[svn] Recover SVN password from local cache

is there a way to recover a password from local cache? The password has to be stored somewhere because I can run

svn co http://my.svn.server/foo

but I've lost the password it self. Do I have to reset it or is it possible (and how) to find and decrypt the password? I'm using mostly CLI SVN on windows, sometimes switching to TortoiseSVN or IntelliJ Idea SVN.

This question is related to svn password-recovery

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For those interested in the OS X solution for apps like Intelli-J where authorizations are stored by OSX:

  1. Hit CMD+SPACE
  2. Type "keychain"
  3. Open keychain access
  4. Under "Keychains" on the left, choose "login"
  5. Under "Category" on the right, choose "All items"
  6. At the top right in the search box, type in the the host URL (e.g. svn.mycompany.com)
  7. Your keychain item will show if you chose to have your Mac remember your login credentials.
  8. Double click the item and check the "Show password" checkbox at the bottom of the dialog that pops up. You will have to enter your Mac login to reveal the password.

Much easier than having to try to decrypt a password :-)


Just use this this decrypter to decrypt your locally cached username & password.

By default, TortoiseSVN stores your cached credentials inside files in the %APPDATA%\Subversion\auth\svn.simple directory. The passwords are encrypted using the Windows Data Protection API, with a key tied to your user account. This tool reads the files and uses the API to decrypt your passwords

svn password decryptor


In ~/.subversion/auth/svn.simple/ you should find a file with a long hexadecimal name. The password is in there in plaintext.

If there is more than one file you'll need to find that one that references the server you need the password for.


Your SVN passwords in Ubuntu (12.04) are in:

~/.subversion/auth/svn.simple/

However in newer versions they are encrypted, as earlier someone mentioned. To find gnome-keyring passwords, I suggest You to use 'gkeyring' program.

To install it on Ubuntu – add repository :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kampka/ppa
sudo apt-get update

Install it:

sudo apt-get install gkeyring

And run as following:

gkeyring --id 15 --output=name,secret

Try different key ids to find pair matching what you are looking for. Thanks to kampka for the soft.