Passwords should be complex and as long as possible so that hackers have no chance to crack them in a short period of time. However, complicated passwords are easy to forget. Anyone who does not maintain and carefully write down their passwords or store them in a password manager’s database risks suddenly losing access to Windows, protected files, or Internet services.

Further reading: Best Password Managers 2024: Protect Your Online Accounts

There are a number of tools on the Internet that can read and decrypt plain-readable or encrypted passwords for Windows, Office programs, or certain file formats, such as PDF, from configuration files or the registry. But many of these were written for older software versions and no longer work today.

Microsoft has continued to strengthen its password encryption strength over the years, and other manufacturers have followed suit. That said, it’s still possible to extract stored passwords from certain types of files and apps. Programmer Nir Sofer offers a whole range of corresponding tools on his website www.nirsoft.netall of which can be downloaded for free.

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Windows remembers the password of the router or a connected NAS device and saves this data in the following folder:

C:\Users(username)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Credentials 

The Nirsoft tool View credentials file can read these files and display the passwords they contain.

No need to install the program. All you have to do is unzip the ZIP file. After starting the EXE file, an options window appears. In the top menu, select the option Decrypt credentials files of all logged in users > Require to run as administrator (Elevation) and click OK.

Credentialsfileview will now show you the contents of the files. For most entries, you’ll hardly be able to tell which app they belong to. However, take a closer look at all the rows where your email address appears in the Username column or where Domain Password appears under Input Type.

Determining the email account password

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In order for an email program to retrieve messages from your provider’s email server, it must transmit a password. This data is stored in the program’s configuration files. You can use Email view to display passwords.

Simply call the tool and it will automatically recognize the email application you are using and look for the associated password. It also shows the server address, username and POP3, IMAP and SMTP ports used. After right-clicking on the password, you can copy it directly to the clipboard with Copy Password. Mail Passview supports Outlook, Thunderbird and Eudora among others.

Make the PST file accessible again

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Outlook stores emails, contacts, calendar data, and so on in a file with a .PST extension. To prevent others from accessing this data, it is password protected.

If you have lost this password, you can use Pstpassword tool to generate three passwords to access the data. It sounds weird, but it really works. This is because Outlook PST files do not save a password. Instead, the program generates a 32-bit hash value that represents the original password.

This hash value can also be reached with a whole range of other passwords thanks to the weak algorithm Microsoft has implemented encryption with.

Make WLAN passwords visible

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When you connect to a Wi-Fi network, Windows automatically remembers the name, SSID, and password used. As soon as you come back into range of the wireless network later, the operating system can automatically connect again.

This feature is primarily useful for notebook owners who frequently move back and forth between multiple locations. Thanks to this function, they are continuously connected to a WLAN and thus to the Internet without having to enter the correct password every time.

In Windows, you can display the password for the WLAN you are currently connected to. To do this, open Settings in the Start menu, go to Network and Internet – Properties, scroll down and click View next to Show Wi-Fi security code.

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The Wirelesskeyview The tool even gives you an overview of all Wi-Fi passwords stored in Windows. Simply unzip the ZIP file and run the EXE file.

Read your Windows product key

To be able to work permanently with Windows, you need a valid product key. This is a 25-digit code that you must enter into Windows within 30 days of installation. You will receive it when you purchase an operating system license.

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If you buy a new computer and want to install Windows on it, you will need to enter your product key again. If you can no longer find the license, you can read the key from the registry of the old installation. To do this, you need a tool like Produkey from Nirsoft. Just run the EXE file and the program will show you the product key of your Windows installation.

Show passwords stored in the browser

All three major browsers have a built-in password manager. By default, the software offers to remember the code you enter every time you enter a password and automatically use it for subsequent logins. Of course, this password database is encrypted and protected.

Google Chrome requires you to enter your Windows password or PIN to view passwords, Edge requires you to sign in to your Microsoft account, and Opera and Firefox reveal stored data only after you’ve signed in to your account. However, if you don’t you still know your password, you will need to do it differently.

In this case, you can use View browser access. The tool lists the passwords saved in the four mentioned browsers directly after opening and also states the username used and the browser from which password manager the data originates.

Nirsoft offers three parallel tools such as Chromepass, Passwordfoxand Operapassviewwhich only views the passwords of Chrome, Firefox and older versions of Opera.

Download password cracker

Many malware programs specialize in installing a software agent that looks for passwords on other people’s computers and sends them to the hacker’s computer on the Internet. These can be access data for social networks such as Facebook, X, LinkedIn or for streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Spotify.

Hackers are also interested in passwords for mail servers or product keys. They may be able to intercept additional access data via e-mails from third parties, and product keys are easily sold on the Internet.

If the user downloads tools to read such data, this is recognized by the antivirus software. In this case, the download in the browser is blocked from the very beginning. This is also true for many Nirsoft tools, even if they are not illegal hacking tools. Please do not try to disable your antivirus program to allow downloading to your computer as this would be dangerous. Instead, set your antivirus software to exclude the download folder from monitoring.

Temporarily remove the folder protection

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In Defender, click the program icon in the corner of the taskbar or open Settings in the Start menu and then navigate to Privacy and security – Windows Security.

Click Virus and threat protection, and under Virus and threat protection settings, click Manage settings. Under Exclusions, go to Add or remove exclusions and select Add exclusion in the next window. In the next window, click on Folder and enter the path to the download folder. Normally this is C:\Users(username)\Downloads.

Defender will now allow all downloads from this folder and will not prevent you from unzipping the ZIP file or running the program. As soon as you no longer need the Nirsoft tool, you should enable folder protection again immediately. To do this, select the folder in Defender and click Remove.

Bypassing browser blocks

Sometimes the browser sounds an alarm when you download a Nirsoft tool and won’t let you download the file.

In this case, open Properties in Google Chrome through the three-dot menu and navigate to Privacy and security – Security. In the next window, toggle No Protection and then switch back to Standard Protection after using the tool.

In Edge and Firefox, you can allow the download directly in the message about blocking dangerous software. The browser may also send this report: Unchecked Download blocked.

In this case, right-click the download link in Google Chrome and Edge and select Save Link As. In the next window, enter the folder you excluded from monitoring in Defender.

In Firefox, you will see the following message: This file contains a virus or malware. Select the right arrow and then click Allow Download in the next window.

Disable Defender Smartscreen warnings

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Finally, Defender Smartscreen can crash and prevent the program from running. In the harmless version, a blue-green window appears with the following message: Your computer has been protected by Windows.

This means that the Windows software database does not recognize the program and therefore refuses to start it. If you’re sure the program is harmless, click More info – Run anyway to start the software.

You may also see the Malicious file message on a red background. This also comes from the smart screen and indicates that it might be malware. In this case, open the lock once for harmless apps by clicking More info and Run anyway.