How to Share Wi-Fi Passwords to Mac

Sharing Wi-Fi passwords between devices, especially smartphones, is effortless these days.For example, you can quickly scan a QR code to share saved Wi-Fi passwords between Android and iPhone.

But if you need to share saved Wi-Fi passwords with your Mac, you might not know where to start.Unlike other devices, Macs don't have an option to scan QR codes, which limits your options.Fortunately, there are other methods you can use.

Share Wi-Fi Passwords from iPhone to Mac

With Password Sharing, sharing saved Wi-Fi passwords from iPhone to Mac is a breeze.However, both devices must be linked to the same iCloud account, or saved as contacts on each other's devices.Here's how to use this feature:

1. Make sure your Mac and iPhone are nearby.Then, check that the iPhone is unlocked and connected to the Wi-Fi network you want to join on the Mac.

2. On the Mac's menu bar, click the Wi-Fi icon, and then select the Wi-Fi network you want to join.Alternatively, you can also go to System Settings > Wi-Fi.

3. When the password prompt appears on the Mac, unlock the iPhone and wait for the password sharing popup.

4. Tap the shared password and your Mac will automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network.

As you can see, this method comes in handy when you already have a Wi-Fi network saved on your iPhone.It's worth noting that iOS and macOS may already be syncing Wi-Fi passwords in the background.So, in most cases, you don't even need to wait for a popup and hit the "Share Password" button.

Access saved Wi-Fi passwords via iCloud Keychain

This method also relies on iCloud syncing for password sharing between the Mac and iPhone.However, it won't autofill passwords or connect to networks.In this method, you'll use one of MacOS's most useful utilities -- Keychain Access -- to access Wi-Fi passwords you've saved on your iPhone.Specific steps are as follows:

1. Make sure iPhone and Mac are connected to the same iCloud account.

2. On a Mac, go to Applications > Utilities and turn on Keychain Access.Alternatively, you can also use Spotlight Search (Command + Spacebar) to launch it.

3. Select "System" from the sidebar and search for a Wi-Fi network from the list.

4. Double-click a Wi-Fi network and check the box next to Show passwords to view saved passwords.You may be prompted for your Mac login password.

5. Now you can copy and paste the password into the Wi-Fi settings menu.

As you may have noticed, this method is not as seamless as the first one.Still, it's a handy option when you want to know the passwords for multiple Wi-Fi networks.This method may not work if you have changed the default password manager on your iPhone to LastPass, Dashlane, or 1Password.

Share Wi-Fi passwords with other devices

Now you know two ways to share your Wi-Fi password with your Mac.As you may have seen, one of these methods is more convenient than the other.So if you have an iPhone and a Mac, you'll prefer to use the password sharing feature because it works seamlessly.

Unfortunately, users with Android or Windows devices cannot share Wi-Fi passwords with Macs through the above two methods.Therefore, they need to manually obtain the password from the Wi-Fi settings menu, and then share it with the Mac user.