See everything on the wire

Capture live packets, dissect 1,000+ protocols, and troubleshoot networks with the analyzer trusted by security teams, admins, and developers worldwide.

500K+ Downloads
100% Free
Cross Platform

Download Wireshark 4.6.6 Explore features

GNU GPL v2. Full version, no trial.

What is Wireshark?

Wireshark is a powerful, open-source network protocol analyzer that lets you capture and interactively browse traffic on a computer network. Explore packet inspection, live monitoring, and hundreds of protocols from TCP and HTTP to IoT and industrial stacks.

Used by cybersecurity professionals, system administrators, developers, and students, Wireshark works like a microscope for your network. View our first capture guide or download Wireshark 4.6.6 to start analyzing traffic today.

500K+Downloads

25K+Active Users

100%Free & Open Source

Key Features

Comprehensive network analysis, live capture, and protocol dissection in one trusted desktop application.

Packet & Protocol Inspection

Dissect thousands of protocols with layered decode trees and field-level detail.

Live Network Monitoring

Capture traffic in real time from Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and many other interfaces.

Interface & Permissions

Promiscuous mode, remote capture, and platform-specific privilege guidance.

Performance Insights

Statistics, IO graphs, flow analysis, and export for reporting.

Plugins & Extensibility

Dissector plugins, Lua scripting, and custom protocol support.

View all features

Real Use Cases

How teams put packet-level visibility to work every day.

Developers

Application debugging

Debug application protocols, verify API calls, trace TLS handshakes, and reproduce client-server issues with display filters and follow-stream tools.

System administrators

Operations & uptime

Identify bottlenecks, troubleshoot DHCP and DNS failures, analyze VoIP quality, and document network behavior during outages.

Security & power users

Threat analysis

Investigate suspicious traffic, study malware communication patterns, and validate firewall rules with authoritative packet-level evidence.

How Wireshark Compares

Wireshark is the standard GUI protocol analyzer. Here is how it stacks up against other tools in the same category.

Capability	Wireshark	tcpdump	Fiddler
GUI packet browser	Yes	CLI only	HTTP focused
Hundreds of protocol dissectors	Yes	Limited decode	Web proxies
Live capture + offline analysis	Yes	Capture yes	Proxy capture
Free open source (GPL)	Yes	Yes	Varies by edition
Cross-platform desktop	Windows, macOS, Linux	Unix-like primary	Windows primary

Trust & Transparency

Wireshark is free software under the GNU General Public License version 2. You receive the full application, not a limited demo.

The Wireshark Foundation, a non-profit organization, supports ongoing development through community donations and sponsorships.

Source code is open for audit. Releases are signed and checksums are published so you can verify integrity before installation.

Read our trust and security policy →

User Reviews

Filter Reviews: All

sniperhalo Posted 2013-09-22

Hope to have Chinese interface supports
zoid-dev Posted 2013-01-07

tshark rocks !
inbore680 Posted 2012-12-16

It is just perfect!
orunal1989 Posted 2012-12-10

Two words: LIGHTNING FAST!
azdorecon Posted 2012-06-06

a great software,love it,very useful

Start Analyzing Network Traffic Today

Download Wireshark 4.6.6 stable for your platform. Verify checksums, install, and capture your first trace in minutes.

Go to Download Explore features