Ever wonder where the Windows stores your saved passwords?Most applications store passwords in the registry, but there are a few that keep them in certain directories on your hard drive.
If you've lost your password, below are the password storage locations for the most common Windows applications. Items that begin with HKEY are stored in the Windows registry.
If you are not sure what that means, we recommend you don't mess with the registry as making unintended changes to it can result in a corruption of your Windows installation.
We instead recommend using MessenPass, a password recovery tool, that can recover MSN Messenger, XP Windows Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ Lite, AOL Instant Messenger, Trillian, Miranda and GAIM passwords with ease.
Google Talk: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Accounts\[Account Name]
Google Desktop: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Desktop\Mailboxes\[Account Name]
MSN/Windows Messenger v6.0: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger
Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MessengerService
MSN/Windows Messenger v7.0: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\IdentityCRL\Creds\[Account Name]
MSN/Windows Messenger v8.0/9.0: In the Credentials file, under "WindowsLive:name="
Yahoo Messenger v6.0: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\Pager (EOptions)
Yahoo Messenger v7.0: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\Pager (ETS)
AIM v6.0: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\America Online\AIM6\Passwords
AIM Pro: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AIM\AIMPRO\[Account Name]
ICQ Lite v4/5/2003: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mirabilis\ICQ\NewOwners\[ICQ Number] (MainLocation)
ICQ v6.0: Windows\Application Data\ICQ\[User Name]\Owner.mdb (Access Database)
Outlook 2002-2008: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\[Profile Name]\9375CFF0413111d3B88A00104B2A6676\[Account Index]
Mozilla Firefox: Windows Profile]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[Profile Name] (signons.txt)
Google Chrome: Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web Data
Internet Explorer v6.0 and under: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider
Internet Explorer v7.0 and 8.0: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IntelliForms\Storage2
Opera: Windows\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile
Windows Network Passwords: For XP, it is under WindowsApplication Data\Microsoft\Credentials\[User SID]\Credentials and [Windows Profile]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Credentials\[User SID]\Credentials
And for Windows Vista, it is under Windows\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials\[Random ID] and Windows\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Credentials\[Random ID]
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