🔑 Wi-Fi Password Retriever Utility

WifiPasswordRetriever is a lightweight, native Windows Batch script (.bat) designed to view and retrieve saved Wi-Fi passwords using Netsh.

🌱 Learning Repository: This repository serves as a learning playground for Windows network administration and batch automation. [cite_start]The code demonstrates practical OS-level network queries (like netsh wlan show profiles), string filtering with findstr, and automatic UAC privilege elevation[cite: 24, 28]. It is a great starting point for anyone looking to learn IT support automation and batch scripting!

📖 Project Description

Have you ever forgotten the Wi-Fi password to a network you've already connected to? Finding saved Wi-Fi passwords through the Windows GUI requires navigating through multiple Network & Sharing Center menus, which can be tedious.

WifiPasswordRetriever solves this by offering a straightforward, command-line interface. By simply running this script, it will list all the Wi-Fi profiles saved on your PC and allow you to retrieve the plain-text password for any specific network instantly. No third-party software installations are required.

✨ Key Features

• ⚡ Profile Listing: Automatically lists all available saved Wi-Fi profiles on your machine[cite: 28].
• 🔑 Password Retrieval: Instantly extracts and displays the clear-text password (Key Content) for the selected network[cite: 30].
• 🔓 Open Network Detection: Gracefully handles open networks by indicating when no password is set.
• 🛡️ Auto-Elevation: The script automatically detects if it lacks Administrator privileges and requests them via UAC before running to ensure commands execute properly[cite: 24].
• 🔁 Interactive Loop: Includes a looping menu that allows you to check another Wi-Fi network without needing to restart the script[cite: 32].
• 🛑 Error Handling: Built-in error checking to verify if the inputted profile actually exists before attempting retrieval.

💻 Tech Stack

• Language: Windows Batch Scripting (.bat / .cmd)
• Environment: Native Windows Command Prompt (CMD)

🚀 Installation

Since this is a native batch script, the setup is incredibly simple:

1. Clone the Repository Open your terminal/CMD and run: git clone [https://github.com/BenTimothyM/WifiPasswordRetriever.git]

2. Run the Script Navigate to the cloned folder and locate the WifiPasswordRetriever.bat file.

💡 How to Use

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Administrator Privileges Required This script requires elevated permissions to view security keys. The script is designed to automatically prompt for these permissions if you don't run it as admin initially.

You can execute the script in two ways:

Method 1: GUI (Recommended)

1. Navigate to the folder where you placed WifiPasswordRetriever.bat.
2. Double-click the file.
3. Click "Yes" on the User Account Control (UAC) prompt if it asks for elevated privileges.
4. View the list of available Wi-Fi profiles.
5. Type the name of the profile you want to retrieve the password for and press Enter.

Method 2: Command Line

1. Open the Start Menu, type cmd.
2. Click "Run as administrator".
3. Navigate to your target folder using the cd command.
4. Run the script: WifiPasswordRetriever.bat

Terminal Output Example:

===============================================================================
+                                                                             +
+                     WI-FI PASSWORD RETRIEVER UTILITY                        +
+                                                                             +
===============================================================================
  Created by: Ben Timothy | GitHub: [https://github.com/BenTimothyM](https://github.com/BenTimothyM)
===============================================================================

[ Available Saved Wi-Fi Profiles ]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    All User Profile     : HomeNetwork_5G
    All User Profile     : Cafe_Guest_WiFi
    All User Profile     : Office_Network
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enter the Wi-Fi Profile Name: HomeNetwork_5G

Retrieving security settings...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Profile Name           : HomeNetwork_5G
    Key Content            : MySuperSecretPassword123
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Press any key to continue . . .

[1] Check Another Wi-Fi
[2] Exit

Select an option: 

🤝 Contributing (Let's Learn Together!)

As this is a dedicated learning repository, contributions are highly encouraged! If you want to add features like exporting all passwords to a text file or optimizing the UI, feel free to pitch in:

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature-export-to-txt).
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add option to export all passwords to a text file').
4. Push to your branch (git push origin feature-export-to-txt).
5. Open a Pull Request.

👨‍💻 Credits

This project is developed and maintained by:

• Ben Timothy - @BenTimothyM

📜 License

This project is distributed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.