How to Share Your WiFi Password (QR Code, iPhone, Android)

Published September 29, 2026

Short answer: the easiest way to share WiFi is a QR code. The guest points their phone camera at it, taps the prompt, and they are connected — no typing, no spelling out capital letters, and it works on both iPhone and Android. Between two Apple devices there is an even quicker option: a one-tap Share Password prompt. Below is every method, which one to use when, and how to do it without handing out more access than you meant to.

Which method should you use?

Share WiFi with a QR code

A WiFi QR code is not a link to anything — it is the network details themselves, stored as a short line of text that phones know how to read:

T is the security type, S the network name and P the password. When a phone camera sees this, it offers to join the network directly. Every iPhone since iOS 11 and practically every Android phone from the last several years can do this from the normal camera app; on older Android phones, Google Lens or the QR icon on the WiFi settings screen does the same job.

To make one, enter your network name and password in our WiFi QR code generator. It runs entirely in your browser, so the password is never uploaded, and it correctly escapes the characters that break the format (; , : \ ") — a step plenty of generators skip, producing a code that looks fine and silently fails to connect. Download the PNG and print it.

A few things that make a printed code work better:

• Size: about 3 cm (just over an inch) across is plenty for a phone held at arm's length. Leave the white border around the code intact — scanners need it.
• Add the network name and password in text underneath, for laptops and TVs that cannot scan.
• Put it where guests are, not where passers-by are. A code taped to a window can be scanned from the street.
• Reprint it when the password changes. The code holds the password itself, so an old code stops working the moment you change it.

Share WiFi from iPhone to iPhone (or Mac)

Apple devices can pass the password to each other with a single tap:

1. On your guest's device, open Settings → Wi-Fi and tap your network, so it is asking for a password.
2. Hold your unlocked iPhone nearby. A Share Password card pops up.
3. Tap Share Password, then Done. Their device fills the password in and joins.

If the card never appears, check these requirements:

• Their Apple ID email or phone number must be saved in your Contacts, and yours in theirs.
• WiFi and Bluetooth must be on for both devices, and both must be unlocked.
• The devices need to be close together — within a metre or so works best.

This only works between Apple devices. For anyone else, use a QR code.

Share WiFi from iPhone to Android

The Share Password card will not appear for an Android phone, but a recent iPhone can show a QR code instead. On iOS 18 and later, open the Passwords app, go to Wi-Fi, choose your network and tap Show Network QR Code. The Android phone scans it with its camera and joins.

On older iOS versions, go to Settings → Wi-Fi, tap the ⓘ next to your network, then tap the hidden password field. After Face ID or your passcode it is revealed and can be copied — or simply use a printed QR code.

Share WiFi from Android

Android has had WiFi sharing built in since Android 10:

1. Open Settings and go to your WiFi settings (Network & internet on Pixel, Connections → Wi-Fi on Samsung).
2. Tap the gear or arrow next to the network you are connected to.
3. Tap Share (Samsung labels it QR code) and confirm with your PIN or fingerprint.

The phone shows a QR code that any iPhone or Android camera can scan. On most phones the password is also printed as text under the code, which is handy for laptops.

Find the password on Windows or Mac

Laptops, smart TVs, games consoles and printers usually cannot scan anything, so someone has to type the password. If you have forgotten it, a computer that is already connected can show it:

• Windows 11: Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi, open your network's properties and choose View Wi-Fi security key.
• Mac: on macOS Sequoia and later, open the Passwords app and look under Wi-Fi. On earlier versions, search for the network name in Keychain Access, open it and tick Show password.

When a password is going to be typed on a TV remote or a console controller, its characters matter as much as its strength. See which characters are safe in a WiFi password — a long password of letters and digits is far quicker to enter than a short one full of symbols.

Share WiFi safely

Sharing the password shares everything that comes with it. Anyone on your main network can see other devices on it — shared folders, printers, smart speakers, cameras. A few habits keep that under control:

• Use a guest network for visitors. Most routers can run one alongside your main network. Guests get internet access but cannot see your other devices, and you can change its password whenever you like without reconnecting everything you own.
• Remember a QR code is the password in plain text. Anyone who photographs it has the password — treat a printed code like a written-down password.
• Change the password when it has spread too far. If it has been shared with more people than you can remember, change your WiFi password and print a fresh QR code. To see who is connected right now, check who is on your WiFi.
• Make the new password easy to share. Our WiFi password generator creates strong passwords without look-alike characters such as 0/O and l/1, so it reads correctly off a card.

The bottom line

For Apple-to-Apple, the Share Password card is the fastest option. For everyone else — and for any guest you would rather not add to your contacts — use a WiFi QR code, either shown from your phone's settings or printed and left where visitors can find it. Put guests on a guest network, and reprint the code whenever you change the password.

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