How can I find out the Wi-Fi password from android setting

Question

I have an android phone which is connected to a secured Wi-Fi hotpot. How can I find out what is the password of the Wi-Fi hotpot from the phone.

Answer 1

On my phone, the credentials are stored in /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf. You'll probably need root to see it directly on your phone but you may be able to use adb pull (requires the Android SDK) from your PC to get the file.

As noted in the comments, the location may vary based on your ROM or device (specifically the Wi-Fi chip; mine's a Broadcom). Check /data/wifi/, /data/etc/wifi/ and /data/misc/wifi/ for relevant config files if you don't find the ones suggest by eldarerathis or I.

Answer 2

On CyanogenMod devices, and possibly other AOSP ROMs, you should be able to grab it from the /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf file. On a non-rooted device I don't think this is possible since you won't have permission to read the /data directories where the settings are stored and the Settings menu simply displays (Unchanged) if you go into the network configuration.

This is what I see on my CM7 EVO (network name and password redacted):

# cd /data/misc/wifi/
# ls
sockets              wpa_supplicant.conf
# more wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=eth0
update_config=1

network={
        ssid="SomeWifiNetwork"
        psk="MyPlaintextPassword"
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        priority=1
}
#