How to recover wifi passwords?

I'm migrating from an old Mac computer to a shiny new MacBook Pro and want to be able to join my brother's network, except we don't remember the password! But my old computer can connect. Is there any way to dredge up that password from Mac OS X so I can enter it anew? I do have Leopard running on both systems...

Dave's Answer:

Until recently, I would have said "no, it's stored in an encrypted fashion", but in fact I was poking around on my Mac a while back and found that, yes, you can indeed recover ostensibly hidden password information from wifi networks on your Mac.

Here's how ya do it in Leopard...

Open up Apple --> System Preferences... --> Network, and click on "Airport" then "Advanced...":

Once you click on that, you'll now see a list of all the networks to which you've connected:

Mac OS X Leopard: Network: Advanced: Wifi 802.11b

I'll show you the password to "Aerie" here. It's easy, too: double-click on the network name then click on "Show password" and, voila! There it is:

Mac OS X Leopard: Network: Advanced: Show Password

There is a nuance to this, however. Not exactly sure why, but sometimes you click on "Show password" and it shows you asterisks, while other times it'll show you the password, as demonstrated. Ah well, it's better than nothing, right?

Hope that helps you out!

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Categorized: Mac OS X Help (Article 7699, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: hacking, leopard, mac os x, wep, wifi passwords, wpa
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Reader Comments To Date: 18

Gwen said, on September 6, 2008 4:42 PM:

can you please show these steps for a windows platform? i tried looking everywhere but haven't seen the "show password" icon. it is possible to retrieve the WEP password on my computer?

THanks.

Evin said, on December 25, 2008 1:27 PM:

I'm having trouble finding wifi passwords for my iPhone

hmm said, on January 16, 2009 12:57 PM:

how do u find wifi password on pc computer?

idk said, on February 7, 2009 5:24 PM:

i have netgear as a wirlles network and i cant find the password for wireless because i want to get the password for my ipod touch

srinivas said, on February 25, 2009 3:15 AM:

hai my mobile is included wifi how can find wifi password. wifi name is TFS please find me.

anthony said, on May 5, 2009 7:19 PM:

it's not working!!!

Chelsea said, on February 12, 2010 6:43 PM:

Thank you!!!!! we have been trying for MONTHS to find out our wifi password, even our ip couldnt help us.

Jonathan said, on March 13, 2010 10:42 PM:

Hi, same prob. diffrent system - WINDOWS !

can you please help me out with this ?

Trying to find out my WiFi pass on my iphone

10x

Jo

Jamie said, on March 24, 2010 1:47 PM:

This does not work on Snow Leopard. The show password box is grayed out. If you click on the password, it clears it.

Alfonrock said, on July 15, 2010 11:20 AM:

Hey thanks, but it would work perfectly fine if it werent because the password and show password are in GREY not BLACK so i cant click on them! any ideas??

A. Nony Mouse said, on August 14, 2010 1:23 AM:

To everyone whose "Show Password" button is greyed out, go to "Application >> Utilities >> Keychain", then search for the WiFi network, click "Show Password", enter your password (this program is what gets called every time any other program needs access to password protected stuff, so it's secure), and it will show you the password. Cheers!

A. Nony Mouse said, on August 14, 2010 1:29 AM:

Oh, in case any one needs a bit more info:

here (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2195841) from Apple user forums or

here (http://adamriggins.com/2009/11/16/how-to-view-saved-wifi-passwords-in-osx-snow-leopard/) for detailed info

Peema said, on October 12, 2010 12:06 AM:

Thank you A. Nony Mouse! Much time saved!!!

Kristal said, on October 26, 2010 5:44 PM:

THANK YOU FOR THE EXPLANATION OF THE PASSCODE DEAL!!! :)

Jeff Gonzales said, on November 29, 2010 3:00 AM:

The "show password" option is grayed out on my macbook.

viv said, on October 30, 2011 9:55 AM:

I recently upgraded to OS X Lion and this method does not work. Double clicking on my network does nothing.
Any ideas? I'm trying to connect to my apple TV:(

Dave Taylor said, on November 5, 2011 11:45 AM:

You're right, Viv. It's changed. Here's the updated article: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/recover_wifi_password_mac_os_x_107_lion.html

Kwami said, on November 26, 2011 7:41 AM:

A. Nony Mouse's steps work like a charm in OSX leopard and Lion. Thanks for sharing!

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How to recover wifi passwords?

Reader Comments To Date: 18

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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