How to Hide WiFi Password on Windows 10/8/7 Laptop

This article is about how to Hide WiFi Password on Windows 10/8/7 Laptop. As you know, anyone can easily find the saved WiFi password in Windows 10/8/7 through the “Show Character” feature in the Wireless Network Properties window.

We will show you how to hide WiFi password on Windows 10/8/7 laptop by turning off Show characters in Wireless Network Properties window.

How to Hide WiFi Password in Windows 10/8/7

Tips: This operation will require you to modify your Windows registry, so it is recommended to first create a system restore point before you begin so that you can undo the changes in case something goes wrong.

Step 1: Open Registry Editor.

Type regedit in the Start menu search box, then right-click on the regedit program that appears in the search results and select Run as administrator. This will open the Registry Editor as an administrator.

Step 2: Find the following registry key.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID{86F80216-5DD6-4F43-953B-35EF40A35AEE}

Tip: This registry key determines whether you can check your WiFi password using the “Show Character” feature in the Wireless Network Properties window.

Step 3: backup Confirm the registry key.

Select the same registry key, then click File > Export to save the key.

You can save the registry key on your desktop or somewhere else you can easily find it.

Step 4: Change key permissions.

1. Right-click on a registry key and select Permissions from the context menu.

2. When the permission dialog opens, click the Advanced button. Click Advanced
3. Click on the exchange link following the owner. Click Edit link
4. In the Select User or Group dialog box, click the Advanced button in the lower left corner. Click Up
5. In the next dialog box, click Find Now. Select your administrator group name in the search results, and click OK.

select a group of administrators

6. You have returned to the previous dialog box and you see the name of one of your administrators filled in the box. Click OK.
7. Returning to the advanced security settings window, the current key owner has been changed to one of your administrators. Click OK.

Click OK again

Return to the permissions dialog.

Under the Security tab, select your group of administrators, then check Full Control under Allow, click Add, and then click OK.

Step 5: Delete the registry key to hide your WiFi password.

Return to the registry editor, delete the registry key {86F80216-5DD6-4F43-953B-35EF40A35AEE}.

This will disable the “Show characters” feature in the wireless network settings to hide your WiFi password on your Windows laptop.

After completing the above steps, restart your Windows for the changes to take effect.

From now on, you won’t be able to see your WiFi password from the WiFi Network Adapter Properties window because Character Display is disabled.

When you check the display box, the WiFi password will always be hidden.

However, it will not prevent users from finding your WiFi password in Windows 10/8/7 through other methods, such as using command line or WiFi password finder software.

How to view WiFi password in Windows 10/8/7

If later, you want to show the WiFi password, just enable the function “Show characters” in the properties of the WiFi network by importing the previously saved registry key.

Open Registry Editor, click File > Import to import registry keys.