diff --git a/airflow/configuration.py b/airflow/configuration.py
index 13bb344b8f84d..582bc7c185898 100644
--- a/airflow/configuration.py
+++ b/airflow/configuration.py
@@ -156,7 +156,10 @@ def run_command(command):
     },
     'github_enterprise': {
         'api_rev': 'v3'
-    }
+    },
+    'admin': {
+        'hide_sensitive_variable_fields': True,
+    },
 }
 
 DEFAULT_CONFIG = """\
@@ -386,6 +389,10 @@ def run_command(command):
 # default_principal = admin
 # default_secret = admin
 
+[admin]
+# UI to hide sensitive variable fields when set to True
+hide_sensitive_variable_fields = True
+
 """
 
 TEST_CONFIG = """\
diff --git a/airflow/www/views.py b/airflow/www/views.py
index bcd390ccd8909..78f96776b1b69 100644
--- a/airflow/www/views.py
+++ b/airflow/www/views.py
@@ -82,6 +82,17 @@
 logout_user = airflow.login.logout_user
 
 FILTER_BY_OWNER = False
+
+DEFAULT_SENSITIVE_VARIABLE_FIELDS = (
+    'password',
+    'secret',
+    'passwd',
+    'authorization',
+    'api_key',
+    'apikey',
+    'access_token',
+)
+
 if conf.getboolean('webserver', 'FILTER_BY_OWNER'):
     # filter_by_owner if authentication is enabled and filter_by_owner is true
     FILTER_BY_OWNER = not current_app.config['LOGIN_DISABLED']
@@ -265,6 +276,11 @@ def recurse_tasks(tasks, task_ids, dag_ids, task_id_to_dag):
         task_id_to_dag[tasks.task_id] = tasks.dag
 
 
+def should_hide_value_for_key(key_name):
+    return any(s in key_name for s in DEFAULT_SENSITIVE_VARIABLE_FIELDS) \
+           and conf.getboolean('admin', 'hide_sensitive_variable_fields')
+
+
 class Airflow(BaseView):
 
     def is_visible(self):
@@ -2015,11 +2031,17 @@ class DagPickleView(SuperUserMixin, ModelView):
 class VariableView(wwwutils.LoginMixin, AirflowModelView):
     verbose_name = "Variable"
     verbose_name_plural = "Variables"
+
+    def hidden_field_formatter(view, context, model, name):
+        if should_hide_value_for_key(model.key):
+            return Markup('*' * 8)
+        return getattr(model, name)
+
     form_columns = (
         'key',
         'val',
     )
-    column_list = ('key', 'is_encrypted',)
+    column_list = ('key', 'val', 'is_encrypted',)
     column_filters = ('key', 'val')
     column_searchable_list = ('key', 'val')
     form_widget_args = {
@@ -2028,6 +2050,18 @@ class VariableView(wwwutils.LoginMixin, AirflowModelView):
             'rows': 20,
         }
     }
+    column_sortable_list = (
+        'key',
+        'val',
+        'is_encrypted',
+    )
+    column_formatters = {
+        'val': hidden_field_formatter
+    }
+
+    def on_form_prefill(self, form, id):
+        if should_hide_value_for_key(form.key.data):
+            form.val.data = '*' * 8
 
 
 class JobModelView(ModelViewOnly):
diff --git a/docs/img/variable_hidden.png b/docs/img/variable_hidden.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e081ca3eea2b1
Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/img/variable_hidden.png differ
diff --git a/docs/ui.rst b/docs/ui.rst
index 112804ed95c68..4b232fa1aea18 100644
--- a/docs/ui.rst
+++ b/docs/ui.rst
@@ -41,6 +41,19 @@ dependencies and their current status for a specific run.
 
 ------------
 
+Variable View
+.............
+The variable view allows you to list, create, edit or delete the key-value pair
+of a variable used during jobs. Value of a variable will be hidden if the key contains
+any words in ('password', 'secret', 'passwd', 'authorization', 'api_key', 'apikey', 'access_token')
+by default, but can be configured to show in clear-text.
+
+------------
+
+.. image:: img/variable_hidden.png
+
+------------
+
 Gantt Chart
 ...........
 The Gantt chart lets you analyse task duration and overlap. You can quickly