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?

I went to "connection information" and didn't find the password. — Anderson Green, Jun 27 '12 at 20:18
almost there... you need the edit connections below that ;) — Rinzwind, Jun 27 '12 at 20:22

score 83 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 08 '16 at 05:11

83

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

edited Jun 08 '16 at 05:11

anand mbs

431

answered Jun 27 '12 at 20:21

Rinzwind

299,756

Ah, my command-line ways were betrayed by my solution :) I like this one better, FWIW. – roadmr Jun 27 '12 at 22:44
1

Well I like both with a preference to command line @roadmr :D – Rinzwind Jun 28 '12 at 07:17

score 46 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 24 '16 at 05:29

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

This is working charmly – Wong Jia Hau Nov 14 '18 at 07:18 — Wong Jia Hau, Nov 14 '18 at 07:18

score 21 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 04 '20 at 09:16

21

In the command line:

nmcli dev wifi show-password

edited Sep 04 '20 at 09:16

BeastOfCaerbannog

14,585

answered Sep 04 '20 at 07:56

Vojtech Jaros

211

First one down the line that worked perfectly. – Matt Alexander Oct 01 '21 at 11:33
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! – tobiasBora Jan 03 '22 at 08:17

score 17 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 24 '19 at 08:46

17

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

edited Oct 24 '19 at 08:46

Eliah Kagan

117,780

answered Jun 27 '12 at 20:20

roadmr

34,222
9
81
93

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 08 '16 at 05:35

4

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)

edited Jun 08 '16 at 05:35

user.dz

48,105

answered Jun 08 '16 at 03:15

Stryc9

41

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 15 '16 at 19:32

2

here is a one liner to make @David Foerster answer more useful

MYCWD=`pwd`; cd /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ ; sudo grep -e '^psk=' * | less ; cd $MYCWD

answered Jan 15 '16 at 19:32

賞賛アーチ

156
2

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 13 '21 at 22:03

1

Using nmcli on Ubuntu 18.04, replace WIFINAME with the wireless network name (ssid):

nmcli --show-secrets connection show WIFINAME | grep 802-11-wireless-security.psk:

show-password does not work for me

answered Jan 13 '21 at 22:03

helpless child

31

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 03 '16 at 18:29

1

you can just type ls /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ and it will show the name of your network, so just press the up arrow on keyboard and type the name of your connections and change ls to sudo cat

the password will be psk

answered Sep 03 '16 at 18:29

DAn Baltag

111

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 21 '22 at 01:06

0

Going further with MRTgang second command to remove "psk=" leaving only the password

sudo grep -hr '^psk=' /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ | sed 's|psk=||g'

answered Oct 21 '22 at 01:06

bonelifer

31
5

Find the password for the currently connected wireless network

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