want some type of automation, you can use third party tools like NirSoft’s WirelessKeyView. WirelessKeyView

WirelessKeyView can also be used to get Wifi passwords of remote computers. This is very useful if you are a network administrator and want to diagnose certain wireless network issues.

Please note that although we are testing and writing about these methods of finding the Wifi password using Windows 10 only, these methods can also be used for earlier versions of Windows like Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

Which method do you prefer for your specific needs? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.

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Usman Khurshid is a seasoned IT Pro with over 15 years of experience in the IT industry. He has experience in everything from IT support, helpdesk, sysadmin, network admin, and cloud computing. He is also certified in Microsoft Technologies (MCTS and MCSA) and also Cisco Certified Professional in Routing and Switching. Reach him at Twitter @usmank11

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How to View Saved Wi-Fi Pass­word on Win­dows 10 , Even if You’re not Con­nect­ed to them Anymore

Ashish Mundhra

14 Oct 2015

There can be a lot of reasons as to why you might want to know the Wi-Fi password for a network you are currently connected to or you have connected in the past. Either your friend wants to know the password for the café you regularly visit, or you just want to know the password of the Wi-Fi at your friend’s place who won’t tell you and prefer typing it.

We have already seen how to uncover the secret on Android and iOS and today we would see how to get that done on a Windows computer. Just make sure you have the admin access to the computer.

View Password of Network You are Connected to

The trick I am going to show you right now has been documented on Windows 10. But it also works on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. When you are connected to the network, right click on the Wi-Fi icon on the Windows System Tray and click on Open the network and Sharing.

Once the Network and Sharing Center opens up, it will list all the networks your computer is currently connected to under the Active Network section. Click on the Connections: your computer is connected to and it will open the Wi-Fi Status Window.

Click on Wireless Properties in the Wi-Fi Status window and Wireless Network Property of the connected network. The page will show you the connection name and type and will have a Security tab you can click on.

The Network Security Key option will have the Wi-Fi password and you can check the option Show characters to make the password visible. Do not change any properties in here or it might mess up the connection and you can have trouble while connecting next time.

That was an easy solution to find the password to the network you are currently connected to. What if I share a secret using which you can get Wi-Fi password of networks you are not connected to anymore?

While we’re on networking: Why don’t you check out how you should pick out a Wi-Fi router that is right for you.

View Passwords of Networks You Were Previously Connected to

Open the command prompt, with admin access of course, and type in the command netsh wlan show profiles. It will list all the Wi-Fi networks you have connected to. Each of these mentioned profiles will be displayed using the SSID Name.

The next command you should type is netsh wlan show profile name=”Profile-Name” key=clear. The profile name should be the name of the Wi-Fi network you wish to know the password of and without quotes. The screenshot will clear any doubts you might have.

That’s all, the password for the said network will be displayed under the security tab.

Word of Advice on Windows 10 Wi-Fi Sense

While talking about the Windows 10 W-Fi Sense previously, we mentioned that a user will have to type in the password again to enable Wi-Fi password sharing. But the trick might be a way to break that. So if you really don’t what to share your Wi-Fi, read about the Optout trick.

Conclusion

So that was how you can view saved Wi-Fi password on Windows. Don’t forget to check out how you can view the saved Wi-Fi password on Android and iOS. For any doubts, you can join me on our forum. have a good one guys.

Last updated on 5 Jul, 2019
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

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Did You Know

Wi-Fi signals are generally in the shape of a doughnut.