By now you have installed Wireshark and are most likely keen to get started capturing your first packets. In the next chapters we will explore: How the Wireshark user interface works How to capture packets in Wireshark How to view packets in Wireshark How to filter packets in Wireshark ... and many other things!

You can start Wireshark from your shell or window manager. When starting Wireshark it's possible to specify optional settings using the command line. See for details. In the following chapters, a lot of screenshots from Wireshark will be shown. As Wireshark runs on many different platforms with many different window managers, different styles applied and there are different versions of the underlying GUI toolkit used, your screen might look different from the provided screenshots. But as there are no real differences in functionality, these screenshots should still be well understandable.

Let's look at Wireshark's user interface. shows Wireshark as you would usually see it after some packets are captured or loaded (how to do this will be described later).

Wireshark's main window consists of parts that are commonly known from many other GUI programs. The menu (see ) is used to start actions. The main toolbar (see ) provides quick access to frequently used items from the menu. The filter toolbar (see ) provides a way to directly manipulate the currently used display filter (see ). The packet list pane (see ) displays a summary of each packet captured. By clicking on packets in this pane you control what is displayed in the other two panes. The packet details pane (see ) displays the packet selected in the packet list pane in more detail. The packet bytes pane (see ) displays the data from the packet selected in the packet list pane, and highlights the field selected in the packet details pane. The statusbar (see ) shows some detailed information about the current program state and the captured data. The layout of the main window can be customized by changing preference settings. See for details!

Packet list and detail navigation can be done entirely from the keyboard. shows a list of keystrokes that will let you quickly move around a capture file. See for additional navigation keystrokes. Accelerator Description Tab, Shift+Tab Move between screen elements, e.g. from the toolbars to the packet list to the packet detail. Down Move to the next packet or detail item. Up Move to the previous packet or detail item. Ctrl+Down, F8 Move to the next packet, even if the packet list isn't focused. Ctrl+Up, F7 Move to the previous packet, even if the packet list isn't focused. Ctrl+. Move to the next packet of the conversation (TCP, UDP or IP) Ctrl+, Move to the previous packet of the conversation (TCP, UDP or IP) Left In the packet detail, closes the selected tree item. If it's already closed, jumps to the parent node. Right In the packet detail, opens the selected tree item. Shift+Right In the packet detail, opens the selected tree item and all of its subtrees. Ctrl+Right In the packet detail, opens all tree items. Ctrl+Left In the packet detail, closes all tree items. Backspace In the packet detail, jumps to the parent node. Return, Enter In the packet detail, toggles the selected tree item. Additionally, typing anywhere in the main window will start filling in a display filter.

The Wireshark menu sits on top of the Wireshark window. An example is shown in . Menu items will be greyed out if the corresponding feature isn't available. For example, you cannot save a capture file if you didn't capture or load any data before.

It contains the following items: File This menu contains items to open and merge capture files, save / print / export capture files in whole or in part, and to quit from Wireshark. See . Edit This menu contains items to find a packet, time reference or mark one or more packets, handle configuration profiles, and set your preferences; (cut, copy, and paste are not presently implemented). See . View This menu controls the display of the captured data, including colorization of packets, zooming the font, showing a packet in a separate window, expanding and collapsing trees in packet details, .... See . Go This menu contains items to go to a specific packet. See . Capture This menu allows you to start and stop captures and to edit capture filters. See . Analyze This menu contains items to manipulate display filters, enable or disable the dissection of protocols, configure user specified decodes and follow a TCP stream. See . Statistics This menu contains items to display various statistic windows, including a summary of the packets that have been captured, display protocol hierarchy statistics and much more. See . Telephony This menu contains items to display various telephony related statistic windows, including a media analysis, flow diagrams, display protocol hierarchy statistics and much more. See . Tools This menu contains various tools available in Wireshark, such as creating Firewall ACL Rules. See . Internals This menu contains items that show information about the internals of Wireshark. See . Help This menu contains items to help the user, e.g. access to some basic help, manual pages of the various command line tools, online access to some of the webpages, and the usual about dialog. See . Each of these menu items is described in more detail in the sections that follow. You can access menu items directly or by pressing the corresponding accelerator keys which are shown at the right side of the menu. For example, you can press the Control (or Strg in German) and the K keys together to open the capture dialog.

