See Passwords for Wi-Fi Networks You've Connected Your Android Device To
You've probably connected your Android device to dozens of Wi-Fi networks since you've had it, and your phone or tablet remembers each of them. Whether it's a hotspot at home, school, work, the gym, a coffee shop, a relative's apartment — or even from a friend's phone — each time you type in a Wi-Fi password, your Android device saves it for safekeeping and easy access later.
The trouble comes when you want to actually see the password for one of the networks you've connected to before.
Perhaps you want to connect a second device to a saved wireless access point, or maybe you're with a friend who wants to log in to the same hotspot. If you can't get the password from the source, you might think to check your Android phone or tablet for the credentials — but looking at the stored Wi-Fi network in your settings won't show the password in plain text.
It is possible to get the plain text password for the Wi-Fi network from your device's settings, but it's not apparent at first glance. If you have a phone or tablet with an Android skin, such as any Samsung Galaxy, it will be even less obvious than if you were using stock Android on, say, a Google Pixel model.
Method 1 Stock Android 10 & Up
Finding the plain text password for a stored Wi-Fi network is easiest on stock Android 10 and higher. No root is needed, not even an extra app.
All of Google's Pixel devices can run Android 10 and higher, and many OEMs in the Android One program have smartphones that can run stock Android 10 and higher. For example, LG, Nokia, Motorola, and Xiaomi.
Quick Steps:
- Open the Wi-Fi submenu in Settings.
- Tap the current network or select "Saved networks" and choose one.
- Tap "Share" below the network's name.
- Authenticate yourself if you have device security set up.
- See the plain text password under the QR code.
Full Details:
First, visit the "Wi-Fi" submenu in your Settings app. You can select it from a search for "wifi," via Settings –> Wi-Fi (on Android 11 only), via Settings –> Network & internet –> Wi-Fi, or by long-pressing the Wi-Fi symbol in the Quick Settings.
On the Wi-Fi settings page, tap the network up top that you're currently connected to if that's the one you need the password for. Otherwise, scroll down and select the "Saved networks" option. On the saved list, you'll see the SSID, or service set identifier, for each Wi-Fi network your phone or tablet remembers — choose the one you need.
Now, hit the "Share" option below the network name and status. It will ask to scan your fingerprint, scan your face, or enter your PIN or password if you have security set up. Below the QR code that stores the network's credentials, you'll see the password in plain text.
You can also directly connect the device, whether it's an Android phone or tablet, iPhone, or iPad, to the access point by using its QR code scanner to scan the code.
Method 2: Android 10 & Up on Samsung Galaxy Devices
Samsung adds a skin called One UI to the basic Android system, so a lot looks and behaves differently, including getting plain text passwords for saved Wi-Fi networks. While there may be ways to view the plain text password on Galaxy devices running older Android software, the easiest way is for those running Android 10 and higher, shown here.
Quick Steps:
- Open the "Connections" submenu in Settings.
- Tap on the "Wi-Fi" submenu.
- Tap the cog for the current network.
- Tap "QR code."
- Tap "Save as image" to save it to your gallery.
- Open Google Lens or open the image in Google Photos.
- Open the image in Google Lens or tap the Lens icon in Google Photos.
- Expand the crop beyond the QR code's perimeter if needed.
- See the plain text password in the results.
Full Details:
First, visit the "Wi-Fi" submenu in your Settings app. You can:
- Search for "wifi," choose "Wi-Fi" or "Connections," then hit "Wi-Fi."
- Open Settings –> Connections –> Wi-Fi.
- Long-press the Wi-Fi symbol in the Quick Settings.
- Tell Bixby to "open Wi-Fi settings."
Now, tap the cog next to the network SSID you're currently connected to, then select "QR code" at the bottom of the network's information.
You can only get the QR code for the network you're connected to, which is one of the most significant differences between One UI and stock Android. Another one? You won't see the network's password in plain text. You also can't ask Bixby for it.
On the QR code page, hit "Save as image" to add it to your gallery.
Next, use Google Lens to scan the saved image. You can do this from Google Photos by opening the image and hitting the Lens button. Alternatively, you can hit the Lens button on the Google app's widget on your home screen, if you have it there, then open the saved image. You can also open the Google Lens app, then open the saved image.
Either way, Google Lens may focus on everything inside the QR code's perimeter, which won't show you what you need. If that's the case, expand the crop on the image to go past the QR code's perimeter. Doing so will show the network credentials in plain text, including the password, below the picture.
Method 3: Android 6 to Android 9 on Non-Rooted Devices
Unlike above, most phones and tablets running stock or skinned Android 9 and lower cannot generate QR codes with a Wi-Fi network's credentials embedded. There are apps that help you create QR codes for Wi-Fi hotspots, but you need to know the password, which isn't any help if you don't know it.
On Android 9 and lower, the file containing saved Wi-Fi credentials is in a protected directory, and you can only access it if you're rooted (see the following method). However, if you have received a QR code for a Wi-Fi access point from another device, you can use the Google Lens app or Lens in Google Photos to scan the QR code for the password.
Quick Steps for Google Lens:
- Open the Google Lens app or tap the Lens icon in the Google app or Google app's home screen widget).
- Select the image from your gallery or choose "Search with your camera."
- If using the camera, point it at the QR code and tap the shutter button.
- Expand the crop beyond the QR code's perimeter if needed.
- Pull up the results to see the plain text password.
- Quick Steps for Google Photos:
- Open the Google Photos app.
- Select the image from your gallery.
- Tap "Lens" on the image.
- Expand the crop beyond the QR code's perimeter if needed.
- Pull up the results to see the plain text password.
Full Details:
First, open either Google Lens (left image below) or Google Photos (right image below). For Google Lens, you can open its app directly or tap the Lens icon on the Google app's home screen widget or from within the Google app itself.
Next, select the image with the QR code from your gallery. In the Google Lens app, you can also choose "Search with your camera" if the QR code is printed out or on another device; if so, scan the code with your camera.
Google Lens will scan the QR code for information, and you will see the network credentials in plain text, including the password, on the card (pull up on it to see the details).
Google Lens may focus on everything inside the QR code's perimeter, which won't show you what you need. If that's the case, expand the crop on the image to go past the QR code's perimeter.
Method 4: Android 4.4 to Android 9 on Rooted Devices
If your phone is running Android 9.0 Pie or lower and you want to view the passwords for your saved Wi-Fi networks, the only way to do so is with a root app. It will work best if you have TWRP installed and used that to install Magisk for root.
Several apps on the Play Store claim to show your Wi-Fi passwords, but the only one we found to work on all of our devices was WiFi Password Viewer by SimoneDev.
When you first launch WiFi Password Viewer, the app will ask for Superuser access. Tap "Grant" on the pop-up, and it'll take you to a list containing all of the Wi-Fi networks that you've ever connected to, where each entry shows a password beneath it.
If you've connected to many different Wi-Fi networks throughout owning your Android device, your list may be quite long. If that's the case, you can search for a particular Wi-Fi network using the search button in the top-right corner.
If you need to share one of these passwords with another device, you have a few options. Start by tapping any entry in the list, and a small menu will pop up. From here, you can either:
- Tap "Copy password" to copy that network's password to your clipboard, which would make it easy to paste into your favorite texting app and send to the other device.
- Tap "Share," then select your favorite texting app from the menu that appears to send the password.
- Tap "QR" to make the app generate a QR code containing the network info. If the other device has a built-in QR code scanner, open the camera or QR code scanner, point it at the QR code, and tap the pop-up prompt to automatically connect it to the Wi-Fi network.