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Why Does My iPhone Keep Asking to Share Your Wi-Fi Password?

The Wi-Fi Password alert means a nearby Apple device is requesting access to a network your iPhone knows. You can decline it, or check Apple’s sharing requirements if the request is expected.
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Your iPhone shows the Wi-Fi Password notification when a nearby compatible Apple device requests the password for a Wi-Fi network your phone knows. It is an approval request, not by itself evidence of a fault or intrusion. Tap Share Password only if you mean to let that device join the network.

What triggers the Wi-Fi Password notification?

The other person selects your Wi-Fi network on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Its request is advertised over Bluetooth Low Energy, and nearby awake Apple devices that know the network password can respond. Apple says the sharing device checks the requester’s identity before sending the password. See Apple’s Wi-Fi password-sharing instructions and security explanation.

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Apple’s documented setup conditions include both people being signed in to their Apple Accounts, having each other’s contact information saved, and being nearby with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled. The sharing iPhone must be unlocked and connected to the network, and Personal Hotspot should be off on either device. Apple does not give a precise distance or identify which device prompted any particular notification; a prompt alone does not prove that someone has accessed your network.

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What should you do when the prompt keeps appearing?

If you do not want to share

Do not tap Share Password; the request requires your approval. If someone nearby is repeatedly trying to join, ask them to stop selecting the network. A new attempt can trigger another notification.

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If you intended to share but it is not working

  • Check that both devices have current software, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on, and Personal Hotspot is off.
  • Make sure each person’s Apple Account email address or phone number is saved in the other person’s Contacts.
  • Keep the devices nearby. The sharing iPhone must be unlocked and connected to the Wi-Fi network.
  • Restart both devices if the sharing setup does not appear or the transfer fails. Apple also recommends that the requester enter the Wi-Fi password manually if needed. Its step-by-step instructions include the full sharing flow.

Apple’s cited guidance does not describe a separate setting that disables only incoming Wi-Fi password-sharing requests. Ask to Join Networks controls notifications about available Wi-Fi networks when no known network is in range; Auto-Join Hotspot controls whether the iPhone automatically joins nearby Personal Hotspots. Neither setting is documented as a way to suppress the password-sharing approval request. Apple explains those network settings here.

Is this the same as Personal Hotspot?

No. Sharing a Wi-Fi password lets another Apple device join a Wi-Fi network. Personal Hotspot shares your iPhone’s cellular internet connection. Apple says an iPhone cannot join a Wi-Fi network and then share that same connection onward through its hotspot. If the alert refers to joining or enabling a hotspot, troubleshoot that separate feature; see Apple’s Personal Hotspot guidance.

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