How to Recover Saved Passwords in Firefox

Article by Marc Liron - Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Forgotten those Passwords in Mozilla Firefox?

Like other browsers Firefox includes the option to remember your usernames and passwords for these types of websites. So that the next time you visit the website Firefox can "auto fill" these details for you.

However, overtime by using this built in feature you can end up forgetting your passwords!

Google Sign In Box

Fig 1.1 Google Sign In Box

For instance above you can see a screenshot showing Firefox automatically filling in my password for me when I visit Google mail (Gmail).

Nice and handy, but after a while of doing this it is easy for me to forget my password as I am not typing it in on a regular basis!

Reveal the Firefox Saved Passwords

Option #1 - Using Firefox

Unlike Internet Explorer, Firefox does allow you to view your saved passwords it stores.

To do this you will need to:

Tools > Options > Security > Saved Passwords > Show Passwords

Saved Passwords in Firefox

Fig 1.2 - Saved Passwords in Firefox

Option #2 - Using a 3rd Party Utility

There is a 3rd party utility called PasswordFox that you can use to reveal those hidden passwords.

Simply download from: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/passwordfox.html

...and run.

No installation required.

The PasswordFox Utility

Fig 1.3 - The PasswordFox Utility