It can be tough to remember the passwords of all the Wi-Fi networks you've connected to and disconnected from in the past. Maybe your corner coffee shop, or the town library, or the passwords for the home networks of your friends and relatives.

You knew them and then forgot. You can always ask for them again, but there's a no-hassle way to retrieve said Wi-Fi passwords without bugging them. It takes just two steps.

The 2 Steps to Retrieve Any Saved Wi-Fi Password

Step 1. Open the Command Prompt with admin access (this is important) and type in the following command:

        netsh wlan show profiles
    

As you can see below, all Wi-Fi networks you've connected to in the past are displayed with their SSID names.

Step 2. Next, in the same Command Prompt window, type this command:

        netsh wlan show profile name="Profile-Name" key=clear
    

The profile name should be the exact SSID name of the Wi-Fi network you wish to know the password for, and it should be typed without quotes. See the screenshot below to understand the correct format.

Hit Enter to display the password for the Wi-Fi network you had connected to earlier. Go to Security settings. The field Key Content shows the password.

If you want to view only the password (Key Content) and not the extraneous details, tweak the command slightly:

        netsh wlan show profile "Profile Name" key=clear | findstr Key
    

I have used Windows 10 to demonstrate the process, but it works on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 too.

How Useful Is It?

We have already seen how to find and change the Wi-Fi password for the network you are connected to right now. We also know how to view passwords for all the saved Wi-Fi networks on an Android device. These tricks come handy when you have to deal with more than a few passwords and your memory can't keep up.

Are you someone who just can't remember Wi-Fi passwords? Tell us if you found this old tip useful?

Image Credit: Shutter_M via Shutterstock