Get the Wi-Fi password from a QR code

Can you get a Wi-Fi password from a QR code?

Yes. A Wi-Fi QR code is a short line of text that starts with WIFI: and holds the network name and the password as ordinary letters. Nothing in it is encrypted, so any reader that knows the format can show the password, and this page does. A code for a network called Demo Cafe reads WIFI:T:WPA;S:Demo Cafe;P:sample-pass-123;;, and the scanner turns it into this:

Characters such as ; and : inside a name or password are protected with a backslash in the code. The scanner removes those backslashes, so what you copy is the real password. The format comes from the open-source ZXing project, and the Wi-Fi settings in Android read the same format.

How to show a Wi-Fi QR code on Android

Google’s Android help gives these steps: open Settings, tap Network & internet, then Internet, tap your Wi-Fi network and tap Share. The phone shows a QR code for the network, which another device can scan to join.

Samsung Galaxy phones use a different path in Samsung’s own help: Settings, Connections, Wi-Fi, the settings icon beside the network you are connected to, then QR code. Your phone must already be connected to that network.

To read the password from that code on another device, take a screenshot or a photo of the code and open this page wherever you need the password. On the same phone, choose the screenshot from your gallery.

How to see a Wi-Fi password or QR code on iPhone

An iPhone keeps saved Wi-Fi passwords in the Passwords app. Apple’s guide: open Passwords, tap Wi-Fi, tap the network, then tap the Password field to see it, or Copy Password to copy it. The same screen has Show Network QR Code, which friends and family can scan to join.

Apple also lets an iPhone share the password with a nearby iPhone, iPad or Mac that is trying to join: both must be within Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range, not using Personal Hotspot, and in each other’s contacts.

So on your own iPhone you do not need a scanner. This page is for when the code is all you have: a photo of a router sticker, a card in a holiday rental, or a screenshot someone sent you.

What WPA, WEP and nopass mean in a Wi-Fi code

The T: part of the code names the security type. The format has no separate value for WPA2, so a code for a WPA2 network says WPA too.

One trap: if a code holds a password but no T: part, Android ignores the password, and the scanner warns you about it. The FTC recommends WPA3 Personal or WPA2 Personal, and calls WPA3 the best encryption available. If your own code says WEP, change the router setting and make a new Wi-Fi QR code.

The password is not encrypted inside the code

A Wi-Fi QR code is not a lock. Anyone who can scan it, or who has a photo of it, can read the password in seconds with this page or any other reader. That is by design: the phone needs the password to join.

So only show a Wi-Fi code to people you would also tell the password. For codes on display, use a guest network: the FTC suggests one so fewer people know your main Wi-Fi password. If a code got out, change the Wi-Fi password. Every old code then stops working, because it holds the old password.

One kind of Wi-Fi code holds no password at all. Wi-Fi Easy Connect codes start with DPP: and identify a device, which can be one without a screen: a phone scans the device’s code and then sends it the network details. Android’s source code shows that these codes carry the device’s public key instead of a password. The scanner recognizes them and says so.

When the scanner shows no password

The card always shows exactly what the code holds. If there is no password, check these:

• The code is not a Wi-Fi code. It holds a link or plain text, which the scanner shows without opening.
• The network is open. Security says None, and there is nothing to type.
• It is a Wi-Fi Easy Connect code (DPP:), which never holds a password.
• No code was found. Crop closer, keep the white border around the code and avoid glare. A screenshot reads better than a photo of a screen, and our crop tool keeps the picture on your device.
• The password is printed as text next to the code rather than inside it. Then copy the text from the screenshot instead.