Changing it yourself takes about ten minutes, and knowing how to change your Wi-Fi password step by step is easier than most people expect. The password is not stored on your phone or computer, it is stored on the router, so you sign in to the router’s local settings page in a browser, open the wireless security section, type a new password and save. Expect every wireless device in the house to drop off and need reconnecting afterwards.
Updated October 2026. Menu names shift between router brands and models, so read the step that matches the interface you actually see.
Table of Contents
- What You Need
- How to Change Your Wi-Fi Password Step by Step
- Change the Password on a Network Provided by Your ISP
- How to Change the Wi-Fi Password on Windows or macOS
- How to Change the Wi-Fi Password on iPhone or Android
- Common Mistakes
- Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the default admin password for my router?
- Why do all my devices disconnect when I change the WiFi password?
- Do I need to contact my internet provider to change the password?
- How do I choose a strong WiFi password I can still type?
- Should I change the network name at the same time?
- What is the router’s admin address on my network?
- Conclusion
What You Need
Before you open a browser, get four things lined up. Skipping any one of them is what turns a five-minute job into an afternoon.
- A device already on the network. A laptop, phone or tablet, connected by Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable. This is the only machine that can reach the router’s settings page.
- The router’s admin username and password. These are printed on a sticker on the bottom or back of the router, or in the quick-start guide or welcome pack that came with it. They are not the same thing as your Wi-Fi password.
- The router’s admin address. Usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, sometimes a vendor web address like tplinkwifi.net.
- The new password, already written down. Somewhere you can reach from the router. Typing it into a phone you cannot reconnect is a bad afternoon.
One warning before you start: changing the wireless password disconnects every phone, laptop, TV, printer, camera and extender on that network. A wired device that gets its internet from the router as a switch can also drop, so plan to do this at home rather than right before a call.
How to Change Your Wi-Fi Password Step by Step
These six steps work on any home router bought in the last decade. Where a brand does something differently, the table under Step 4 gives the exact menu path.
Step 1: Connect to Your Router
Join the network on the device you plan to use, either with the existing Wi-Fi password or with an Ethernet cable plugged into one of the router’s LAN ports. A wired connection is more reliable and keeps you online after you change the wireless password.
While you are connected, find the router’s address. On Windows 11, open Command Prompt, type ipconfig, press Enter and read the Default Gateway line. On a Mac, go to System Settings, then Network, then Details, and check the Router field. Either one hands you the address you need next.
Step 2: Open the Router Administrator Page
Open a web browser and type the router address into the address bar, not the search box. Press Enter and a local settings page loads. It runs on the router itself inside your house, so this page loads even with your internet connection down.
The two addresses you will see most often are 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.0.1. Some newer models use 10.0.0.1, and several brands accept a friendly web address instead, such as tplinkwifi.net or routerlogin.net. If the page does not open, try the other address before assuming something is broken.
Step 3: Sign In to the Router
A login box asks for a username and a password. Use the administrator credentials from the sticker on the router, not your Wi-Fi password. A very common mistake, and the single biggest source of confusion in support threads, is typing the network password into the admin login box and concluding the router is broken.
Plenty of older and ISP-supplied routers have no password at all, so the password field is simply left empty and you press Sign in. Others still accept a printed default pair. If the sticker is missing, faded or written by a previous owner, jump ahead to Common Mistakes, there is a recovery path there.
Step 4: Find the Wireless Security Settings
Once you are in, look for a section named Wireless, Wi-Fi, Network, Security or Internet Settings. Inside it, the password field is usually labelled Password, Passphrase, Security Key or Wi-Fi Password. Labels differ between brands, so look for the field, not the exact wording.
