Use Stronger Passwords is an extremely common piece of advice when it comes to securing your WiFi. And while this is indeed a good practice, one minor downside to long and complicated passwords is that they’re easy to forget.
If you manually save your passwords either in a notebook or digitally, that’s great. But even if you don’t, Windows saves the credentials for future use when you connect to a WiFi network.
As such, you can use the control panel, or command-line tools, as we’ve detailed in this article, to view previously saved WiFi passwords on Windows 11.
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How to Find WiFi Password in Windows 11
The Control Panel method, which we’ve listed first, will be most intuitive for the majority of users. But the command line or powershell methods are way more efficient, and they’re actually quite simple to perform as well.
Via Control Panel
In case of active connections i.e., the WiFi your device is currently connected to, you can view the WiFi password from the Wireless Properties window. Here are the steps to do so on Windows 11:
- Press Win + R, type
ncpa.cpl, and press Enter. - Double-click the active WiFi connection.
- Click on Wireless Properties and switch to the Security tab.
- Enable the Show Characters option to view your WiFi password.
Using Command Prompt
If you’re trying to find the password for a WiFi network you’re not currently connected to, you can do so using the netsh command. Here are the steps to use this command on Windows 11:
- Press Win + R, type
cmd, and press CTRL + Shift + Enter. - Type
netsh wlan show profilesand press Enter. Note the appropriate SSID from the list.
- Replace SSID with the value from Step 2 and execute the following command:
netsh wlan show profile name=SSID key=clear - Scroll down and check the Key Content (password) in the Security settings section.
Using Powershell
If you’d like to view all of the previously saved credentials at once, we recommend using the PowerShell method instead. Here are the necessary steps:
- Press Win + X and select the Windows Terminal (Admin).
- Powershell should open by default, but in case it doesn’t, press CTRL + Shift + 1 to launch a new Powershell tab.
- Execute the following command:
(netsh wlan show profiles) | Select-String "\:(.+)$" | %{$network=$_.Matches.Groups[1].Value.Trim(); $_} | %{(netsh wlan show profile name="$network" key=clear)} | Select-String "Key Content\W+\:(.+)$" | %{$password=$_.Matches.Groups[1].Value.Trim(); $_} | %{[PSCustomObject]@{ NETWORK_NAME=$network;PASSWORD=$password }} | Format-Table -AutoSize
Related Questions
How to Change WiFi Password in Windows 11?
You can change the WiFi password in Windows 11 from the router setup page. Here are the steps to do so:
- Launch any web browser and access the router settings page.
- Navigate to the Wireless Settings or Security or Advanced or similar section.
- Input the new password in the key or password field.
- Press OK to save the changes.
Can I Connect to The WiFi Without Entering The Password?
If your router has a WPS Button, you can press it on your router and then try to connect to the WiFi on your device. The connection should be established automatically without needing to enter the password manually.
Do remember that you must connect within two minutes of pressing the WPS button, as the WPS broadcast will stop after that period, and you’ll have to press it again.
Why is My WiFi So Slow?
If an unauthorized person had access to your WiFi password, they could be piggybacking on your network without your knowledge. But in reality, this is a rare occurrence.
Most often, your WiFi is slow due to factors like poor signal, interference, bandwidth congestion, etc. Aside from these factors, the ISP could also be the culprit. If you’re consistently facing the slow WiFi issue, it may be worth contacting your ISP regarding things like bandwidth throttling and shaping.
How to Find WiFi Password on Phone?
On Android 10 and newer phones, you can tap the WiFi network you’re connected to and use the share function. The WiFi password will show up on the screen, and if it doesn’t, you should scan the QR code first.
We have a detailed article on finding WiFi password on phones which covers topics such as finding the password on older android devices and on iPhones as well.
