22 October 2017 For Management
Often you can't remember passwords: email, various sites that require you to maintain an account, and of course, Wi-Fi. It is not a problem if you forget the password for a Wi-Fi network while you can access it or if you save it on your device. But when you are no longer connected, you run into trouble when you want to reconnect it, or so you think.
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There are a few simple ways by which you can see the Wi-Fi passwords that were once saved, even if you are no longer connected to that network. Here, this article is divided into two parts: one explaining how to view saved passwords for a network you are currently connected to and the other talking about how to view passwords for a network that once was but is no longer connected. The reader should remember that while all of this refers to the Windows 10 operating system on the PC, it also works well on Windows 8.1, 8 and 7.
View the saved Wi-Fi passwords for a network you are connected to
This is a fairly simple process. Here are the steps dedicated to displaying the password:
- First, you must have administrator access to the device and you must be connected to the network whose password you want to know.
- Go to the taskbar and right-click on the file Icona Wi-Fi.
- From the menu that appears, select Open network and internet settings.
- Now scroll down and click Network and sharing of the center.
Final report: - Alternatively, you can switch to Network and Sharing Center aperture Settings -> Network and Internet -> Status and then clicking Network and sharing of the center in the right menu.
- In the window that opens, you will see your active Wi-Fi connections listed under View your active networks.
- Click the one that is currently connected and in the Wi-Fi Status window that opens, click Wireless properties.
- The properties of the wireless network of the network to which you are connected will be displayed; choose the call tab Safety in this window.
- Three boxes will appear: security type, encryption type and network security key. The last box contains your Wi-Fi password. If the "Displays the characters“If checked, the numbers or letters of the password will be displayed. If not, that's enough control check box.
- Be careful not to alter the properties of the network while you are at it, you may have problems accessing the network later.
View the Wi-Fi passwords for connections you are no longer connected to
This part tries to see the passwords of the networks you logged in once, but you no longer have the password. You can use the command prompt for this. It may sound more complicated, but it's just a matter of a couple of commands:
- netsh wlan show profile name = “Profile-Name” key = delete
Replace “profile name” with the name of the Wi-Fi network.
note: quotation marks are optional.
- In the displayed output, under Security Settings, "Key Content" will have the extension Costa degli Etruschi is the password for the specified Wi-Fi network.
What if you have forgotten the SSID name and password?
While this method works for a particular Wi-Fi network, you may want to see passwords for all Wi-Fi networks you've connected to in the past. If so, use the command just like:
netsh wlan shows the profile
But this will give a great output of dozens of lines of SSID names you have connected in the past, which you will need to search for the actual name you want.
If you want to view only the password, i.e. the key content, and not the additional details it comes with, use the command like this:
netsh wlan show profile “Profile name” key = clear | Tasto Findstr
Just replace “Profile Name”, as mentioned above, with the name of the network. This will filter the result and only show you the password.
