# Retrieve the Administrator Password for a Windows VM on Quake AI

Source: https://docs.quake.ai/docs/operate/troubleshooting/retrieve-windows-password
Markdown: https://docs.quake.ai/docs/operate/troubleshooting/retrieve-windows-password.md

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# Retrieve the Administrator Password for a Windows VM on Quake AI

When you deploy a Windows virtual machine (VM) on Quake AI, the administrator password is encrypted and can be retrieved from the web interface if you have the corresponding private key for the key pair used during VM creation.

This guide walks you through the steps to retrieve the password.

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## Steps to retrieve the password

1. **Log in to the Console**  
   From the Quake AI Portal ([{PORTAL_URL}]({PORTAL_URL})), access the Cloud Console for the project with your Windows Virtual Machine.

2. **Locate Your Virtual Machine**  
   Navigate to:  
   **Compute → Instances**  
   Find the Windows VM for which you need the password.

   ![find Windows VM](/images/docs/articles/retrieve-windows-password/image.png)

3. **Open the Access Info Window**  
   Select the **Settings** icon (![alt text](/images/docs/articles/retrieve-windows-password/image-1.png)) next to your VM and choose **Access Info**.

   ![alt text](/images/docs/articles/retrieve-windows-password/image-2.png)

4. **Get Password**  
   In the **Access Info** window, select the **Get Password** button.

   ![alt text](/images/docs/articles/retrieve-windows-password/image-3.png)

5. **Provide Your Private Key**  
   - Either select **Click to Upload** and select your private key file  
   - Or paste the contents of your private key into the provided text box.  

   **Important:** The private key must be the one associated with the key pair used when you built the Windows VM.

   ![alt text](/images/docs/articles/retrieve-windows-password/image-4.png)

6. **Show the Password**  
   Select **Show Password** to reveal the decrypted Administrator password.

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## Notes
- Keep your private key secure. Anyone with access to it can retrieve your VM’s Administrator password.
- If you have lost the private key, you will not be able to retrieve the existing password and may need to reset it through other recovery methods.