How to Find Your Saved Wi-Fi Password on Windows 11 (Without Resetting)
If you’ve ever connected to a Wi-Fi network a long time ago and then totally forgot the password… yeah, you’re not alone. It’s especially frustrating because Windows 11 does a decent job of remembering your network info, but it doesn’t just show you the password unless you dig a little. Honestly, I got stuck here for a while figuring out how to see those saved passwords without pulling out the router or resetting everything.
Getting into Command Prompt
First off, you need to open the Command Prompt. This isn’t exactly hidden, but if you’re new to it, it might seem a bit annoying. Just hit your Windows key or click the Start menu, then type CMD or Command Prompt. When it pops up, hit Enter. For best results—and sometimes I ran into permission issues—you should right-click on it and choose Run as administrator. Especially if you want to see all your saved Wi-Fi passwords, admin rights are kinda necessary because some info is locked behind permission walls. It’s a pain, but worth it to get the full list.
Listing All Wi-Fi Profiles
Once that’s open, type in:
netsh wlan show profiles
and press Enter. This command pulls up a list of all the Wi-Fi networks your device has ever connected to and stored. The list can look wild—lots of network names (SSIDs)—but those are your saved profiles. If your network isn’t showing up, make sure you’re running the command prompt as administrator, or maybe your profile isn’t saved with password info for some reason (which is rare, but not impossible). Just double-check that you aren’t on a guest account that blocks some info.
Retrieving the Password for a Specific Network
Now, pick the network you want access to. Say it’s called MyHomeNetwork. Write this command:
netsh wlan show profile name="MyHomeNetwork" key=clear
Replace "MyHomeNetwork" with your actual SSID. This is where I got tripped up a few times—sometimes, the exact name had to match what netsh shows, including capitalization and spaces. I found copying and pasting from the previous list made it way easier. Also, quotes are important if there are spaces in the SSID, like "Coffee Shop WiFi".
When you run that, scroll through the output (or hit Ctrl + F) and search for "Key Content". That’s the line that reveals your password in plain text. It’s buried in all the technical jargon, but it’s there, I swear. Once you spot it, you’ve got the password—no resets needed. If it’s not showing, double-check that you used the exact network name, quotes included when necessary, and that you ran as administrator.
Going Through Multiple Networks
If you connect to a bunch of different Wi-Fi networks—like work, home, coffee shops—you’ll need to run that command for each profile individually. It might feel a bit like cracking a code, but really, Windows just keeps this info on file. Just copy-paste or retype for each network, and you’ll have all your passwords stored somewhere safe (or at least, accessible). I started writing them down, but honestly, copying things into a notepad or a quick text file (just remember not to leave that lying around!) saves time later.
Why Does This Method Work?
Windows auto-saves these passwords to make reconnecting easier, but they don’t exactly show up in the GUI. Instead, they’re tucked away in the system data, only accessible via the command line with the right commands. Goodkarma (or whatever you call it) to Microsoft for making it possible without messing around with router settings or resetting everything. I know some people find it annoying that they hide the passwords—probably for security reasons—but for those of us who just forget, it’s a lifesaver.
Some Extra Tips
Make sure you’re running Command Prompt as administrator: search for cmd, right-click, then pick Run as administrator. If you don’t, the commands might not show the password info. Also, note that this mostly works in Windows 11 and Windows 10 — the interface might differ a little, but the commands stay the same. Sometimes, if your Wi-Fi isn’t showing the password, it could be a permissions or profile issue, or maybe your network policy is more lock-tight (like at work). Also, restarting your network adapter with commands like netsh interface set interface "Wi-Fi" disable followed by enable helped me see the info more reliably on my older Asus laptop.
One last thing: if you want to be extra tidy, you can save the output directly to a text file like this:
netsh wlan show profile name="YourNetwork" key=clear > C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\WiFiPasswords.txt
Then, just open that file and find your password. Makes scrolling a lot easier than looking at the console window.
Hope this helped — it definitely took me way too long to figure out the right commands and options. Just remember, the “Key Content” line is your golden ticket. Be careful with these commands and delete any output files if they contain sensitive info. Good luck! And yeah, I’d recommend double-checking all your network names and making sure you have admin rights. It’s a little clunky, but way better than resetting the router or calling support. When it finally clicked, I was like, ‘Wow, I should’ve done this first.’
Anyway, hope this saves someone else a weekend. Good luck hacking (the legit way), and don’t forget to stay safe out there!