If we have forgotten the password to access the WiFi network or we need to recover it after formatting a device or the arrival of a friend for the first time at our house, we have several methods that we can use for recovery, both on PC both on the main smartphones. Furthermore, if we live in a very busy area and our wireless network is visible to other people, it is good to change the WiFi password every so often to prevent someone from being able to take advantage of it without permission in some way.
So let's see how to find the WiFi password stored on your PC, Mac and on an Android and iPhone smartphone so you can store it or change it if necessary.
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The methods recommended below do not obviously allow you to recover passwords from WiFi networks that we do not know or to illegally access neighbors' networks (no hacker tools!).
These methods can be applied only if at least one device is connected regularly to our WiFi router (by manually entering the password, when we still remembered it, or via WPS connection), so that we can recover the file within the system files which encrypts the access password for a specific network name.
On some it is visible in a very simple way (PC and Mac), in other devices it may be necessary to unlock some advanced features (out of warranty) to correctly display all the stored passwords.
1) Find the WiFi password on PC
Viewing the password of a wireless network to which you have already connected (because it was previously stored) on Windows PC is quite simple, even if you need to be an administrator of the computer.
The procedure is valid for any version of Windows still supported: Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.
To get the password immediately we need the settings of the network cards from the Control Panel ; to do it first, press the Windows + R keys together, write the ncpa.cpl command in the Run box and press the Enter key.
The list of network cards present on the PC will open; with the right mouse button click on the WiFi network card, then click on Status, then on Wireless Properties, go to the Security tab and finally put the check mark in the Show characters box.
You will be shown the password of the WiFi network to which we are currently connected.
If instead we want to recover the password of a WiFi network to which we have connected in the past but which is no longer present nearby (for example the password of a friend or a particular hotspot), we must use the command prompt.
After opening the black window, we type the command:
netsh wlan show profile
Press Enter on the keyboard to see the names of the stored networks.
Now let's write in the black window:
netsh wlan show profile name = NETWORK_NAME key = clear
The result of this command reports various information on the network in question (we type its name correctly), including a section of Security Settings under which we will find the Key content item, i.e. the access password for that WiFi network.
This is the easiest method to find the wifi password on Windows even if you can also use automatic tools to recover the network and internet passwords and the WiFi router using programs such as Wireless Key View, simple to use and much more practical, especially for beginners.
2) Find the WiFi password on Mac
If you are using a Mac computer, the procedure for finding the password of a saved wifi network is quite simple.
Using the Spotlight app or browsing the applications folder, we open the Keychain Access program (found in Applications> Utilities ).
From the window that opens we select, from the left column, System and at the bottom Password to see, on the tab on the right, the WiFi networks that we used on the Mac, with the ability to click recover the lost password by clicking on the item concerned and in followed by Show password (computer administrator password will also be required here).
On Mac, therefore, the procedure is even simpler than Windows, which definitely requires a few more steps to be able to recover WiFi passwords, especially "old" ones.
3) Find the WiFi password on your smartphone
As on computers, even on iPhone, iPad and Android devices, they allow you to see the passwords stored only if we have administrator permissions or if we have enabled special options for the cloud.
This means that for iPhone and iPad iOS jailbreak is required (unless we have a Mac) while for Android unlocking with root permissions.
If we already have the smartphone unlocked, we can proceed according to the operating system in use:
For Android, you don't need to install poor applications full of advertisements, but only a file manager optimized for use with root, such as Root Browser Classic .
Once the app is open and the root permissions are provided, navigate to the path / data / misc / wifi, open the wpa_supplicant file with the text viewer integrated on the mobile phone (which must not be changed for any reason!); we will find the list of stored networks and their access keys, which are indicated in the psk line.
Alternatively, we can use the WiFi Password Viewer app.
Taking advantage of root permissions, it does exactly the same thing we saw earlier, but in a much more beautiful and clear interface.
Once you find the WiFi network from which to recover the password, just click on it to view it or copy it to the clipboard, so you can use it immediately.
On an unlocked iPhone or iPad, on the other hand, you can search and install, from the Cydia application repository, the special Networklist app.
Alternatively we can also synchronize the password of WiFi networks on iCloud, so that they can later be viewed on a Mac (in the Keychain app already seen).
To do this, go to the Settings -> iCloud -> Keychain path and activate the iCloud Keychain button .
Enter the security credentials of our account and wait for synchronization; now let's go to the Mac and open the System Preferences -> iCloud menu and check the item that concerns the keychain.
Now wait a few seconds and reopen the Applications -> Utility -> Keychain Access program, in which we will have to select iCloud and, in the list on the right, with the passwords identified as AirPort Network Password, scroll through the list of WiFi networks stored via iPhone or iPad .
4) Find the WiFi password from the router
To conclude, let's not forget that the WiFi password can be viewed and edited directly from the router: all we have to do is access the router's configuration panel as explained in another article, enter the section reserved for WiFi and view the forgotten password, with any device (PC, Mac, Android, iPhone etc.).
Setting and changing the network password is one of the main options of the WiFi Router, already explained in detail and which we recommend to follow in order to quickly recover the password without wasting too much time (always if we remember the router access password !).
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