The Wireshark file menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Open... Ctrl+O This menu item brings up the file open dialog box that allows you to load a capture file for viewing. It is discussed in more detail in . Open Recent This menu item shows a submenu containing the recently opened capture files. Clicking on one of the submenu items will open the corresponding capture file directly. Merge... This menu item brings up the merge file dialog box that allows you to merge a capture file into the currently loaded one. It is discussed in more detail in . Import... This menu item brings up the import file dialog box that allows you to import a text file into a new temporary capture. It is discussed in more detail in . Close Ctrl+W This menu item closes the current capture. If you haven't saved the capture, you will be asked to do so first (this can be disabled by a preference setting). ------ Save Ctrl+S This menu item saves the current capture. If you have not set a default capture file name (perhaps with the -w <capfile> option), Wireshark pops up the Save Capture File As dialog box (which is discussed further in ). If you have already saved the current capture, this menu item will be greyed out. You cannot save a live capture while the capture is in progress. You must stop the capture in order to save. Save As... Shift+Ctrl+S This menu item allows you to save the current capture file to whatever file you would like. It pops up the Save Capture File As dialog box (which is discussed further in ). ------ File Set > List Files This menu item allows you to show a list of files in a file set. It pops up the Wireshark List File Set dialog box (which is discussed further in ). File Set > Next File If the currently loaded file is part of a file set, jump to the next file in the set. If it isn't part of a file set or just the last file in that set, this item is greyed out. File Set > Previous File If the currently loaded file is part of a file set, jump to the previous file in the set. If it isn't part of a file set or just the first file in that set, this item is greyed out. ------ Export > File... This menu item allows you to export all (or some) of the packets in the capture file to file. It pops up the Wireshark Export dialog box (which is discussed further in ). Export > Selected Packet Bytes... Ctrl+H This menu item allows you to export the currently selected bytes in the packet bytes pane to a binary file. It pops up the Wireshark Export dialog box (which is discussed further in ) Export > Objects > HTTP This menu item allows you to export all or some of the captured HTTP objects into local files. It pops up the Wireshark HTTP object list (which is discussed further in ) Export > Objects > DICOM This menu item allows you to export all or some of the captured DICOM objects into local files. It pops up the Wireshark DICOM object list (which is discussed further in ) Export > Objects > SMB This menu item allows you to export all or some of the captured SMB objects into local files. It pops up the Wireshark SMB object list (which is discussed further in ) ------ Print... Ctrl+P This menu item allows you to print all (or some) of the packets in the capture file. It pops up the Wireshark Print dialog box (which is discussed further in ). ------ Quit Ctrl+Q This menu item allows you to quit from Wireshark. Wireshark will ask to save your capture file if you haven't previously saved it (this can be disabled by a preference setting).

