How to Share WiFi Password: iPhone and iOS in 2024

iOS doesn’t let you view the password for a WiFi network you’re connected to. This is one of the oldest peeves users have with the system. If you don’t know the password to the WiFi network you’re connected to, you cannot share it with anyone. People who still jailbreak their iPhones almost always install a tweak that lets them view and share the WiFi password.

Apple finally addressed this shortcoming with iOS 11, that’s 4 major updates ago since we’re now at iOS 15 with iOS 16 to launch this fall! Luckily they’ve kept it very similar with every new iOS where you can share your WiFi password with your friends. You can also share it between other iOS and macOS devices.

How to Share WiFi Password

Contacts Only

This feature only works between iOS devices and both devices must be running iOS 11 or higher, or between Macs provided they’re both running High Sierra. If you have a friend who uses an Android device, you still cannot share the WiFi password with them.

There’s one other minor stipulation to using this feature: you can only share the WiFi password with iOS 11 or higher users that are in your contact list.

It’s pretty easy to add a contact i.e. via the Contacts app. If that doesn’t immediately do the trick, send an iMessage or a text message to the contact.

How to share WiFi on iPhone

Make sure you’re connected to the WiFi network your friend wants to connect to. Have your friend open the Settings app and go to WiFi. They should then tap the network they want to connect to. Once they tap the network, they will be prompted to enter the password.

At this point, physically bring both devices close. Ideally, it should work if you’re both in the same room but we observed it was a bit slow on older iPhone models.

Wait a few seconds and you will see a Share Password prompt on your screen. Accept it and your friend will be connected to the network.

You can also share the WiFi password to your Mac computer as long as it is running macOS High Sierra or higher. The same rules apply, the iMac or MacBook must be a contact.

For a Mac to be a contact, you must have it added to the Contacts app, same as it is with iOS. Again, if simply adding a contact doesn’t work, try sending an iMessage.

Passwords Are (Still) Not Visible

This obviously isn’t the solution most people were hoping for because you still cannot view the WiFi password. It’s basically being shared between two trusted devices and it’s limited to iOS  and macOS devices.

Had Apple decided to make the password visible, the need to have people in your contacts before you could share the password wouldn’t be there.

CONCLUSION

Sharing the WiFi password isn’t just something that you do between phones.

Often, you might need to connect a laptop or a desktop to a WiFi network and in most cases, knowing the password is just easier.

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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