This table covers the brands most homes actually have, so you can skip the hunt and go straight to the right menu.
| Brand or system | Admin page address | Menu path to the wireless password |
|---|---|---|
| TP-Link | 192.168.1.1 or tplinkwifi.net | Wireless Settings, then Wireless Security |
| NETGEAR | 192.168.0.1 or routerlogin.net | Advanced, then Setup, then Wireless Settings |
| ASUS | 192.168.1.1 or asusrouter.com | Wireless Network, then Professional, then Authentication |
| Linksys | 192.168.1.1 | Wireless, then Basic Wireless Settings |
| Eero | App only, no browser page | Eero app, Settings, Wi-Fi Details, Change Password |
| Google Nest Wi-Fi | App only | Google Home app, Wi-Fi, then network details |
| Xfinity | 10.0.0.1 | Connection, then Wi-Fi, then Security Key |
| AT&T | 192.168.1.254 | Home Network, then Wi-Fi Security |
| Verizon | 192.168.1.1 or My Verizon app | Wi-Fi Networks, then Edit |
Step 5: Set a New Wi-Fi Password
Set security to WPA2-Personal, or WPA3-Personal if the router offers it and your devices support it. Avoid WPA, WPA2 Enterprise and anything labelled WEP. Older enterprise modes reject home passwords outright, and WEP is broken security that takes minutes to crack.
Choose something you can type without looking it up, because you will type it on every device in the house. Four unrelated words joined by a hyphen works well, or a single 12-character string of mixed characters. Skip names, street addresses, birth years and anything already used for your email.
Some routers run 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz as separate networks, each with its own password. Check whether your model has one password field or two, and change both if there are two. Leave the network name, the SSID, alone unless you have a reason to change it, because renaming the network forces every device off the network name as well as the password.
Step 6: Save, Wait, and Reconnect Your Devices
Click Save, then Apply, depending on what the page calls it. The router restarts, which usually takes 30 to 90 seconds. Lights blink, your connection drops, and when the router comes back the new password is live.
Reconnect in order of hassle: phones and laptops first, then tablets, then smart TVs, printers, speakers, game consoles, cameras, video doorbells and Wi-Fi extenders. Anything that joins on its own using a saved password will simply fail, which is why an extend or a mesh node sometimes needs a factory reset of its own before it will rejoin.
If the router refuses the new password, check that you are typing it into the wireless password field rather than the admin password field, that the security mode matches what the router supports, and that it is not already set to a different password on another band. Routers also tend to reject a password identical to the one already in use, so change the last character and try again.
Change the Password on a Network Provided by Your ISP
If your router came from your cable or internet provider, the router’s own settings page is still there, but the provider often gives you a second, easier route through its app or account site. Sign in to the provider app, open the gateway or Wi-Fi settings, and change the password in the field the provider calls the Wi-Fi password or network key. Saving there pushes the new password to the router over your connection.
Two things to watch. First, ISP portals often show two different passwords side by side, the Wi-Fi password and the gateway administrator password, and it is easy to edit the wrong one. Second, a whole-home system with mesh nodes usually takes the new password from the primary node, though a few providers still require you to visit each secondary node.
If your provider has disabled browser access to the router page entirely, the app is the only way in. If the app cannot find the Wi-Fi settings, a quick call to provider support will sort it, and they can tell you whether your particular gateway is locked down.
How to Change the Wi-Fi Password on Windows or macOS
Windows and macOS cannot change the password stored on the router, they can only forget a network and rejoin it. The real change happens on the router page from the steps above, and the computer work below is the reconnect half of the job.
Windows 11: open Settings, go to Network and internet, then Wi-Fi. Click the arrow beside your network name, then Forget. The network disappears from the list, reopen the Wi-Fi panel, pick it again, and enter the new password when asked.
Recent macOS: open System Settings, then Wi-Fi, then click Advanced. Select your network name from the list, click the minus button to remove it, then press Done. Go back to the Wi-Fi panel, select the network and enter the new password.
If you want to check the password you are using right now rather than forget it, Windows 11 shows it under Network and internet, Wi-Fi, then the network, then Properties, where you can copy the Wi-Fi key if you are an administrator. On a Mac, saved Wi-Fi passwords live in Keychain Access, where you search the network name and open the Internet password entry.
How to Change the Wi-Fi Password on iPhone or Android
Phones work the same way as computers here. The phone can drop a saved network and rejoin with a new password, but only the router or the provider app can set the new password in the first place.
iPhone: open Settings, tap Wi-Fi, tap the info icon next to your network name, then tap Forget This Network. Tap the network name again from the list and enter the new password when prompted.