The Wireshark Edit menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Copy > Description Shift+Ctrl+D This menu item will copy the description of the selected item in the detail view to the clipboard. Copy > Fieldname Shift+Ctrl+F This menu item will copy the fieldname of the selected item in the detail view to the clipboard. Copy > Value Shift+Ctrl+V This menu item will copy the value of the selected item in the detail view to the clipboard. Copy > As Filter Shift+Ctrl+C This menu item will use the selected item in the detail view to create a display filter. This display filter is then copied to the clipboard. ------ Find Packet... Ctrl+F This menu item brings up a dialog box that allows you to find a packet by many criteria. There is further information on finding packets in . Find Next Ctrl+N This menu item tries to find the next packet matching the settings from "Find Packet...". Find Previous Ctrl+B This menu item tries to find the previous packet matching the settings from "Find Packet...". ------ Mark Packet (toggle) Ctrl+M This menu item "marks" the currently selected packet. See for details. Toggle Marking Of All Displayed Packets Shift+Ctrl+Alt+M This menu item toggles the mark on all displayed packets. Mark All Displayed Packets Shift+Ctrl+M This menu item "marks" all displayed packets. Unmark All Displayed Packets Ctrl+Alt+M This menu item "unmarks" all displayed packets. Find Next Mark Shift+Ctrl+N Find the next marked packet. Find Previous Mark Shift+Ctrl+B Find the previous marked packet. ------ Ignore Packet (toggle) Ctrl+D This menu item marks the currently selected packet as ignored. See for details. Ignore All Displayed Packets (toggle) Shift+Ctrl+D This menu item marks all displayed packets as ignored. Un-Ignore All Packets Ctrl+Alt+D This menu item unmarks all ignored packets. ------ Set Time Reference (toggle) Ctrl+T This menu item set a time reference on the currently selected packet. See for more information about the time referenced packets. Un-Time Reference All Packets Ctrl+Alt+T This menu item removes all time references on the packets. Find Next Time Reference Ctrl+Alt+N This menu item tries to find the next time referenced packet. Find Previous Time Reference Ctrl+Alt+B This menu item tries to find the previous time referenced packet. ------ Configuration Profiles... Shift+Ctrl+A This menu item brings up a dialog box for handling configuration profiles. More detail is provided in . Preferences... Shift+Ctrl+P This menu item brings up a dialog box that allows you to set preferences for many parameters that control Wireshark. You can also save your preferences so Wireshark will use them the next time you start it. More detail is provided in .

The Wireshark View menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Main Toolbar This menu item hides or shows the main toolbar, see . Filter Toolbar This menu item hides or shows the filter toolbar, see . Wireless Toolbar (Windows only) This menu item hides or shows the wireless toolbar. See the AirPcap documentation for more information. Statusbar This menu item hides or shows the statusbar, see . ------ Packet List This menu item hides or shows the packet list pane, see . Packet Details This menu item hides or shows the packet details pane, see . Packet Bytes This menu item hides or shows the packet bytes pane, see . ------ Time Display Format > Date and Time of Day: 1970-01-01 01:02:03.123456 Selecting this tells Wireshark to display the time stamps in date and time of day format, see . The fields "Time of Day", "Date and Time of Day", "Seconds Since Beginning of Capture", "Seconds Since Previous Captured Packet" and "Seconds Since Previous Displayed Packet" are mutually exclusive. Time Display Format > Time of Day: 01:02:03.123456 Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps in time of day format, see . Time Display Format > Seconds Since Epoch (1970-01-01): 1234567890.123456 Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps in seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00, see . Time Display Format > Seconds Since Beginning of Capture: 123.123456 Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps in seconds since beginning of capture format, see . Time Display Format > Seconds Since Previous Captured Packet: 1.123456 Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps in seconds since previous captured packet format, see . Time Display Format > Seconds Since Previous Displayed Packet: 1.123456 Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps in seconds since previous displayed packet format, see . Time Display Format > ------ Time Display Format > Automatic (File Format Precision) Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps with the precision given by the capture file format used, see . The fields "Automatic", "Seconds" and "...seconds" are mutually exclusive. Time Display Format > Seconds: 0 Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps with a precision of one second, see . Time Display Format > ...seconds: 0.... Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps with a precision of one second, decisecond, centisecond, millisecond, microsecond or nanosecond, see . Time Display Format > Display Seconds with hours and minutes Selecting this tells Wireshark to display time stamps in seconds, with hours and minutes. Name Resolution > Resolve Name This item allows you to trigger a name resolve of the current packet only, see . Name Resolution > Enable for MAC Layer This item allows you to control whether or not Wireshark translates MAC addresses into names, see . Name Resolution > Enable for Network Layer This item allows you to control whether or not Wireshark translates network addresses into names, see . Name Resolution > Enable for Transport Layer This item allows you to control whether or not Wireshark translates transport addresses into names, see . Colorize Packet List This item allows you to control whether or not Wireshark should colorize the packet list. Enabling colorization will slow down the display of new packets while capturing / loading capture files. Auto Scroll in Live Capture This item allows you to specify that Wireshark should scroll the packet list pane as new packets come in, so you are always looking at the last packet. If you do not specify this, Wireshark simply adds new packets onto the end of the list, but does not scroll the packet list pane. ------ Zoom In Ctrl++ Zoom into the packet data (increase the font size). Zoom Out Ctrl+- Zoom out of the packet data (decrease the font size). Normal Size Ctrl+= Set zoom level back to 100% (set font size back to normal). Resize All Columns Shift+Ctrl+R Resize all column widths so the content will fit into it. Resizing may take a significant amount of time, especially if a large capture file is loaded. Displayed Columns This menu items folds out with a list of all configured columns. These columns can now be shown or hidden in the packet list. ------ Expand Subtrees Shift+Right This menu item expands the currently selected subtree in the packet details tree. Expand All Ctrl+Right Wireshark keeps a list of all the protocol subtrees that are expanded, and uses it to ensure that the correct subtrees are expanded when you display a packet. This menu item expands all subtrees in all packets in the capture. Collapse All Ctrl+Left This menu item collapses the tree view of all packets in the capture list. ------ Colorize Conversation This menu item brings up a submenu that allows you to color packets in the packet list pane based on the addresses of the currently selected packet. This makes it easy to distinguish packets belonging to different conversations. . Colorize Conversation > Color 1-10 These menu items enable one of the ten temporary color filters based on the currently selected conversation. Colorize Conversation > Reset coloring This menu item clears all temporary coloring rules. Colorize Conversation > New Coloring Rule... This menu item opens a dialog window in which a new permanent coloring rule can be created based on the currently selected conversation. Coloring Rules... This menu item brings up a dialog box that allows you to color packets in the packet list pane according to filter expressions you choose. It can be very useful for spotting certain types of packets, see . ------ Show Packet in New Window This menu item brings up the selected packet in a separate window. The separate window shows only the tree view and byte view panes. Reload Ctrl+R This menu item allows you to reload the current capture file.

