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Check out these great references as well: |
| Our custom profiles repository for Wireshark |
| Our Udemy course on Wireshark |
| Our Udemy course on Wireless Packet capture |
This is a commonly asked question that usually results from users learning the can have different profiles after they have spent months constantly changing the default profile! Luckily it is very easy.
Step 1
In the Windows version of Wireshark, simply go to Help> About, and then click on the Folders tab.
On a MAC version, click on Wireshark> About Wireshark. Then click on the Folders tab.
Step 2
In either Windows or MAC: Double-click the hyperlink labeled “Personal Configuration.”
This will open up a Windows Explorer or MAC Finder and take you to the folder that contains the various personal preference files. For safety, make a backup of this folder before proceeding.
Step 3
To restore the default, you need to delete everything EXCEPT the Profiles folder and if you have an ethers or hosts file – do not delete those either.
The profiles folder contains your other profiles.
All of the other files except:
- the profiles folder and its contents
- the ‘ethers’ or ‘hosts’ files
…can be safely deleted.
These are some of the more common files that can be safely deleted:
- colorfilters – contains the coloring rules for your default profile
- dfilters – contains saved display filters for your default profile
- cfilters – contains saved capture filters for your default profile
- recent – contains some preference settings for your default profile, mostly related to how things are displayed
- preferences – contains most other preference settings for your default profile
There can be other files, depending on how much you’ve changed Wireshark’s settings.
Step 4
After deletion, close and re-open Wireshark, and you will see the “factory” default is back!! Yay!
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind that as you modify the default profile again, you will see some of the files return to the directory.
One of the things that we do not like about the ‘Default Profile’ is a missing column – the Time Delta from previous displayed frame. To us, this column should be in every profile, and certainly in the default profile! If you want to download a better default profile – click here.
Check out our video on the power of profiles:
Remember to keep different profiles for different tasks!! We have some great profiles available for download. Simply click here to easily find them.
Got a great profile you would like to send to us? Send it to andyw@cellstream.com – thanks in advance – we will share profiles here.
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