How to View Saved WiFi Passwords on Mac

When you try to connect to a new Wi-Fi network, your Mac prompts you to enter a passkey. You only need to enter this password the first time you log in. But what happens when you finally need to find your saved Wi-Fi passwords on your Mac?

Typically, macOS automatically connects to known wireless networks using previously stored keys. But sometimes you may need to find that password.

Read: How to Turn off Message Notifications on Mac

If you want to know the saved forgotten passwords, then you are in luck. macOS stores security credentials in the Keychain, which you can access at any time to get the information you need.

Let us see how to find and view saved Wi-Fi passwords in macOS using Keychain Access and Terminal.

How to find saved WiFi passwords on Mac using Keychain Access

Here’s how to view saved Wi-Fi passwords in macOS Keychain:

• Launch Keychain Access via Apps > Utilities
• Select System under System Keychain in the side menu
• Click on the Password tab to filter the results
• Locate and double-click the appropriate wireless network name
• Check the Show Password box and enter your administrator username and password to reveal the security key

How to View Saved WiFi Passwords in Terminal

If you can’t stand the intuitive user interface, you can use Terminal to locate saved WiFi passwords.

To use this method, you need to know the exact name of the wireless network whose security key you want to view.

Here’s how to view saved Wi-Fi passwords in the Terminal:

1. Launch Terminal via Applications > Utilities

2. Enter the following command, replacing “SSID” with the name of your wireless network, then press Return:

security search-generic-password -ga “SSID” | grep “password:”

3. Enter your administrator username and password when prompted to see the Security Key in Terminal

Use Keychain Access to Find Forgotten Passwords

While Keychain Access is great for finding WiFi passwords on Mac, it can also reveal your other saved app passwords. You will find most of the relevant entries in your login keychain.

Having a store of saved passwords comes in handy when you inevitably forget all those seldom-used app logins that you’ll need to reuse.

Who needs a working memory when our gadgets can remember things for us? Soon our minds will be obsolete. In truth, some of us already have.

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