The world`s foremost network protocol analyzer for Mac

Wireshark for Mac

Wireshark for Mac

  -  140 MB  -  Open Source
The Ethereal network protocol analyzer has changed its name to Wireshark for Mac. The name might be new, but the software is the same.

Wireshark
's powerful features make it the tool of choice for network troubleshooting, protocol development, and education worldwide.

Wireshark for macOS was written by networking experts around the world, and is an example of the power of open source. The app is used by network professionals around the world for analysis, troubleshooting, software and protocol development and education.

The program has all of the standard features you would expect in a protocol analyzer, and several features not seen in any other product.

Its open source license allows talented experts in the networking community to add enhancements.

Features
  • Packet Analysis: It captures data packets from a network in real-time or from saved capture files for in-depth analysis.
  • Deep Inspection: Users can inspect hundreds of protocols, including Ethernet, IP, TCP, HTTP, DNS, and more, to diagnose network issues or investigate security incidents.
  • Filtering: Advanced filtering capabilities allow users to sift through large volumes of data to focus on specific packets or protocols.
  • Protocol Decoding: The app decodes packet contents into human-readable formats, aiding in understanding network communication.
  • VoIP Analysis: Support for VoIP protocols enables analysis of voice and video communications.
  • Exporting: Captured data can be exported to various file formats for further analysis or sharing.
  • Extensibility: It offers a rich ecosystem of plugins and scripts for extending functionality.
Other Mac Features
  • Deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, with more being added all the time
  • Live capture and offline analysis
  • Standard three-pane packet browser
  • Multi-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and many others
  • Captured network data can be browsed via a GUI, or via the TTY-mode TShark utility
  • The most powerful display filters in the industry
  • Rich VoIP analysis
  • Read/write many different capture file formats: tcpdump (libpcap), Pcap NG, Catapult DCT2000, Cisco Secure IDS iplog, Microsoft Network Monitor, Network General Sniffer® (compressed and uncompressed), Sniffer® Pro, and NetXray®, Network Instruments Observer, NetScreen snoop, Novell LANalyzer, RADCOM WAN/LAN Analyzer, Shomiti/Finisar Surveyor, Tektronix K12xx, Visual Networks Visual UpTime, WildPackets EtherPeek/TokenPeek/AiroPeek, and many others
  • Capture files compressed with gzip can be decompressed on the fly
  • Live data can be read from Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, USB, Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and others (depending on your platform)
  • Decryption support for many protocols, including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2
  • Coloring rules can be applied to the packet list for quick, intuitive analysis
  • Output can be exported to XML, PostScript®, CSV, or plain text
How to Use
  • Open the installer and follow on-screen instructions
  • Launch Wireshark from the Applications folder
  • Choose the network interface to capture packets
  • Click “Start” to begin packet capture
  • Use filters to narrow down packet results
  • Analyze captured packets in the packet list pane
  • Stop capture with the red square button
  • Save or export capture files for later review
  • Use the built-in tools for deeper protocol analysis
System Requirements

macOS 10.14 Mojave or later

64-bit Intel or Apple Silicon (M1/M2)

At least 2 GB RAM (4 GB or more recommended)

100 MB free disk space

XQuartz may be required for certain features

PROS
  • Powerful network protocol analyzer
  • Open source and free to use
  • Supports hundreds of protocols
  • Advanced filtering and search tools
  • Regular updates and strong community
CONS
  • Interface can be overwhelming
  • Requires elevated permissions
  • Can impact system performance
  • Limited wireless capture on macOS
Also Available: Download Wireshark for Windows

Why is this app published on FileHorse? (More info)
  • Wireshark 4.6.6 Screenshots

    The images below have been resized. Click on them to view the screenshots in full size.

    Wireshark 4.6.6 Screenshot 1
  • Wireshark 4.6.6 Screenshot 2
  • Wireshark 4.6.6 Screenshot 3
  • Wireshark 4.6.6 Screenshot 4

What's new in this version:

Fixes:
The following vulnerabilities have been fixed:
- wnpa-sec-2026-51 ROHC protocol dissector crash

The following bugs have been fixed:
- Wireshark crashes when run under Visual Studio on Windows
- Welcome page slide preferences are now available in the preferences window
- vwr: Read of uninitialized memory in pntoh16
- vwr: Read of uninitialized memory in find_signature
- Upgrades on Windows do not retain existing optional features unless explicitly requested, resulting in accidental removal of features
- Wireshark.exe version 4.6.5 is twice as large as version 4.6.4
- MACsec dissector global-buffer-overflow
- Wireshark 4.6.5 does not run on Windows 10 version 1809 (including Server 2019 and some LTSC versions)
- Fuzz job issue: fuzz-2026-05-02-14184750352.pcap
- packet-bacapp: rename aurth-request to auth-request
- Fuzz job issue: randpkt-2026-05-10-14293434231.pcap

New and Updated Features:
- The Windows installers now ship with Npcap 1.88. They previously shipped with Npcap 1.87

Updated Protocol Support:
- BACapp, BPv7, DB/IB GDS DB, Kafka, MACsec, PFCP, RF4CE, ROHC, RTPS-VT, SAPHDB, and SIP

New and Updated Capture File Support:
- JSON and VeriWave

Plugin Development Changes:
- On UN*X systems (excluding macOS when running from an app bundle, as with the official installer) extcap binaries are now searched for under the libexec directory by default, e.g., /usr/libexec/wireshark/extcap instead of /usr/lib64/wireshark/extcap or similar. This is the customary place for helper binaries, which as opposed to libraries do not need multiarch support. The location can be overridden via the environment variable WIRESHARK_EXTCAP_DIR. The extcap binaries shipped with Wireshark are installed in the new location, but third party extcaps may need packaging changes. This change was effective in version 4.6.0, but was not explicitly noted in the release notes previously. Note that some distributions do not use a libexec directory, such as Alpine Linux, which does not have multilib support. On such systems extcap binaries should be in the same location as before.