How to view saved passwords hidden in browser ?

It is sometimes useful to recover a forgotten password saved in your browser's forms history. It is also a good reminder that it is surprisingly easy for anyone snooping around on your computer to view your passwords as well.

Just try and see for yourself:

Firefox
- Click the "Open Menu" icon (three horizontal lines icon, top-right) and choose Options
- Navigate to the "Security" tab and click the "Saved Passwords" button. You will see a list of website addresses and usernames
- click the "Show Passwords" button to see them all.

Note: You can make it harder for the casual snooper by turning on "Use a master password" option in the security tab.

Chrome
- Click the Settings icon (three horizontal lines icon, top-right) and choose Settings
- Choose "Settings" in the left column and click the "Show advanced settings" link at the bottom
- scroll to "Passwords and forms" and click "Manage saved passwords"
- Choose an account and click the "Show" button next to the obscured password

Note: Chrome does require you to enter your Windows account password to see the actual saved passwords (provided you have one set).

Internet Explorer
There is no built-in method to see your saved passwords in the browser itself. However, there are freeware programs available, sucn as "IE PassView" that will show you a full list of saved passwords, and there is no setting in IE to prevent it.

Safari
- Navigate to Safari -> Preferences -> Auto-fill
- Click the Edit button to view saved passwords


As illustrated above, it is easy for anyone with access to your Windows profile to view a list of your saved passwords. For basic protection, one should set a Windows password (that is requested on wake-up), and just setup a guest account for others to use. Using a non-administrative account can also prevent others from installing third-party software for recovering your passwords.