If any device in the house is still connected, the key is already somewhere in your home. You just have to go and read it.
These methods apply to your own network, the one in your name. They assume physical access to the router or to a machine that is already connected - in other words, they only serve to recover what is yours.
This is the first place to look. Every router carries a label, underneath or on the back, giving the network name and the original key. If you have never changed it, it is still valid.
The format is often long and without spaces, and capital letters matter. Photograph it rather than copying it out.
Windows keeps the key of the current network and can show it in plain text :
The key appears. This does require administrator rights on the machine.
Recent Android phones offer to share the network with a QR code, in the details of the Wi-Fi connection. The code lets another device connect without typing the key, and some models also show the password in plain text below it.
On iPhone, sharing happens automatically between nearby devices signed in to the same account, without showing the key.
From a connected device, the router's admin interface - reached at a local address printed on the label - gives access to the Wi-Fi settings, key included. Getting in requires the router's administrator password, which is different from the Wi-Fi key and is also on the label if it has never been changed.
Every provider also offers this information in the account area of their website or app, which is often the quickest route.
A network cable between the computer and the router always gets you into the admin interface, even with no Wi-Fi. As a last resort, the router's reset button restores the factory settings, and therefore the key on the label - but it also wipes every customisation, and cuts off the whole house for several minutes. Keep it for when nothing else has worked.
Store the key in a password manager rather than on a piece of paper that gets lost. And if you often have people over, turn on the guest network that most routers offer : it gives internet access with its own separate key, without giving access to your computers, printers and shared drives. That is safer than handing out your main key, and it saves having to change it afterwards.
If you do decide to change the key, remember that every device will have to be reconnected : television, printer, speakers, cameras. Set aside a quiet moment - see adding a printer over Wi-Fi.
No, and that is exactly what the encryption is for. These methods only work on a network you already have access to, or whose router you have.
Not necessary if it is long and has never been widely shared. A guest network is a better answer than frequent changes.
Today's factory keys are long and random, so they are solid. On a very old router, on the other hand, changing it is advisable.
We restore access and get your devices back online.
Automatic assistant: it can make mistakes. Never share a password or a card number.