The Wireshark Go menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Back Alt+Left Jump to the recently visited packet in the packet history, much like the page history in a web browser. Forward Alt+Right Jump to the next visited packet in the packet history, much like the page history in a web browser. Go to Packet... Ctrl+G Bring up a dialog box that allows you to specify a packet number, and then goes to that packet. See for details. Go to Corresponding Packet Go to the corresponding packet of the currently selected protocol field. If the selected field doesn't correspond to a packet, this item is greyed out. ------ Previous Packet Ctrl+Up Move to the previous packet in the list. This can be used to move to the previous packet even if the packet list doesn't have keyboard focus. Next Packet Ctrl+Down Move to the next packet in the list. This can be used to move to the previous packet even if the packet list doesn't have keyboard focus. First Packet Ctrl+Home Jump to the first packet of the capture file. Last Packet Ctrl+End Jump to the last packet of the capture file. Previous Packet In Conversation Ctrl+, Move to the previous packet in the current conversation. This can be used to move to the previous packet even if the packet list doesn't have keyboard focus. Next Packet In Conversation Ctrl+. Move to the next packet in the current conversation. This can be used to move to the previous packet even if the packet list doesn't have keyboard focus.

The Wireshark Capture menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Interfaces... Ctrl+I This menu item brings up a dialog box that shows what's going on at the network interfaces Wireshark knows of, see ) . Options... Ctrl+K This menu item brings up the Capture Options dialog box (discussed further in ) and allows you to start capturing packets. Start Ctrl+E Immediately start capturing packets with the same settings than the last time. Stop Ctrl+E This menu item stops the currently running capture, see ) . Restart Ctrl+R This menu item stops the currently running capture and starts again with the same options, this is just for convenience. Capture Filters... This menu item brings up a dialog box that allows you to create and edit capture filters. You can name filters, and you can save them for future use. More detail on this subject is provided in

