If you’re a Mac user, you know that there’s a built-in way to store your passwords in the cloud. But if you want to view all of your saved passwords on macOS, you’ll need to use something else. There are a few different ways to do this, but the easiest way is to use the Password Manager app. This app lets you store and manage your passwords in a variety of ways, including as text files, iCloud Drive backups, and even in secureDropbox accounts. Once you’ve installed Password Manager on macOS, open it and click on the three lines in the top left corner of the main window. This will show all of your saved passwords. You can drag and drop any of these passwords into Password Manager so that they’re easily accessible and organized. If you want to view all of your saved passwords for a specific account or device, just select that account or device from the list and then click on the “View All” button at the bottom of the window.
Having a complex Wi-Fi password increases your security, as well as your likelihood to forget a long chain of letters and numbers. Fortunately, there are two quick methods for retrieving your home Wi-Fi password quickly and securely.
Keychain Access
Your Mac saves Wi-Fi passwords to your keychain, and you can see them in the Keychain Access application on your Mac.
To launch it, open Spotlight Search by clicking the magnifying glass in the top-right menu bar (or pressing Command + Space Bar). Type “Keychain Access” into the new search bar, and press Enter/Return.
In the Keychain Access window that appears, click “Passwords.”
Double-click the name of the Wi-Fi network. In the pop-up window, check the “Show Password” box. You might have to enter your Mac’s admin username and password to reveal the password. Remember that Keychain access also stores passwords for various apps, websites, and more.
Terminal
You can also do this from the Terminal.
To launch a Terminal window on your Mac, open Spotlight Search by clicking the magnifying glass in the top-right menu bar (or pressing Command + Space Bar). Type “Terminal” and press Enter. You can also launch the Terminal by opening Finder and navigating to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
In this new window, type the following command, replacing “WIFI NAME” for the name of the Wi-Fi network:
security find-generic-password -ga WIFI NAME | grep “password:”
You might have to type your Mac’s admin username and password to reveal the password. Your Mac will display the password in the terminal in plain text.
