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Zasom's avatar
Zasom
Copper Contributor
Nov 28, 2024

Any way to view or find my wifi password in Windows 10 laptop?

I bought a new Android phone and can't connect WiFi with the phone as it says password is incorrect. I tried all the passwords I could remember but no avail. It turns out my wife changed the password...
Shrikri's avatar
Shrikri
Copper Contributor
Nov 29, 2024

Each WiFi profile are saved in an xml file in Windows 10. The included items in the file are:

  • Network name (SSID)
  • Security type (e.g., WPA2-PSK)
  • Encryption type
  • Password (encrypted using DPAPI)

Wi-Fi passwords are encrypted using the Windows Data Protection API (DPAPI). DPAPI ties encryption keys to the current Windows user account. It ensures that the saved password cannot be accessed or decrypted by another user without administrative rights or elevated permissions.

Windows 10 uses the Netsh WLAN API to manage wireless profiles. Using the netsh command, users or administrators can query network profiles. To retrieve a specific profile's details, including the password (if the user has sufficient privileges):

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

The key=clear parameter displays the password in plain text (decrypted via DPAPI). And you can use other tools to decrypt the key. After that, you can safely and easily view Windows 10 wifi password without any issue.

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