Is there any way to view saved wifi passwords on the iPhone?

Question

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?

Yes on iOS 16 - scroll right down to bmike's answer & help it to the top of the list ;)) — Tetsujin, Sep 15 '22 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 — Alexey Stepanov, Jan 18 '23 at 12:09

score 52 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 16 '21 at 08:24

52

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
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
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:

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edited Dec 16 '21 at 08:24

nohillside

100,768

answered Oct 22 '13 at 19:42

stuffe

25,668

On 3): does Mavericks actually allow that? The support article on iCloud Keychain has no mention of wifi passwords. – yurkennis Mar 13 '14 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 '14 at 22:21

score 32 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 25 '23 at 17:29

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.

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 06 '14 at 03:16
@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 06 '14 at 03:26
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 '15 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... — MicroMachine, Sep 17 '22 at 20:21

score 20 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 10 '17 at 14:00

20

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

edited Jul 10 '17 at 14:00

Stevoisiak

1,631

answered Jun 23 '12 at 14:00

gtmtg

753

Wifi password works for me on 3gs with iso 4.1 – Oct 29 '12 at 15:56
Working on iPad, iOS 6.1.2 – brasofilo Jun 07 '14 at 20:36
1

Excellent tip, thanks! Working on iPhone 4 with iOS 7.1.2. – dibs Apr 04 '15 at 19:26
simple and functional if you are indeed jailbroken. tks. – Francisco Cortes Sep 01 '16 at 12:32

score 8 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 17 '22 at 20:15

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.

edited Sep 17 '22 at 20:15

bmike

235,889

answered Jul 10 '17 at 11:31

Jack

351

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 '18 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. – Taylor D. Edmiston May 06 '18 at 22:25

score 7 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 30 '15 at 06:01

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

there are 2 requirements

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

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

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

score 6 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 14 '22 at 18:48

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.

answered Sep 14 '22 at 18:48

bmike

235,889

Thanks for putting this up - finally iOS got the basic function it sorely needed! :-/ – cachius Sep 15 '23 at 12:15

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 01 '16 at 23:34

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

score -3 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 03 '18 at 21:12

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.

Is there any way to view saved wifi passwords on the iPhone?

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