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I need to find the password for a Wi-Fi network that I am already connected to. I'm using a MacBook Pro that's running OS X Lion. Any guidance is appreciated.

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If the password is stored, you can find it using the program Keychain Access.

If you open /Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access, it will show you a list of stored entries. If you click the Kind column header, it will sort by kind, go to the section where AirPort network passwords are stored. On Yosemite, you may have to select "Local Items" rather than "login" under Keychains in the upper left.

Double-click the name of the network you are using (if you don't know the name of the network, you can find it in the WiFi menulet (the concentric quarter circles toward the right side of your menu bar).

picture of Keychain Access

Check the Show password box, enter your system password, and click the Allow button.

That should show you the password for the wireless network you are on, if it is stored on your computer. If no such entry appears, it means the password is not stored on your computer.

Note that you can also use this technique to find saved passwords for websites or other passwords that you computer has stored but you have forgotten.

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    On Yosemite click in the "Local Items" Keychains section :)
    – Fernando Montoya
    Nov 22 '14 at 17:26
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    @montogeek: Your comment is important... without that, Airport network passwords didn't show up for me at all. I edited the answer to include your tip: 'On Yosemite, you may have to select "Local Items" rather than "login" under Keychains in the upper left.' The edit is in an approval queue now.
    – LarsH
    Jun 22 '15 at 14:56
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    On my computer, some wifi passwords are under the System tab and others are under the login tab.
    – Navin
    Dec 8 '15 at 19:52
  • Clicking on 'Show Password', checks and then unchecks the box without any popup asking for System Password. Hence, password can't be seen.
    – coding_idiot
    Feb 9 '16 at 8:59
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    If you search for airport it displays all the wifis. Thanks!
    – Ferran Maylinch
    Sep 29 '17 at 12:21
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Spotlight → Keychain Access → type Wi-Fi name →
select key → enter password to see Wi-Fi password

enter image description here

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  • At least on Mojave you must now check the "Show password:" box after double-clicking the item to be asked to enter your credentials to see the WiFi password!
    – cody.codes
    Oct 6 '18 at 16:13
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For those looking for a Terminal solution, I was able to rig one up using the security command:

security find-generic-password -a "$1" -g | tail -0

I also wrote code that can get your current WiFi network and provide the password for it as well. You can find that in a gist here.

NOTE: You will still need to provide your user/pass to access the password. This is part of the security mechanism Apple implemented into using Keychain and cannot be easily overcome.

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  • I can confirm this works. Thanks a lot ;)
    – Arefe
    Jun 21 '19 at 9:00
  • Worth pointing for any new person, the $1 is an argument where you can also provide a string value. So let's say you want to fetch your wifi password & wifi's name is FooBar then your command would look like: security find-generic-password -a "FooBar" -g | tail -0
    – MiKr13
    Oct 5 '21 at 14:37

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