The Wireshark Analyze menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Display Filters... This menu item brings up a dialog box that allows you to create and edit display filters. You can name filters, and you can save them for future use. More detail on this subject is provided in Display Filter Macros... This menu item brings up a dialog box that allows you to create and edit display filter macros. You can name filter macros, and you can save them for future use. More detail on this subject is provided in ------ Apply as Column This menu item adds the selected protocol item in the packet details pane as a column to the packet list. Apply as Filter > ... These menu items will change the current display filter and apply the changed filter immediately. Depending on the chosen menu item, the current display filter string will be replaced or appended to by the selected protocol field in the packet details pane. Prepare a Filter > ... These menu items will change the current display filter but won't apply the changed filter. Depending on the chosen menu item, the current display filter string will be replaced or appended to by the selected protocol field in the packet details pane. ------ Enabled Protocols... Shift+Ctrl+E This menu item allows the user to enable/disable protocol dissectors, see Decode As... This menu item allows the user to force Wireshark to decode certain packets as a particular protocol, see User Specified Decodes... This menu item allows the user to force Wireshark to decode certain packets as a particular protocol, see ------ Follow TCP Stream This menu item brings up a separate window and displays all the TCP segments captured that are on the same TCP connection as a selected packet, see Follow UDP Stream Same functionality as "Follow TCP Stream" but for UDP streams. Follow SSL Stream Same functionality as "Follow TCP Stream" but for SSL streams. XXX - how to provide the SSL keys? Expert Info Open a dialog showing some expert information about the captured packets in a log style display. The amount of information will depend on the protocol and varies from very detailed to none existing. This is currently a work in progress. XXX - add a new section about this and link from here Expert Info Composite Same information as in "Expert Info" but trying to group items together for faster analysis. Conversation Filter > ... In this menu you will find conversation filter for various protocols.

The Wireshark Statistics menu contains the fields shown in .

All menu items will bring up a new window showing specific statistical information. Menu Item Accelerator Description Summary Show information about the data captured, see . Protocol Hierarchy Display a hierarchical tree of protocol statistics, see . Conversations Display a list of conversations (traffic between two endpoints), see . Endpoints Display a list of endpoints (traffic to/from an address), see . Packet Lengths... See IO Graphs Display user specified graphs (e.g. the number of packets in the course of time), see . ------ Conversation List Display a list of conversations, obsoleted by the combined window of Conversations above, see . Endpoint List Display a list of endpoints, obsoleted by the combined window of Endpoints above, see . Service Response Time Display the time between a request and the corresponding response, see . ------ ANCP... See BOOTP-DHCP... See Colledtd... See Compare... See Flow Graph... See HTTP HTTP request/response statistics, see IP Addresses... See IP Destinations... See IP Protocol Types... See ONC-RPC Programs See Sametime See TCP Stream Graph See UDP Multicast Streams See WLAN Traffic See

The Wireshark Telephony menu contains the fields shown in .

All menu items will bring up a new window showing specific telephony related statistical information. Menu Item Accelerator Description IAX2 See SMPP Operations... See SCTP See ANSI See GSM See H.225... See ISUP Messages... See LTE See MTP3 See RTP See SIP... See UCP Messages... See VoIP Calls... See WAP-WSP... See

The Wireshark Tools menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Firewall ACL Rules This allows you to create command-line ACL rules for many different firewall products, including Cisco IOS, Linux Netfilter (iptables), OpenBSD pf and Windows Firewall (via netsh). Rules for MAC addresses, IPv4 addresses, TCP and UDP ports, and IPv4+port combinations are supported. It is assumed that the rules will be applied to an outside interface. Lua These options allow you to work with the Lua interpreter optionally build into Wireshark, see .

The Wireshark Internals menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Dissector tables This menu item brings up a dialog box showing the tables with subdissector relationships. Supported Protocols (slow!) This menu item brings up a dialog box showing the supported protocols and protocol fields.

The Wireshark Help menu contains the fields shown in .

Menu Item Accelerator Description Contents F1 This menu item brings up a basic help system. Manual Pages > ... This menu item starts a Web browser showing one of the locally installed html manual pages. ------ Website This menu item starts a Web browser showing the webpage from: &WiresharkWebSite;. FAQ's This menu item starts a Web browser showing various FAQ's. Downloads This menu item starts a Web browser showing the downloads from: &WiresharkWebSite;. ------ Wiki This menu item starts a Web browser showing the front page from: &WiresharkWikiPage;. Sample Captures This menu item starts a Web browser showing the sample captures from: &WiresharkWikiPage;. ------ About Wireshark This menu item brings up an information window that provides various detailed information items on Wireshark, such as how it's build, the plugins loaded, the used folders, ... Calling a Web browser might be unsupported in your version of Wireshark. If this is the case, the corresponding menu items will be hidden. If calling a Web browser fails on your machine, maybe because just nothing happens or the browser is started but no page is shown, have a look at the web browser setting in the preferences dialog.

