It’s a problem we all have – you’ve forgotten your Wi-Fi password. You can’t remember what it was initially set to, and now you’re locked out of your network. Connection errors and slow connectivity are also frustrating and can leave you wondering until you find something that works.
In this case, when you have a new device to configure for internet access, it can be challenging to remember the Wi-Fi password. However, if you have one of the devices already connected to your network, you can recover the password in this mini-guide.
How to see the Wi-Fi password from the PC?
Wi-Fi password can be recovered from any Windows PC without installing programs; use the tools provided by the Microsoft operating system. With a PC already connected to the wireless network, you can recover the password by running a few commands in Command Prompt. Of course, the computer you’re going to scan for the password has to have Wi-Fi enabled and already connected to the network. Once you’ve got everything set up, you can access Command Prompt, type “net view,” and hit enter. The command prompt will then list all of the computers currently connected to your network.
Now follow these steps:
- Double click on the icon of the Wi-Fi connection.
- Click Wireless Properties.
- A new window will open. Click on the Security tab.
- Check the Show characters item.
- The password that was previously covered by dots will now be visible.
Windows 10
Anyone can recover the Windows PC Wi-Fi password without installing other programs. With a PC that is already connected to the wireless network, you can recover the password by following these steps:
- Right-click on the network icon at the bottom right of your desktop.
- In the menu that opens, click on “Settings Open connection and Internet.”
- In the window that will open, click the Change tab options item.
Follow the rest of the procedure as in the previous step – from Wirelles properties to password detection.
Windows 8.1 and 7
The operation is the same for Windows 8.1 and Windows 7; the only difference is the first part to get to the Wi-Fi connection icon used. To do this, always look for the network icon at the bottom right. Next, click on the inside button, and in the menu that opens, click on “Open Network and Sharing Center.” Then, in the window that opens, click on the Wi-Fi connection that you find next to the connection item and follow the same procedure explained for the second part of Windows 10.
Mac
If you are a Mac user, you can take advantage of one of the Apple tools built into the macOS operating system without installing anything. First, launch the “Keychain Access” application; You can find it in Applications.
- Select “System” in the upper left menu
- Select “Password”
- Choose the name of the wireless network whose password you want to know and double click
- At this point, check the “Show password” box and enter the macOS administrator username and password.
- The password will be written in cleartext. After that, just copy-paste.
Wi-Fi password recovery via modem
Another option for finding Wi-Fi passwords is to access the configuration panel of your ADSL or fiber modem. If you’re not sure which one it is, have a look at the box it came with.
The router or modem can usually be accessed via the following IP addresses – get a computer already connected to the network of interest, open a browser and start testing whether one of these IP addresses will allow us to access more information.
Recover Windows Wi-Fi password with WirelessKeyView
Fortunately, there is a program called WirelessKeyView which you can download for free. It should be able to show the password of all the Wi-Fi networks you have already accessed.
You can see this shared Wi-Fi password by clicking on the Wireless Network button at the top of the sidebar’s “Network” section. If you have successfully connected to that network at any point, then you can see all of its passwords, too.
