Want to connect new devices to your Wi-Fi network but forgot the Wi-Fi password? Chances are that you never think of the password once you set it up. Although you can share Wi-Fi connection from computer or Mac with other devices, such as phones and tablets. It is not quite easy to share Wi-Fi and won’t work when your PC or Mac is powered off. Here we’d like to share with Mac users two easy ways to find out the forgotten passwords for Wi-Fi networks that you have connected before. Note that you will have to know the administrator account password when you use following methods to retrieve lost or forgotten Wi-Fi passwords on Mac.
Method 1. Find Wi-Fi password through Keychain Access
Spotlight Search is the fastest way to search and find things we want on Mac. On your Mac, click the Spotlight icon in the top menu bar, type in ‘keychain‘ in the search field to quickly find and launch the Keychain Access on Mac.
In the Keychain Access app, click System from the left panel, then find your Wi-Fi network from the list on the right hand side. Alternatively you can do a search in Keychain Access to quickly find the network.
Double click on WiFi network name to view the Attributes of Wi-Fi network. Tick Show password, you will then be prompted to enter your administrator account username and password before you can see the WiFi password.
Method 2. View saved Wi-Fi password with Terminal
You can also use the Terminal app to see saved passwords for Wi-Fi networks.
Again, you can use the Spotlight Search on Mac to quickly launch the Terminal app.
When the Terminal window opens, type in the following command:
security find-generic-password -ga WiFiName | grep “password:”
Make sure to replace WiFiName with your own Wi-Fi network name or SSID. And hit Return or Enter key on your keyboard.
You will be prompted to type in your Mac login and password before the Wi-Fi password to be displayed in the Terminal.
