90

I've previously connected to a wifi network on my iPhone but I've no way of finding out the password. So is there any way to view saved wifi passwords on the iPhone?

2
  • Yes on iOS 16 - scroll right down to bmike's answer & help it to the top of the list ;))
    – Tetsujin
    Sep 15, 2022 at 15:43
  • on a new iOS version you can go to wifi settings -> press top right button "change" -> press button (i) of required network -> press on password -> and it'll show it Jan 18, 2023 at 12:09

8 Answers 8

32

Yes on iOS 16 this is added to see and copy the password.

  • Go to Settings > Wi-Fi
  • Tap your network
  • Tap the password field and copy the text or observe it in clear text

No on iOS 15 and older, you need to use iCloud Keychain to sync it and look it up from a Mac.

Unfortunately on even older OS, on the iPhone it is not possible to access this information. The passwords are kept on your phone in a safe place that is not accessible through any regular means on the phone. This is done for your protection, if you were to lose your iPhone and someone picked it up, the passwords that are stored on it would be up for grabs. This would lead to a lot of security problems.

I would recommend apps like 1password or the many other pieces of software out there that do the same thing to keep your passwords safe and backed up. I have way to many passwords to remember and it has been a life saver. 1Password even has the ability to back up your passwords to dropbox just in case something happens to your phone and you need to access it from somewhere else.

There are a lot of different password managing apps out there, just find the right one for you.

As gtm stated, there is a way to access your passwords but it is through jailbreaking. I do not recommend jailbreaking, that is something that you have to make the decision on for yourself. Jailbreaking is not for everyone.

I know this may not have been the answer you were looking for, we have all been there when we forget a password and there isn't a way to retrieve it. The easier thing you can do with older iOS versions is to reset the password on your router and make sure to keep that password safe.

4
  • 10
    While protecting passwords in general is a good thing, I think many would agree with me that the benefit of being able to view wifi passwords outweighs the security "risks" of these being discovered by someone who steals your phone. Maybe I'm wrong.
    – devios1
    Aug 6, 2014 at 3:16
  • 4
    @chaiguy I agree completely, there should be a way to do this. On an Apple computer in OSX it is possible because you can go to your keychain, authenticate yourself with your admin password and view your passwords that are saved. But since iOS doesn't make a user set a password for their user account so it isn't possible to keep that data safe and still viewable at the same time. I was just trying to be more informative than just saying "No, there isn't. (Unless you jailbreak)". Because in short, there isn't a way, on just the iPhone itself (without Jailbreak) to view saved wifi pass codes.
    – de_an777
    Aug 6, 2014 at 3:26
  • 6
    It is not a security feature, otherwise being able to check your Safari passwords on the phone (after authentication) would be a complete security bug.
    – E. Rivera
    Nov 30, 2015 at 21:50
  • Let's not forget that Face ID is pretty difficult to bypass/forge - so in the scenario of a phone being stolen, what it contains should be safe - whether it's wifi passwords or credit cards... Sep 17, 2022 at 20:21
52
  1. If you have a Mac connected to the same network, you can find the stored password in it's Keychain using the Keychain Access app

  2. If the router is an Apple Airport based device, you may be able to log straight into it via Airport Utility (available on Mac and iOS) to see the password at source

  3. If you are on iOS7, then you can use iCloud Keychain Syncing to allow the stored password on your iPad to be synced elsewhere (assuming you have a Mac too), allowing you to then read it in your Keychain as per point 1. In the screenshot shown, most of these WiFi networks are in other cities that only my iPhone has connected to:

enter image description here

2
  • On 3): does Mavericks actually allow that? The support article on iCloud Keychain has no mention of wifi passwords.
    – yurkennis
    Mar 13, 2014 at 22:15
  • 7
    Yup, my iCloud Keychain on my Mac is full of WiFi passwords (or "AirPort network password"s) from other people's homes where I have connected my iPhone in the past, and from where I certainly have not taken my iMac :)
    – stuffe
    Mar 13, 2014 at 22:21
20

If you have a jailbroken iPhone, check out Wifi Passwords on Cydia.

4
  • Wifi password works for me on 3gs with iso 4.1
    – user33740
    Oct 29, 2012 at 15:56
  • Working on iPad, iOS 6.1.2
    – brasofilo
    Jun 7, 2014 at 20:36
  • 1
    Excellent tip, thanks! Working on iPhone 4 with iOS 7.1.2.
    – dibs
    Apr 4, 2015 at 19:26
  • simple and functional if you are indeed jailbroken. tks. Sep 1, 2016 at 12:32
8

As of iOS 11 devices will offer to share the password to nearby devices when they try to connect to the same WiFi SSID as it has joined, but not show a plaintext password.

Request access

2
  • I have used this iPhone-to-iPhone, but does it work when it’s a Mac that wants the password? I haven't been able to trigger this, but perhaps because the wireless network had a hidden SSID.
    – Alan H.
    Mar 15, 2018 at 17:18
  • Yes, it works for a Mac requesting from an iPhone as well. I just used it successfully. I'm not sure if the iPhone needs to be connected to the same network at the time. And of course, both devices must have Bluetooth enabled. May 6, 2018 at 22:25
7

as answered by stuffe, one of the possibilities is to use keychain syncing.

there are 2 requirements

  1. phone must have the wifi password already
  2. computer must be able to access the internet

if your iPhone is able to use "personal hotspot", then you can do this:

  1. turn on personal hotspot
  2. connect computer to personal hotspot - this will initiate the keychain sync, which will then populate the key/password in the app
  3. turn off personal hotspot
  4. connect to the wifi with the new populated key/password
6

Yes on iOS 16 this is added to see and copy the password.

  • Go to Settings > Wi-Fi
  • Tap your network
  • Tap the password field and copy the text or observe it in clear text

No on iOS 15 and older, you need to use iCloud Keychain to sync it and look it up from a Mac.

1
  • Thanks for putting this up - finally iOS got the basic function it sorely needed! :-/
    – cachius
    Sep 15, 2023 at 12:15
0

Using the Keychain app is a great way to organize your passwords. With Keychain you can access all passwords (including Wi-Fi passwords) from your Mac. But the Jailbreak tweak WiFi Passwords from Cydia is the best one for viewing passwords directly on your iPhone.

You just need to open the App and you can see all wifi passwords that are stored in your iPhone. Then you can share the passwords with your friends in public places. That's cool app.

Credits: http://www.unlockboot.com/2016/02/how-to-view-saved-wifi-passwords-on.html

-3

I didn't try this, but it may work: if you have a Mac and sync it to the Apple ID in the iPhone then it may appear in Keychain Access > passwords in the Mac as "Airport Network password" (just search for "airport") or by searching for the WIFI network name.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .