Do you want to display the WiFi password on iOS or Android? Then you will find below several ways how you can read the network security key. Alternatively, there are also ways to share the password directly from one smartphone to the next.
If you have a visitor or want to log into someone else’s WLAN yourself, you no longer have to type in a long numerical code. Because both iOS and Android offer the option of conveniently displaying and sharing WiFi passwords. However, you cannot always display the WiFi password as plain text without additional apps. It is best to jump directly to the correct paragraph.
Straight to the right paragraph
Although we try to keep our instructions as general as possible, there are always manufacturers and models on which the following instructions do not work. But you will certainly find help in the NextPit forum or in the comments under this article!
Read or share WiFi password without additional apps
Since Android 10, some devices have made it easy to read the WiFi password or share it via a QR code. Among other things, this is possible on Google’s own Pixel devices, the manufacturers Samsung and Huawei have also implemented it in roughly the same place. Just follow the instructions below:
Exchanging WiFi passwords has been easier since Android 10. / © NextPit
- Controls your phone’s WiFi settings
- Selects the connected WiFi network
- Tap on “Share” here and confirm your identity with a password or fingerprint
- Now you will see a QR code that you can scan with the camera app of another cell phone
- If you only want to read the number, with some models you can also see the complete network security key directly and can write it down or type it out
Many native camera apps support the scanning of QR codes and you can usually establish a connection directly. If this is not possible, you can also download a barcode scanner from the Google Play Store. These enable you to do something else!
In the Google Play Store you will find countless apps that promise to read WiFi passwords in no time at all. In short, I advise you for most of these applications: hands off! Here you will find a number of spam apps and probably also malware. It is much cleverer to use the trick from the previous chapter.
Read WiFi QR codes using a barcode app
Because the QR codes that Android creates for sharing WiFi networks already contain the WiFi key and can therefore be easily decrypted again. There are many barcode scanners, I recommend the “QR & Barcode Scanner” app because it has many good reviews and has also been checked by Google’s Play Protect.
Reading QR codes is very easy. / © NextPit
- Simply read the QR code generated by Android with a barcode scanner
- After scanning, the password will be displayed in plain text and automatically copied to the clipboard
If you don’t have a second cell phone at hand, that’s no problem. You can also take a screenshot of the QR code and then scan it in the barcode scanner app. If you can’t generate a QR code, you’ll unfortunately have to use heavier artillery.
Show wifi password via app (Only with root)
Even if I warned you about WLAN readout apps at the beginning, there are also a few white sheep among the crowd of spam and malware applications. However, the problem here is that they require root rights to use them. Although it is not too difficult to obtain root rights on your Android phone, this maneuver is not without risk.
If you have already rooted your Android smartphone or if you love a thrill, you can then install the “WiFiPasswords” or “WiFi Key Recovery” app. With the latter, you also have the advantage that you can also read out saved WiFi passwords.
Provided you have root rights, the WiFi Key Recovery app can also display your saved WiFi passwords.
The Wifi Password Viewer shows saved WiFi passwords and even allows you to create backups. / © NextPit
Now we have exhausted all possibilities for most Android versions that are currently in circulation. However, you may remember that you can also read out WLAN passwords in the system files. What did you just say?
Even if Google connects WiFi passwords on Android to your Google account and stores them in cloud storage, they were also stored on the device itself up to Android 4.4.2. Since the whole thing was stored unencrypted, you could simply use file managers to go to the right files and read the data. The file path was:
- /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf/
If you are still using an old Android cell phone or want to read a password from a cell phone in your drawer, you can give it a try. Simply controls the appropriate folder and ultimately the appropriate file in a file manager and looks for the password there.
Show wifi password on iPhone
Devices with the same Apple ID
Unlike some Android versions, there is no way to view WiFi password on iOS without additional device or jailbreak. However, you are lucky if you use an iMac or a MacBook. Because iOS stores the security keys of known WLANs in the keychain, you can easily view them under MacOS. The best way to do this is to type in “keychain access” in the Spotlight search.
Since the WiFi passwords are stored on the iPhone in the Apple ID, they are automatically available to you on all other Apple devices. So simply select a WiFi network on your iPad that is set up on a device with the same Apple ID.
Devices with different Apple IDs
A friend wants to log into your WLAN and you can’t think of the security key at all? Then you don’t have to read out the password to grant him access to the Internet. Because you can share the WiFi password. To do this, the other device only has to try to dial into the corresponding network. If you are within Bluetooth or WiFi range, a notification will appear on your phone where you can tap Share.
It’s that easy to share WiFi passwords on iOS. / ©Apple
As a last resort to read WiFi passwords on the iPhone, you can jailbreak your iPhone. However, this is a more complicated procedure and since you may lose the warranty of your Apple device in the process, we will not describe it here. It may be better to reset the router where you forgot the WiFi password.
Do you have any other options – apart from reading the back of the router – how to read WiFi passwords on Android? Maybe you have an insider app tip with which the whole thing works without root. Let me know in the comments and I’ll include it below!
This article was revised on February 15, 2022 and added sharing on iPhone. The comments were not deleted.