How To Find Your WiFi Password

Protecting your WiFi is extremely important, other people can use your bandwidth or even download illegal content (in some countries, you may be held responsible)! This is why, adding a strong password on your WiFi network is of utmost importance.

However, adding a strong password on your WiFi also means you have to remember it and keep it safe somewhere. So, there is also a probability you may lose the password or forget it (because it was complex…). If this happened to you, there are many different ways to recover your WiFi password.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to find your own WiFi password with different methods, so you can use any method you are most comfortable with.

Method #1: Find the Password in Windows

The password is saved in your PC, to access it, click on the network icon located in the System tray at the bottom right corner of the screen. From there, click on “Open Network and Sharing Center”.

From the window that opens up, click on “change adapter settings” located in the left menu.

Now, right click on the Wireless Adaptor of which you would like to recover the password and from the context menu click on “Status”.

A new window will open up, In there, click on “Wireless Properties”. Under “Security”, you will see the type of password encryption and also your WiFi password (hidden). Just click on “Show characters” and your password key will be displayed. Copy and save it somewhere safe, or just write it down.

Method #2: Check Your Modem

If you didn’t change the default password which came with your modem, then there is a chance it will be printed on your modem. You should check the base or the back of your modem and see if the password is printed there or not.

Method #3: Use a Dedicated Tool

You can also use a third-party password recovery tool to recover the password from the Windows registry. WirelessKeyView developed by Nirsoft will work perfectly in this situation. Nirsoft is responsible for hundreds of free utility tools, including tools to recover passwords and keys such as Windows Product key.

Just download the tool (the tool is located at the end of the link), It is a really tiny file of just 65kb and it will be in Zip format. You will need to extract the file using a proper tool and launch the WirelessKeyView program (there is no need for installation). If you don’t have the tool already installed, then you will have to download it using another connection or using an Ethernet cable to connect.

As soon as the program starts, you will automatically see all the WiFi passwords that are saved in your Windows Registry (passwords of all connections you have connected to).

Just look for the name of the network of which you would like to recover the password and its password will be located under the heading “Key (Ascii)”.

Method #4: From the Router’s Settings

To access Router’s settings you will first have to connect to the network of which you would like to recover password. Now that you can’t access the network as you don’t know the password, you will have to connect the router to your PC physically using an Ethernet cable (it comes with the router).

If you have lost the Ethernet Cable, then it is better to skip this step and move ahead. Connect the Ethernet Cable with your PC and Router and let it connect (it will connect to the internet automatically).

Now, open your browser and type in the Ip address of your router in the Search field. The most common IP address are 192.168.1.0 and 192.168.1.1, just try these two if you don’t know the IP address of your router and hit enter.

You can also look for the model of the router online and see if you could get the IP address (if the above two don’t work for you).

As soon as you hit enter, you will be prompted to provide a username and password. The username will be “admin” and the password will be either “admin” or “password”. If both these password don’t work then leave the “Password” field blank and click login.

Note: The interface is different for every router, so there is no straight answer to finding the password. However, the required areas where you need to look are quite similar, with some digging you can easily reach it.

In the interface, look for the option “Wireless settings” or “WiFi settings”. If you can’t see them, then try clicking on “Settings” or “Options” to see if they are in there.

Once located, click on the option and you will see your password key along with what type of encryption you are using. You may have to click on “show wireless key” or “Show WiFi password” to see the hidden password.

Method #5: Contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP)

You can also contact your Internet Service Provider’s customer support and ask them if they could help you recover the password. They might ask you different authorization details before providing you the password. So make sure it is your connection and you own it to be able to get assistance from the customer support.

Method #6: Reset the Router

If all else fails, then you also have the option to completely reset the router and change its settings back to default (including the password).

Note: This will reset all your customized settings and you will have to configure your router again. This should be your last resort, so make sure you have tried everything else before trying this option.

To reset the router, you will have to press the reset button located on your router. The button is located inside a tiny hole, hard to find easily but it should be located at the back of the router near the ports.

To press the button you will have to use a paperclip or something similar to be able to reach the button. Just press the button and hold it until you see all the lights flash on your router. This will ensure your Router has been reset and you can configure it again.

To reconfigure your router, you can login using the default login information located at the back of the router. You can also check the model of your router online to get the required information. Once inside, create a strong password and write it down some    where or save it online.

If you would like to add any other method to recover WiFi password, then let us know in the comments below.

Karar Haider
Categories: Computers
Tags: password, Security, WiFi