Make asterisks visible on password forms - is that possible?
In most forms, characters entered in the password field are replaced by asterisks. In this practical tip, we will tell you whether and how you can make the signs visible.
Make entered passwords visible
Characters are often masked by asterisk symbols when entering the password. This serves security and protects your accounts from unauthorized access. However, if you have forgotten a password or want to read a long password when entering it, this may be possible. The following resources are available:
- You can find out how to read passwords from your browser in this practical tip and in the picture gallery.
- With the Firefox Add-OnShow My Password you can make your entry directly visible in the password fields.
- You can read out forgotten WLAN passwords with WirelessKeyView. Alternatively, in this practical tip we will show you how to display the security key for your WLAN.
- PasswdFinder extracts passwords from browsers, messengers and email clients.
- Software for displaying hidden passwords such as "Asterisk Logger", "Pantsoff" and "Asteriks Key" have been prohibited since the so-called "hacker paragraph" came into force.
- Brute force tools such as "Win-Dietrich", which find forgotten passwords by trying out all combinations of characters, have also been banned.
Don't forget that asterisk masking is a security measure for password fields. You should not switch them off permanently. You can find out more about browser security in our practical tips for updating Internet Explorer and checking and updating Firefox plug-ins.
Latest videos
The Firefox add-on "Show My Password" shows the characters you have entered in common password fields.
You can save your saved passwords without this add-on under »Settings«, »Security«, »Saved passwords
«See.
PasswdFinder searches browsers, messengers, online games, mail and web clients that it is familiar with right after it starts. When installing, be sure to disable unwanted additional software in the "custom installation".
If you can program yourself, you can decide whether to mask a text field. Often you can also freely choose the mask symbol, as in C #.