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In Windows 8.1, when I right click a WiFi connection, nothing happens. In Windows 8, there is a menu and I can view its properties by clicking the "View Properties" menu item, and then I can see the password for that WiFi connection.

How to do the exact same thing in Windows 8.1? And also how do I tell the OS to forget certain WiFi connection?

5 Answers 5

61
  1. Open Network and Sharing Center.
  2. Click on your wireless connection in the window that opens.
  3. After that, click on button Wireless properties.
  4. Then open tab Security.
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  • 18
    Not valid to recover a password of a WiFi to which you are not connected anymore
    – Jago
    Sep 15, 2014 at 10:45
  • 5
    +1 This also works for Windows 10
    – user000001
    Aug 1, 2015 at 21:54
  • 1
    German: 1. Netzwerk und Freigabecenter 3. Drahtloseigenschaften 4. Sicherheit
    – Matthias M
    Nov 14, 2015 at 19:38
95

I found this on YouTube and it worked for me.

  1. Hover mouse over Windows icon and right-click
  2. Open up "Command Prompt (Admin)". Click Yes for the prompt box that pops up.
  3. Type the command line below:

    netsh wlan show profile name="INSERT SSID HERE" key=clear
    

Note: if you don't know your SSID, you can list all Wi-Fi profiles you have connected in the past with following command:

netsh wlan show profile

The first version of the command may dump out tens of lines of output (commonly between 30 and 40 lines).  If you want to see only the password (Key Content), you can pipe the command through findstr Key.  Note that the K in Key must be capitalized.

Example command line will therefore look like:

netsh wlan show profile name="Sales Dept Network" key=clear | findstr Key

You can leave out the "name=":

netsh wlan show profile "Sales Dept Network" key=clear | findstr Key
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  • 4
    nice, what does the key=clear do ?
    – Devid
    May 24, 2014 at 20:54
  • 8
    @Devid key=clear is the argument that forces the actual password to be shown
    – Jago
    Sep 15, 2014 at 10:50
  • 1
    This answer does not work for me. Under the heading "Security settings" in the output I get "Security key: absent". Apparently it should say "Key content: <Password>", but it does not for me. Dec 14, 2014 at 20:02
  • 2
    @JessRiedel make sure to run CMD as adminnistrator
    – jitbit
    Jan 30, 2015 at 8:23
  • 7
    This answer is more useful than the Accepted answer, as you can query SSID's which you are not currently connected to.
    – invert
    Aug 26, 2015 at 10:57
2

Command line (Manage wireless network profiles) or third party utilities are your options since Microsoft removed the Wireless Profile Manager.

1

It's not removed actually just do either one of the following:

First:

  • It's been moved to the Modern PC settings. All the options are there
  • Go to PC settings( To go PC settings hover your mouse to the right top or bottom corner then click on the Settings icon, there you'll see)
  • Then click on Network
  • Again click on Your WiFi name
  • Give metro a chance

Second:

  • Right click on the Wifi signal open "Open Network and sharing center"
  • There you can see you're wifi name.. just click on it you'll get what you've asked.
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1

To see the password for the network, as mentioned in the previous answer,just do the following;

  1. Right click command prompt and select to Run as administrator
  2. type the following

netsh wlan show hostednetwork setting=security

(This assumes you are running a hosted network on your system)

Revert if you need more help

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  • 1
    It says " User security key : <Not specified>"?
    – Pacerier
    May 3, 2015 at 23:41

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