How to Find Your Wi-Fi Password on Any Device

If any of your devices has ever joined the network, the Wi-Fi password is still stored on it. Windows, macOS, iOS and Android all keep saved network keys and can show them to the device’s owner after a quick identity check. The router has it too, both on its label (if nobody changed the default) and in its settings. This guide shows each place, starting with the device you most likely have in your hand.

Where Your Wi-Fi Password Is Stored

There are three places to look, in this order. First, any device that is connected now or was connected before — a laptop, phone or tablet. Second, the router’s label, which shows the factory Wi-Fi password next to the network name; it is only useful if the password was never changed. Third, the router’s settings page or app, which always shows the current password but requires the router’s admin login.

You never need a third-party “Wi-Fi password finder”. On Android, apps cannot read saved Wi-Fi passwords at all; on other systems the built-in method is safer and quicker.

Find the Wi-Fi Password on Windows 11 and 10

For the network you are connected to now, Microsoft’s method works on Windows 11, 10, 8.1 and 7:

1. Open Network and Sharing Center — search for it from the Start menu, or go to Settings → Network & internet and open it from there.
2. Next to Connections, click the name of your Wi-Fi network.
3. In the Wi-Fi Status window, click Wireless Properties.
4. Open the Security tab and tick Show characters. The password appears in the Network security key box.

Recent versions of Windows 11 also show a View button for the “Wi-Fi security key” in Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi, in the properties of the network.

For a network you were connected to before, use the command line. Open Command Prompt or Terminal and list saved networks:

netsh wlan show profiles

Then show one of them with its key, replacing the name with your network’s:

netsh wlan show profile name="MyHomeWiFi" key=clear

The password is on the line Key Content in the Security settings section. If the line is missing, open the terminal as administrator and run the command again.

Find the Wi-Fi Password on a Mac

On macOS Sequoia (15) and later, open the Passwords app, sign in with Touch ID or your Mac password, and choose Wi-Fi in the sidebar. Select the network and click the password field to reveal it. Note that the app lists the networks this Mac knows; if a network is missing, check System Settings → Wi-Fi → Advanced for the list of known networks.

On older macOS versions, use Keychain Access (in Applications → Utilities). Search for the network name, double-click the result, tick Show password and authenticate with your Mac’s password. In System Settings → Wi-Fi, the menu next to a known network also offers to copy its password on recent versions.

Find the Wi-Fi Password on iPhone and iPad

Since iOS 16, Apple lets you see Wi-Fi passwords directly:

1. Open Settings → Wi-Fi.
2. For the current network, tap the info button next to it. For a network you joined before, tap Edit first, authenticate, then tap the info button next to that network.
3. Tap the Password field and authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. The password appears and can be copied.

On iOS 18 and later, the same passwords are also in the Passwords app under Wi-Fi. On iOS 15 and earlier the password cannot be displayed on the phone; you can, however, share it with a nearby Apple device, or read it on a Mac signed in to the same Apple account through Keychain Access.

Find the Wi-Fi Password on Android

On Android 10 and later, open Settings → Network & internet → Internet (on Samsung: Settings → Connections → Wi-Fi), tap the network or the gear icon next to it, and choose Share. After you confirm with your PIN, pattern or fingerprint, the phone shows a QR code. On many phones the password is printed in plain text under the code; if only the code is shown, take a screenshot and scan it with Google Lens or another phone’s camera to read the password. Saved networks you are not connected to are under a “Saved networks” entry on the same screen.

Older Android versions do not show saved passwords without root access, which is not worth the risk for this purpose — use the router instead.

Find the Password on the Router

The label. Turn the router over: the sticker lists the network name (SSID) and a Wi-Fi password, often labelled Wireless Key, WPA Key, Network Key or Wi-Fi Password. It is correct as long as nobody changed it after setup.

The settings page. If the password was changed, the router still shows the current one. Connect to the router by cable (or with any device that is still online), open its address — commonly 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 — and sign in with the admin login, which is a different password from the Wi-Fi one. The default admin login for your brand is on our pages for TP-Link, NETGEAR, ASUS, Linksys and in the full default login list. The Wi-Fi password is in the wireless section; TP-Link, for example, shows it under Basic → Wireless or Wireless → Wireless Settings. While you are there, you can also set a new one — see how to change your Wi-Fi password.

The app. If the router or mesh system is managed from an app — the provider’s app, eero, Google Home, TP-Link Tether or Deco, NETGEAR Nighthawk or Orbi, ASUS Router — the Wi-Fi password is in the network settings of that app.

If No Device Remembers the Password

When no device is connected and the admin login is also unknown, the only way back in is a factory reset of the router. It restores the Wi-Fi password and admin login printed on the label, but also erases the internet settings and any customisation, so read how to factory reset a router and have your provider’s login details ready before you do it. Provider-supplied gateways can often be recovered through the provider’s app or support line instead, without a reset.

Share the Password Without Reading It Out

Reading a long password aloud is error-prone. Apple devices offer to share the password automatically when a nearby contact tries to join your network. Android shows the QR code described above, which any phone camera can scan. For guests and smart TVs, a printed Wi-Fi QR code next to the router does the same job for everyone — and if visitors join often, a guest network with its own password keeps your main password private.