The wifi passwords They are a precious asset that your computer goes saving as you connect from home, in the office, in a cafe or at a friend or family member’s house. Be that as it may, it is not always possible to take a look at the side of router. That is where you will usually find the official key. And sometimes it doesn’t work for us either, because its owner has changed it. So the only way to know which WiFi password to use is ask your PC or Macif you ever accessed that WiFi point.
If that is the case, and everything goes well, the PC or Mac itself will recognize the WiFi point in question and it will connect automatically. Every time you access a new wireless connection, Windows and macOS save all data necessary to maintain that connection. And to repeat it in the future. But it’s not always like this. The data may be there, but you need to recover it manually.
And since it is not something that happens every day, accessing that information is not as easy as it might seem. Connect to the internet via WiFi it is easy. But recovering WiFi passwords that you used in the past requires a little more effort. Or, rather, know where you have to look. On macOS, you will have to go to the app Keychain Access. All passwords for applications, WiFi connections and pages and websites are saved there. And in Windows, you will have to look into the configuration options of Network and Internet.
Find WiFi passwords in Windows
If you use Windows 11 on your PC, the route to follow to find the WiFi passwords stored on your computer is as follows. First, you will have to open the app Setting. You can do it from the button Start same. Once there, she enters Network and Internet. Then go to Properties and finally View WiFi security key or similar.
- Click on the button Start.
- Open the application Setting.
- Go into Network and Internet.
- Go to Properties.
- Consult in View WiFi security key.
In Windows 10the route to follow is similar. To find the WiFi passwords saved on your PC, you will have to open the app Setting and enter Network and Internet or similar. Then enter Center network and sharing. In Connections You will find the list of WiFi points to which you have connected from that PC. Choose the one you are interested in knowing its password and enter WiFi status. Then select Wireless properties either Wireless network properties and enter the tab Security. Once there, activate Show characters and you will find the WiFi password in the box Network security key.
- Click on the button Start.
- Open the application Setting.
- Go into Network and Internet.
- Go to Center network and sharing.
- Look in Connections.
- Choose the WiFi point you want to consult.
- Go into WiFi status.
- Consultation Wireless network properties.
- Open the tab Security.
- Activate the option Show characters.
- WiFi password is in Network security key.
A third option to find saved WiFi passwords is to open the Windows Terminal or PowerShell, with Administrator permissions, and enter the command netsh wlan show profile to see which WiFi network you are connected to. Then just enter the command netsh wlan show profile “WiFi name” key=clear to see all available data about that connection. In section Key Content You will see the WiFi password you were looking for.
- Opens Terminal either PowerShell with permissions Administrator.
- Enter the command netsh wlan show profile to see which WiFi point you are connected to.
- Now use the command netsh wlan show profile “WiFi name” key=clear.
- In the countryside Key Content you will see the WiFi password for that connection.
Recover WiFi keys on macOS
If you’re looking for saved WiFi passwords on macOS, you have two places to look. The traditional way to find saved passwords is by going to Keychain Access. You just have to search for this app from spotlight pressing the keys Command and Space bar. Or go to folder Applications and enter Utilities. In newer versions of macOS, when you open Keychain Access will ask you if you want to open this app or if you prefer to go directly to Passwords.
Once you have opened Keychain Accessgo to System. You can search directly by the name of the WiFi point you are looking for or filter by password type. WiFi passwords are classified as AirPort network password. When you find the WiFi point you are looking for, you can right-click to copy the password to the Clipboard. Or enter your information sheet by pressing the keys Command + i or by right clicking and clicking Get information. Finally, activate the field Show password. It will ask you for your username password.
Another way to find the WiFi password of the connection you are on right now is to go to Settingswalk into Wifi and view the list of available connections. In the list of Known networks you will find the passwords you are looking for. Click on the button on the right and, among other options, you will see one that says Copy password.