Find the password for the currently connected wireless network

Question

I want to find the password for the wireless network that I am currently connected to (and I entered the password when connecting to the network). How can I do this in Ubuntu?

Solution 1

Left click the connections icon at the top right.

Choose edit connections and then choose edit on the connection you need and click the wireless security.

And click the 'show password'checkbox

Solution 2

If you want to do this with the command line, the wireless network configuration files are saved in the /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ directory. You can get them all at once like this:

sudo grep -r '^psk=' /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/

This will give you output like this:

/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/MyExampleSSID:psk=12345
/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/AnotherSSID:psk=password

You can suppress the filename with the -h flag:

sudo grep -hr '^psk=' /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/

The output is easier to read at a glance:

psk=12345
psk=password

Solution 3

Open a terminal (press Ctrl+Alt+T), then type:

sudo cat /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/<your-SSID>

(Of course, substitute <your-SSID> with your network's name.)

Look for the line named psk. This should contain your password, after the = sign.

psk=notreallymypassword

Solution 4

In the command line:

nmcli dev wifi show-password

Solution 5

This will give you the password for your current connection.

sudo grep psk= /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/*

Or

sudo grep psk= /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/(YOUR-SSID)

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Comments

[Anderson Green]

I went to "connection information" and didn't find the password.

[Rinzwind]

almost there... you need the edit connections below that ;)

[BlitZz]

Ah, my command-line ways were betrayed by my solution :) I like this one better, FWIW.

[Rinzwind]

Well I like both with a preference to command line @roadmr :D

[Wong Jia Hau]

This is working charmly

[Chris J.T. Auld]

First one down the line that worked perfectly.

[tobiasBora]

This one is not only the only working solution for me, but it even displays a nice Qr code (yes in command line!) that you can scan on your mobile to quickly add the wifi! Thanks a lot!