How to Backup and Restore Wi-Fi Passwords in Windows 11?

If you are planning to format and install a new Windows OS, making backup of Wi-Fi passwords is a wise thing to do. The backed-up data is easier to configure without manually adding and remembering the passwords. Backing up Wi-Fi passwords also helps you to store all your Wi-Fi passwords in one secure place, making it convenient to restore them whenever your system crash or you want to switch to new computer. In this article, we will guide you on how to backup and restore Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 11 in the most convenient way.

Wi-Fi Passwords in Windows 11

Whenever you connect to a network, Windows will store the username and password of that network and save it as a profile. This helps to remember the credentials and connect to the network automatically when you want to use it next time. So, you may find many network profiles in your system depending upon the usage. You can use the command line tools or third-party apps to find all those saved Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 11 with the network names. If you want to simply find the password of currently connected network, you do not need to follow these instructions. Check out the article on how to find Wi-Fi password in Windows computer.

1. Backup Wi-Fi Passwords from Command Prompt

You can backup all saved Wi-Fi passwords in your system by following a few simple steps:

Go to the Start menu and type “cmd” in the search bar to open Command Prompt utility.
Now right-click on the “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator” option. This will open the app with administrator access so that you can run privileged commands.

Type the following command in the prompt and press enter key. This command will show all the Wi-Fi profiles available in the system.

netsh wlan show profiles

Show All WiFi Profiles from Command Prompt — Show All Wi-Fi Profiles from Command Prompt

Now type the following command and press enter key to export the details as XML files.

netsh wlan export profile key=clear

Export WiFi Profiles in C Drive — Export Wi-Fi Profiles in C Drive

All these profiles with their passwords are saved in the default location which is Disk C. This is changeable depending upon your desire. To save the above files in a different location such as in Disk D, use the following command.

netsh wlan export profile key=clear folder= D:

Export WiFi Profiles in Different Locations — Export Wi-Fi Profiles in Different Locations

Remember that all these files are saved in XML format which is not encrypted. So, you need to keep it in a secure location and do not share it with anyone.

1.1. Restore Wi-Fi Passwords from Command Prompt

You can also easily restore the Wi-Fi passwords using the Command Prompt utility. Below are the steps to restore the backup files:

Go to the Start menu and type “Cmd” in the search bar. Then right-click on the “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.
Now type the below command and make sure to replace the path with your profile filename that you have exported earlier.

netsh wlan add profile filename=<path>\Wi-Fi.xml

Let us restore the profile filename Wi-Fi-POM.xml as exported in our above example. For this file name, the command to restore should be like below. When you press the enter key, you will see a message in the prompt saying, “Profile POM is added on the interface Wi-Fi”.

netsh wlan add profile filename=Wi-Fi-POM.xml

Restore WiFi Passwords from Command Prompt — Restore Wi-Fi Passwords from Command Prompt

Likewise, if you want to restore all the Wi-Fi passwords, type their filenames in the command as described above.

2. Backup and Restore Wi-Fi Passwords Using WirelessKeyView

Another easy way to backup Wi-Fi passwords is by using a third-party software such as WirelessKeyView. It is an easy-to-use app with a user-friendly interface. You can view, backup, and recover Wi-Fi passwords via installing this application. Here are the steps to backup Wi-Fi passwords:

Go to the official website of WirelessKeyView and download the application by clicking on “Download WirelessKeyView 32-bit”.

Click on the downloaded file and type the ZIP file password given on the website.

A dialog box opens, showing all the Wi-Fi connections available in your system with their passwords.

View All WiFi Connections with Passwords — View All Wi-Fi Connections with Passwords

Now right-click on the Wi-Fi profile which you want to save for backup and click on “Save Selected Items”. A dialog box will appear, where you can choose the location to save the file. Select the location, name the file, and hit on “Save”.

And this is how you can select a Wi-Fi profile with its password and save it your system as a text file. To save all the Wi-Fi profiles, press “Ctrl + A” or click on the select all button, and then click on the “Save Selected Items” button. This will save all the Wi-Fi profiles with their passwords in a single text file.

2.1. Restore Wi-Fi Passwords Using WirelessKeyView App

Let’s see how WirelessKeyView can restore Wi-Fi passwords.

On the dialog box of WirelessKeyView, click on “File” and then click on “Import Keys From Export Files”.
Select the file that has the Wi-Fi passwords you want to restore and press “Open”.
This will restore the Wi-Fi passwords from the file.

3. WiFi Password Decryptor

WiFi Password Decryptor is a free command-line tool to easily recover all the Wi-Fi passwords stored in your system. Let’s see how it works:

Go to the official website of WiFi Password Decryptor and download the installation ZIP file.
Extract the downloaded ZIP file and open the setup file. This will open the setup wizard and follow the instructions to finish the installation.

Install WiFi Password Decryptor — Install Wi-Fi Password Decryptor

As soon as you open the application, it will show all the Wi-Fi profiles with their passwords that are configured in your system.

View All Recovered WiFi Passwords — View All Recovered Wi-Fi Passwords

If you want to backup these Wi-Fi passwords, you can right-click on the desired Wi-Fi profile and choose “Select Copy Password (Text)” and save it in any location on your system for future use.

4. WiFi Password Dump

WiFi Password Dump is another free software available on the internet that allows you to recover and save Wi-Fi passwords. Here is how you can use it:

Go to the website of WiFi Password Dump and download the application by providing your email address.
You will get the License Key with your email address which is used to run the application on your system.

Get WiFi Password Dump License Key — Get Wi-Fi Password Dump License Key

Extract the downloaded ZIP file and install the app following the setup wizard.
Upon installation, click on the application shortcut to provide email address and the License Key and press “Activate License”.

Click on “Recover Passwords” button and the app will display all the Wi-Fi profiles with their passwords on the screen. You can right-click on the selected Wi-Fi profile which you want to save and hit “Copy Entire Row”. Now, save the text in the desired location for future use.

Save Recovered WiFi Passwords — Save Recovered Wi-Fi Passwords

Final Words

Command Prompt and WirelessKeyView are quick and easy-to-use methods, allowing you to conveniently backup and restore Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 11. If you only want to download the details, then the last two apps will be helpful. Making a backup of your Wi-Fi passwords helps you to recover them in case your PC/laptop is lost or damaged. Choose the best method among them to backup and restore your Wi-Fi passwords in a few minutes.