3 Ways to View WiFi Passwords on Windows 10 PC or Laptop

WiFi password is something we set or change once in a year, probably not even that. Google takes care of remembering your passwords these days for most of the people at most of the places ranging from web browsers to smartphones, but even Google doesn’t remember your WiFi passwords.

Losing WiFi passwords can be hard for someone with less knowledge about changing the password manually via the router’s IP address or any other method can be hard for a beginner. So, in this article, we will be sharing with you the three simplest ways to find saved WiFi passwords on your Windows 10 computer.

3 Methods to Find Saved WiFi Password on Your Windows 10 PC

There are many ways to see the password of the currently connected WiFi network and all other saved WiFi networks on your Windows 10 machine. We have picked 3 simple methods to help you view the WiFi password on your Windows 10 PC and Laptop.

Method 1: View Connected WiFi Password From Windows 10 Network Settings

This method of finding the WiFi password on Windows 10 will be done through the Network and Internet settings. This is the easiest method to find out the WiFi password.

1. Click on the WiFi icon on the bottom corner of Taskbar and select Open Network and Internet settings.
   
2. Now click on Change adapter options.
   
3. Right-click on your WiFi connection and choose Status.
   
4. At the bottom of the dialog box, click on the Wireless Properties button.
   
5. A new dialog box will open and here go to the Security tab.
   
6. Under Security, enable Show characters and BINGO! You can see your WiFi password in plain text.
   

Method 2: Retrieve Saved WiFi Passwords Using Command Prompt

This method of finding the WiFi password on Windows 10 will be done through the command prompt. This method will display the history of WiFi networks you have connected to along with the passwords of those networks.

1. Open Windows search and type Command Prompt.
   
2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
   
3. Once you open Command Prompt, type in this command netsh WLAN show profile and hit Enter
   
4. This command will display all the WiFi networks you have previously connected to. Note down your WiFi name including spaces, numbers, and cases.

   Our’s being ‘Aksara 2’ in this example.

5. Type this following command to see the WiFi password. In my case, it is going to be netsh wlan show profile Aksara 2 key=clear.

   After typing the command, hit Enter key.

   In your case, you have to type in the same command but replacing “Aksara 2” with your WiFi Name.

   For example netsh wlan show profile YOUR_WIFI_NAME key=clear.

   Here you have to replace YOUR_WIFI_NAME with your WiFi name.

6. After running the command, the command prompt will display a lot of information. You can find your WiFi password under Security Settings > Key content.

   From the below screenshot, the password of our network “Akasara 2” is “geekdashboard”.
   

Method 3: Find Password From Router Settings

This method of finding the WiFi password on Windows 10 will be done through the wireless router you are using. With this method, you get complete access to your WiFi network settings. You get full control to change your WiFi name, WiFi password, and a lot of settings.

Consider this method as a double-edged sword. It’s useful but dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.

1. Find out your router/modem’s IP address (mostly it might be 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1) and open it from any web browser of your choice.
   
2. Login to your WiFi modem. The password will be printed behind the router or the default login. The default username might be admin and the password might also be admin.
   
3. Once you log in, you will see the homepage of the login screen with different options as seen in the below picture. These options will vary for each router manufacturer.
   
4. Find your Wifi Password by going to the Wireless section. In my case, there are two frequencies 5GHz and 2.4GHz.

   Select your network frequency. In my case, it is 2.4 GHz.

5. Under the Wireless section, select Wireless Security.
   
6. Under the Wireless Security page of your WiFi router, you can find your WiFi and along with the WiFi Password.
   

As simple as that. You can also change the WiFi password here if required.

Finding Saved WiFi Passwords on Your Windows Machine

These are the three ways to view saved WiFi passwords in your Windows 10 PC. The easiest way to find the WiFi password among the three methods would be from the Network Settings screen. This is because with just one click on the checkbox you are able to see your Wifi Password.

Whereas in the other methods, there are at least 4 to 5 steps involved and in case if you don’t know your login IP and credentials for your router (method 3), you won’t be able to access the router settings page.

Knowing these three methods not only helps you to find out your WiFi password but also making sure the network you are connected to is safe with a strong password. Sometimes, the command prompt method might throw up an error saying “There is no such Wireless interface on the system” which means you have not connected to such a wireless network before. In my case, that error appeared due to an incorrect WiFi name I entered.