Android: open Settings, go to Network and internet, then Internet, then tap the settings icon next to your saved network. Choose Forget, confirm, then select the network again and enter the new password. Menus vary a little between manufacturers, so look for a cog or gear icon next to the saved network.
Once the router password is changed, iPhones sharing the network with nearby devices will ask you for the new password once. That is the normal handover behaviour and nothing is wrong with the router.
Common Mistakes
Almost every problem with this task is one of these, and each has a fix.
- Using the Wi-Fi password to log in to the router. The admin page asks for the credentials printed on the router itself, which is often just an empty password. Look on the sticker, then the quick-start guide, then the provider welcome pack.
- Changed the admin password instead of the wireless one. The admin password only unlocks the settings page, it does not affect anyone joining the network. The wireless password is in the section named for wireless settings.
- The admin page will not load. Type the address into the address bar rather than a search box, include http:// before it, use a wired connection if you have one, and turn off any VPN or browser extension that blocks private addresses.
- Locked out after a factory reset. A reset wipes your settings and restores the factory credentials printed on the label. If the sticker is gone, check the provider account for the gateway’s original details, or ask your internet provider to confirm them. Leaving a reset router with no password is the worst outcome, because the network is open to everyone in range.
- Devices will not rejoin. Forget the network on each device rather than just reconnecting, and expect smart home gear, extenders and mesh nodes to need a factory reset of their own.
- Changed the network name by accident. Renaming the SSID breaks saved connections across the house. Change the name back to the previous one and leave it there unless you want to rejoin every device to a new name.
After the change is done, take two more minutes. Set a new admin password in the same account or administration section, check for a firmware update, confirm you are on WPA2 or WPA3, and turn on a guest network for visitors instead of handing out the main password.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the default admin password for my router?
Most routers ship with a sticker on the base or back that prints an address such as 192.168.1.1, a username like admin and either a blank password or a short generated code. If that sticker is missing or unreadable, check the quick-start guide and the welcome pack your internet provider sent. A previous owner or a technician may have changed it, in which case the provider account page is the next place to look.
Why do all my devices disconnect when I change the WiFi password?
The password is the key every device uses to join the network, so a new password locks out anything still holding the old one. Phones, laptops, TVs, printers, cameras and extenders each have to forget the network and rejoin with the new password. Wired devices behind the router may also drop briefly while it restarts. Everything comes back once reconnected.
Do I need to contact my internet provider to change the password?
Usually not. If you bought your own router, the whole job happens on the router’s local settings page and no provider involvement is needed. If your router was supplied by your internet provider, their app or account page is the easier route, and a few providers lock the router page in the browser. Support can confirm your gateway details if you cannot get in.
How do I choose a strong WiFi password I can still type?
Length beats complexity. Four unrelated words joined by hyphens gives you around 20 characters that are easy to spell from memory and hard to guess. Avoid names, street addresses, birth years, and anything you use for your email. The same password across two networks gives attackers two chances, so pick something new for your Wi-Fi.
Should I change the network name at the same time?
Keep it. The network name, the SSID, is not the password, and renaming it forces every saved device in the house to reconnect under a new name even before the password change. There are legitimate reasons to rename, such as moving in and removing the previous owner’s name, but do it as a separate job so you only troubleshoot one change at a time.
What is the router’s admin address on my network?
Most routers use 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, some newer gateways use 10.0.0.1, and brands also accept addresses like tplinkwifi.net or routerlogin.net. To see the one that is actually yours, type ipconfig in a Windows Command Prompt and read the Default Gateway, or open Mac System Settings, then Network, then Details, and read the Router field.
Conclusion
Connect a device to the router, open the router’s local admin page at its gateway address, sign in with the credentials printed on the router, open the wireless security settings, set WPA2 or WPA3 with a strong password, save, and wait for the restart. Then go device by device, forget the network and reconnect with the new password. That is how to change your Wi-Fi password step by step, start to finish, without calling anybody.
While you are in there, change the admin password, update the firmware and turn on a guest network. Those three minutes are what stop the next person who knows your router model from walking in.