Many smartphone owners face a situation where you need to connect to a wireless network new device, but the password itself has long been forgotten or lost. Fortunately, modern versions of the Android operating system and the proprietary shell MIUI from Xiaomi make it easy to extract saved access keys. You no longer need to search for a router or climb into its settings through your computer, since all the necessary information is already stored in the memory of your phone.
In the past, it required super-user rights to obtain this data, which was unsafe and difficult for the average person, but after the release of the tenth version of Android, the system introduced a built-in generation function. QR-It's a code that hides an encrypted password, and on Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco, it's as easy as possible and accessible right from the settings menu.
In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to recover forgotten data to log in. We will look at standard methods through the shell interface, the use of third-party applications and system features of different versions of MIUI. You will learn how to quickly find the necessary information without losing time and risk to the security of your device.
Use of the QR-code-setting MIUI
The easiest and most reliable way available on all modern Xiaomi smartphones is to use a built-in generator. QR-This method doesn't require you to install additional software or gain advanced access rights to the system, but you just need to have at least one device that is already successfully connected to the desired Wi-Fi network.
First, you need to open the standard Settings app on your phone. Then go to the Wi-Fi section, which will display the list of available networks. Find the network you are currently connected to (near it will be Connected status) in the list, and click on the arrow to the right of the name or on the gear icon to open detailed connection settings.
On the screen you will see a large QR-It's a code that's designed to connect other gadgets quickly, and in most cases, under that code or just below that, you'll write the password in plain text, and if the text is hidden by dots, just tap the icon or take a screenshot of the screen to look at it later.
- 📱 Open Settings and go to the Wi-Fi section.
- 🔗 Click on the active network to view details.
- 👁️ Look at this. QR-code or click "Show password".
- 📸 Take a screenshot if the text is too small to read.
It is important to understand that some versions of the MIUI Passwords may be hidden for security reasons, even if QR-The code is displayed, and then the built-in scanner features or third-party reading apps come to the rescue. QR-codes that can "read" data encoded in the image.
⚠️ Note: Never send screenshots from QR-code your home network to strangers, as it gives them full access to your internet without the need to select a key.
This method is standard and completely safe. It works on all current models, including the Xiaomi Mi 11, Redmi Note 10 and newer series. If you have an older device with an Android version below 10, this method may not be available, and you will have to look for alternative options.
Transcription QR-code-scanner
If the password is not displayed in the text below the image QR-And it's easy to extract it by scanning the code. Xiaomi already has a great Scanner app that can read not only links, but also Wi-Fi network settings. It's a versatile solution that works regardless of the shell version.
First, take a screenshot of the screen. QR-Then open the Scanner app on your phone. In the interface, select the option to download an image from the gallery (usually the icon in the corner of the screen) and select the screenshot you just took.
Once the image is processed, the scanner will produce the result. In Wi-Fi, it will be a line of text containing service information. You need to find in this line a snippet that starts with the letter P:. It is the characters that go after the colon and to the next semicolon or quotation mark that are the password you want.
WIFI:S:MyHomeNetwork;T:WPA;P:SuperSecretPass123;;In the example above, SuperSecretPass123 is the access key. Note that the letter register is important: if the code has capital letters, you need to type them in the same way, and an error in one character will result in a failure to connect.
- 📸 Take a screenshot of the screen with QR-network-code.
- 🔍 Launch the Scanner app on your phone.
- 🖼️ Select the image download from the gallery.
- 📝 Find the line after the symbol P:.
It’s worth noting that some third-party crawlers from Google Play can automatically copy the password to the clipboard, which makes the process even easier. However, Xiaomi’s built-in tool often just shows text that needs to be carefully rewritten.
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If the scanner doesn’t see the code in the screenshot, try to increase the brightness of the screen or crop the image so that QR-code occupied most of the frame.
Viewing through the file system (requires Root)
For users with superuser rights (Root), there is direct access to system files, where all passwords ever entered are stored, a method that is the most comprehensive, since it allows you to see the keys to all the networks that a phone has ever connected to, not just the current one.
To use this method, you will need a file manager with support for Root-rights, for example, Root Explorer or MT Manager. After obtaining access rights, you need to go to the system path /data/misc/wifi/. This directory is the configuration file WifiConfigStore.xml or WifiConfigStore.conf depending on the version of Android.
When you open this file with a text editor, you'll see a list of all the networks you saved. Each network will be described in a separate tag block. You'll need to find the <SSID> tag with your network name and look at the adjacent <PreSharedKey> tag. The value inside that tag will be your password.
| Parameter | Description of the tag | Example of meaning |
|---|---|---|
| SSID | Name of wireless network | <SSID>Home_WiFi</SSID> |
| Key | The password itself. | <PreSharedKey>12345678</PreSharedKey> |
| Type | Type of encryption | <KeyMgmt>WPA2PSK</KeyMgmt> |
| Priority | Priority of connection | <Priority>1</Priority> |
Using this method requires caution.Advertently changing or deleting other strings in a configuration file can cause the phone to stop remembering new networks or lose its ability to connect to Wi-Fi in principle.Always back up the file before editing.
⚠️ Note: Getting Root rights automatically cancels the warranty on the device and may disrupt the operation of banking applications and services Google Pay (Mi Pay).