If you are not fond of using a password manager, it’s quite easy to forget the Wi-Fi password at home or office. The good news is, if you have connected your PC or laptop to a Wi-Fi network, you can easily view the saved Wi-Fi password in Windows 11 and share it with friends, family, or colleagues. Here’s how to extract saved Wi-Fi password in Windows 11.
There are a couple of ways to find a saved Wi-Fi password in Windows 11. We will start with the default Settings app.
Table of Contents
1. Use Default Settings App to Find the Wi-Fi Password
Microsoft completely redesigned the Settings app in Windows 11. From the Advanced network settings menu, you can view your Wi-Fi password.
1. Open the Windows 11 Settings app (you can use Windows + I keys to open it).
2. Select Network & internet from the left sidebar.
3. Scroll down and click on Advanced network settings.
4. Under Related settings, select More network adapter options.
5. It will open a relevant menu in Control Panel. Find your Wi-Fi network from the list.
6. Right-click on it and select Status from the context menu.
7. From the Wi-Fi Status menu, select Wireless Properties.
8. Slide to the Security menu.
9. Enable the Show characters option and you will see the Network security key for your Wi-Fi network.
From the same menu, you can check the security and encryption type of the connected Wi-Fi network.
Take a screenshot, write it down somewhere, or copy-paste the Wi-Fi password to share it with others.
2. View Wi-Fi Password with PowerShell
Advanced users can opt for the Windows PowerShell app to view Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 11. Go through the steps below and type a couple of commands.
1. Right-click on the Start button and select Windows Terminal (Admin).
2. From the PowerShell menu, copy/paste the following command to see a list of Wi-Fi networks your computer has connected to in the past.
netsh wlan show profiles
3. Type the following command to see the Wi-Fi password and other network-related information.
netsh wlan show profile name=”WiFi-Profile” key=clear
Don’t forget to replace WiFi-Profile with the actual Wi-Fi name.
4. Hit the Enter key and you will see Profile, Connectivity, and Security settings in PowerShell.
5. Glace over Key Content under the Security settings menu.
Using the same trick, you can find a saved Wi-Fi password from any past network your PC was connected to.
Using the first trick, you can only view the Wi-Fi password of the connected network. The PowerShell method removes the limitation and allows you to peek at any past Wi-Fi network’s password.
3. View All Saved Wi-Fi Passwords at Once
The command above allows you to view only one Wi-Fi network’s password at a time. If you want the entire list of all the saved Wi-Fi network’s password, here is the nifty little trick for you.
1. Right-click on the Start button and open Windows Terminal (Admin).
2. Paste the following command.
(netsh wlan show profiles) | Select-String “\:(.+)$” | %{$name=$_.Matches.Groups[1].Value.Trim(); $_} | %{(netsh wlan show profile name=”$name” key=clear)} | Select-String “Key Content\W+\:(.+)$” | %{$pass=$_.Matches.Groups[1].Value.Trim(); $_} | %{[PSCustomObject]@{ PROFILE_NAME=$name;PASSWORD=$pass }} | Format-Table -AutoSize
3. Hit Enter and check every saved Wi-Fi network’s password from the list.
Neat. Isn’t it?
There are third-party apps that offer to view advanced information and password of a Wi-Fi network on Windows 11. But we won’t advise going with that route to download additional apps just to view Wi-Fi passwords on Windows 11.
The tricks above should get the job done for you.
Find Wi-Fi Password on Windows 11
The next time someone asks you about the Wi-Fi password, you don’t need to rush making changes from router settings. Using the tricks above, you can glance at the saved Wi-Fi password in Windows 11 and pass it with others. Even better, save the Wi-Fi password in a password manager or bookmark this article to if you face a similar scenario in the future.