The main toolbar provides quick access to frequently used items from the menu. This toolbar cannot be customized by the user, but it can be hidden using the View menu, if the space on the screen is needed to show even more packet data. As in the menu, only the items useful in the current program state will be available. The others will be greyed out (e.g. you cannot save a capture file if you haven't loaded one).

Toolbar Icon Toolbar Item Corresponding Menu Item Description Interfaces... Capture/Interfaces... This item brings up the Capture Interfaces List dialog box (discussed further in ). Options... Capture/Options... This item brings up the Capture Options dialog box (discussed further in ) and allows you to start capturing packets. Start Capture/Start This item starts capturing packets with the options form the last time. Stop Capture/Stop This item stops the currently running live capture process ). Restart Capture/Restart This item stops the currently running live capture process and restarts it again, for convenience. ------ Open... File/Open... This item brings up the file open dialog box that allows you to load a capture file for viewing. It is discussed in more detail in . Save As... File/Save As... This item allows you to save the current capture file to whatever file you would like. It pops up the Save Capture File As dialog box (which is discussed further in ). If you currently have a temporary capture file, the Save icon will be shown instead. Close File/Close This item closes the current capture. If you have not saved the capture, you will be asked to save it first. Reload View/Reload This item allows you to reload the current capture file. Print... File/Print... This item allows you to print all (or some of) the packets in the capture file. It pops up the Wireshark Print dialog box (which is discussed further in ). ------ Find Packet... Edit/Find Packet... This item brings up a dialog box that allows you to find a packet. There is further information on finding packets in . Go Back Go/Go Back This item jumps back in the packet history. Go Forward Go/Go Forward This item jumps forward in the packet history. Go to Packet... Go/Go to Packet... This item brings up a dialog box that allows you to specify a packet number to go to that packet. Go To First Packet Go/First Packet This item jumps to the first packet of the capture file. Go To Last Packet Go/Last Packet This item jumps to the last packet of the capture file. ------ Colorize View/Colorize Colorize the packet list (or not). Auto Scroll in Live Capture View/Auto Scroll in Live Capture Auto scroll packet list while doing a live capture (or not). ------ Zoom In View/Zoom In Zoom into the packet data (increase the font size). Zoom Out View/Zoom Out Zoom out of the packet data (decrease the font size). Normal Size View/Normal Size Set zoom level back to 100%. Resize Columns View/Resize Columns Resize columns, so the content fits into them. ------ Capture Filters... Capture/Capture Filters... This item brings up a dialog box that allows you to create and edit capture filters. You can name filters, and you can save them for future use. More detail on this subject is provided in . Display Filters... Analyze/Display Filters... This item brings up a dialog box that allows you to create and edit display filters. You can name filters, and you can save them for future use. More detail on this subject is provided in . Coloring Rules... View/Coloring Rules... This item brings up a dialog box that allows you color packets in the packet list pane according to filter expressions you choose. It can be very useful for spotting certain types of packets. More detail on this subject is provided in . Preferences... Edit/Preferences This item brings up a dialog box that allows you to set preferences for many parameters that control Wireshark. You can also save your preferences so Wireshark will use them the next time you start it. More detail is provided in ------ Help Help/Contents This item brings up help dialog box.

The filter toolbar lets you quickly edit and apply display filters. More information on display filters is available in .

Toolbar Icon Toolbar Item Description Filter: Brings up the filter construction dialog, described in . Filter input The area to enter or edit a display filter string, see . A syntax check of your filter string is done while you are typing. The background will turn red if you enter an incomplete or invalid string, and will become green when you enter a valid string. You can click on the pull down arrow to select a previously-entered filter string from a list. The entries in the pull down list will remain available even after a program restart. After you've changed something in this field, don't forget to press the Apply button (or the Enter/Return key), to apply this filter string to the display. This field is also where the current filter in effect is displayed. Expression... The middle button labeled "Add Expression..." opens a dialog box that lets you edit a display filter from a list of protocol fields, described in Clear Reset the current display filter and clears the edit area. Apply Apply the current value in the edit area as the new display filter. Applying a display filter on large capture files might take quite a long time!

