How to find your Wi-Fi password in Windows 11

Applies to: Windows 11, with the Control Panel and command methods also working on Windows 10. Windows can only show a password it has saved, so every method here needs a PC that has connected to that network at least once. Microsoft’s Connect to a Wi-Fi network in Windows page describes the Settings route; the command line works the same way on both versions.

Show the password in Settings

This is the simplest method if you’re connected to the network right now:

1. Press Win + I to open Settings and select Network & internet in the left pane.
2. Select Properties for your Wi-Fi connection, near the top of the page. You can also reach the same page from Wi-Fi and then the name of the network you’re on.
3. Find Wi-Fi network password and select Show. The password appears in place of the dots.
4. Windows may ask you to confirm with your PIN, password or fingerprint first. Type the password carefully if you’re reading it out, because the box doesn’t distinguish characters such as a capital I and a lowercase l.

The option was added to Windows 11 in a later update, so the wording can differ: some builds call it View Wi-Fi security key and open it in a small window, and older builds don’t have it at all. If you can’t see it, update Windows or use one of the methods below, which work on every version.

See the password of a network you’re not connected to

Windows keeps a profile for every Wi-Fi network you’ve joined and not deleted, so you can look up the password for the office, a relative’s house or a hotel later:

1. Open Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi.
2. Select Manage known networks. The list shows every saved network on this PC.
3. Select the network you want, then select Show next to Wi-Fi network password.

Microsoft’s page notes this works for saved networks as well as the current one. If a network is missing from the list, the PC either never joined it or someone selected Forget for it, and its password is gone from this PC.

Use the Control Panel wireless properties

The older Control Panel window still exists in Windows 11 and shows the password of the network you’re connected to. It’s handy on builds that don’t have the Settings option:

1. Press Win + R, type ncpa.cpl and press Enter. This opens Network Connections.
2. Right-click your Wi-Fi adapter and choose Status. If the adapter shows as Disabled, right-click it and choose Enable first.
3. Select Wireless Properties and open the Security tab.
4. Tick Show characters. The Network security key box now shows the password.

You can also get there through Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center by clicking the Wi-Fi link next to Connections. If the Show characters box can’t be ticked, or Windows asks for an administrator password, you’re signed in with a standard account and the PC’s owner or IT department has to do this step. If your Wi-Fi adapter doesn’t appear in Network Connections at all, see what to do when the adapter is missing.

Show every saved password with netsh

The netsh wlan commands read the same saved profiles from the command line and work on all versions of Windows 11 and 10. They’re the quickest way to collect several passwords at once.

Right-click the Start button, choose Terminal (Admin) (or open Command Prompt as administrator) and approve the User Account Control prompt. Then list the saved networks:

netsh wlan show profiles

Microsoft’s netsh wlan reference describes this as listing all configured wireless network profiles. The names appear under User profiles; each one is the network name (SSID) exactly as Windows saved it.

Then ask for one profile with its key shown in plain text, replacing the name with your own:

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

Scroll to Security settings. The password is on the Key Content line. Microsoft’s original netsh WLAN documentation explains the rule behind it: the key is displayed in plain text only if the profile contains one and you have administrative rights on the PC. Without an elevated window the Key Content line is usually missing, which is the most common reason the command seems not to work.

Problem	What to do
An error saying the profile is not found	Copy the name exactly from the show profiles list. Names are matched as written, including spaces and capital letters.
Name contains spaces or symbols	Keep the double quotation marks around it, as in name="Cafe Guest 5G".
No Key Content line	Close the window and reopen Terminal as administrator, then run the command again.
Authentication shows WPA2-Enterprise or WPA3-Enterprise	This network doesn’t use a shared password. See the next section.

To save a profile as a file, for example before resetting the PC, netsh wlan export profile name="HomeNetwork" folder=. key=clear writes it as an XML file in the current folder. Microsoft notes the key is stored in plain text only when you run it as a local administrator; otherwise it’s encrypted. Treat that file like a written-down password and delete it once you’ve used it.

When there’s no password to show

Sometimes every method comes up empty. That’s expected in these cases:

• Work, school and campus networks. Networks that use 802.1X (shown as WPA2-Enterprise or WPA3-Enterprise) sign each person in with their own user name and password or a certificate. There’s no single shared key saved on the PC, so the Settings option is usually absent and netsh shows no Key Content. Your IT team gives guests access separately. If such a network suddenly stopped connecting, see our guide to the October 2026 MS-CHAPv2 change.
• Open networks and captive portals. Hotel, café and airport Wi-Fi that asks you to sign in on a web page has no Wi-Fi password at all; the page handles access.
• Networks this PC has never joined. Windows can’t reveal a password it never received. Ask the owner or use the router label.
• Profiles installed by your organization. On managed PCs, Wi-Fi settings pushed by IT can be locked so that standard users can’t view the key.
• The password was changed on the router. Windows still shows the old one it saved. If it no longer works, the router is the only reliable source.

Get the password from the router instead

When no PC has the network saved, or the saved password is out of date, go to the source:

• The label on the router. Most routers and ISP hubs print the default network name and password on a sticker on the back or bottom, often labeled Wireless key, WPA key or Wi-Fi password. This only helps if nobody has changed the password since the router was set up.
• The router’s admin page or app. Sign in at the address printed on the label (commonly something like 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1) or in your provider’s app, and open the wireless or Wi-Fi settings. The current password is shown there, and you can change it. Our SSID guide explains how to recognize the right network name on the same page.
• Reset as a last resort. Holding the router’s reset button restores the label password, but it also wipes every other setting, including any custom network name, so every device has to reconnect.

If you only need to get one device online for a while, sharing your PC’s connection can be easier than handing out the main password; see our mobile hotspot guide if that doesn’t work.

Keep saved passwords private

Anyone with administrator access to your PC can read every Wi-Fi password saved on it with the steps above, so treat an admin account as access to your networks too. Only look up keys for networks you own or have permission to use, avoid leaving exported XML files in shared folders, and use Forget in Manage known networks for networks you no longer need, which removes the saved key from the PC.

Related guides

• SSID: what your Wi-Fi network name is and how to find it
• Wi-Fi not showing in Windows 11: how to fix it
• Mobile hotspot not working in Windows 11: how to fix it
• Wi-Fi or VPN stopped connecting after the October 2026 Windows update: the NTLMv1 and MS-CHAPv2 change

Official sources

• Microsoft: Connect to a Wi-Fi network in Windows
• Microsoft Learn: netsh wlan
• Microsoft Learn: Netsh commands for wireless local area network (WLAN)