The packet list pane displays all the packets in the current capture file.

Each line in the packet list corresponds to one packet in the capture file. If you select a line in this pane, more details will be displayed in the "Packet Details" and "Packet Bytes" panes. While dissecting a packet, Wireshark will place information from the protocol dissectors into the columns. As higher level protocols might overwrite information from lower levels, you will typically see the information from the highest possible level only. For example, let's look at a packet containing TCP inside IP inside an Ethernet packet. The Ethernet dissector will write its data (such as the Ethernet addresses), the IP dissector will overwrite this by its own (such as the IP addresses), the TCP dissector will overwrite the IP information, and so on. There are a lot of different columns available. Which columns are displayed can be selected by preference settings, see . The default columns will show: No. The number of the packet in the capture file. This number won't change, even if a display filter is used. Time The timestamp of the packet. The presentation format of this timestamp can be changed, see . Source The address where this packet is coming from. Destination The address where this packet is going to. Protocol The protocol name in a short (perhaps abbreviated) version. Info Additional information about the packet content. There is a context menu (right mouse click) available, see details in .

The packet details pane shows the current packet (selected in the "Packet List" pane) in a more detailed form.

This pane shows the protocols and protocol fields of the packet selected in the "Packet List" pane. The protocols and fields of the packet are displayed using a tree, which can be expanded and collapsed. There is a context menu (right mouse click) available, see details in . Some protocol fields are specially displayed. Generated fields Wireshark itself will generate additional protocol fields which are surrounded by brackets. The information in these fields is derived from the known context to other packets in the capture file. For example, Wireshark is doing a sequence/acknowledge analysis of each TCP stream, which is displayed in the [SEQ/ACK analysis] fields of the TCP protocol. Links If Wireshark detected a relationship to another packet in the capture file, it will generate a link to that packet. Links are underlined and displayed in blue. If double-clicked, Wireshark jumps to the corresponding packet.

The packet bytes pane shows the data of the current packet (selected in the "Packet List" pane) in a hexdump style.

As usual for a hexdump, the left side shows the offset in the packet data, in the middle the packet data is shown in a hexadecimal representation and on the right the corresponding ASCII characters (or . if not appropriate) are displayed. Depending on the packet data, sometimes more than one page is available, e.g. when Wireshark has reassembled some packets into a single chunk of data, see . In this case there are some additional tabs shown at the bottom of the pane to let you select the page you want to see.

The additional pages might contain data picked from multiple packets. The context menu (right mouse click) of the tab labels will show a list of all available pages. This can be helpful if the size in the pane is too small for all the tab labels.

The statusbar displays informational messages. In general, the left side will show context related information, the middle part will show the current number of packets, and the right side will show the selected configuration profile. Drag the handles between the text areas to change the size.

This statusbar is shown while no capture file is loaded, e.g. when Wireshark is started.

The colorized bullet on the left shows the highest expert info level found in the currently loaded capture file. Hovering the mouse over this icon will show a textual description of the expert info level, and clicking the icon will bring up the Expert Infos dialog box. For a detailed description of expert info, see . The left side shows information about the capture file, its name, its size and the elapsed time while it was being captured. The middle part shows the current number of packets in the capture file. The following values are displayed: Packets: the number of captured packets Displayed: the number of packets currently being displayed Marked: the number of marked packets Dropped: the number of dropped packets (only displayed if Wireshark was unable to capture all packets) Ignored: the number of ignored packets (only displayed if packets are ignored) The right side shows the selected configuration profile. Clicking in this part of the statusbar will bring up a menu with all available configuration profiles, and selecting from this list will change the configuration profile.

For a detailed description of configuration profiles, see .

This is displayed if you have selected a protocol field from the "Packet Details" pane. The value between the brackets (in this example arp.opcode) can be used as a display filter string, representing the selected protocol field.

This is displayed if you are trying to use a display filter which may have unexpected results. For a detailed description, see .