HOT TIP: (Removing) Ads in Wireshark
- Laura Chappell
- May 1
- 1 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
My evening was derailed when I received an email from someone asking about the ads that now appear in Wireshark. They asked how to get rid of them - saying that they couldn't find the "settings dialog" mentioned in the update.
What?!
I had to hop online and run the update and... yup. Ads.
A text came in less than 15 minutes later asking about "these ads in Wireshark - does it phone home across the network to update ads?"
Quick answers:
Yes - you can disable the ads. Phew!
No - the ads are not fed across the network. Phew!
BLOG UPDATE - AD DISABLING FIXED
Whew! Wireshark version 4.6.6 still includes the ads (yuck), but you can disable them much easier using Edit | Preferences | Welcome Page. This setting is maintained even if you uninstall this version to update Wireshark so you don't need to repeat this step with each update.
The next section of the blog includes the steps required to remove advertisements when the the Welcome Page option was missing.
Step-by-Step Tips
If you don't want those ads on the Welcome page, watch this 5-minute video going over:
the code (Welcome page and sidebar)
the customization (disable some or all those sidebar items)
the concern (where the ads are fed from)
Extra tip: This video may be the first time you have heard of the recent_common configuration file. Spend some time perusing the contents. Remember that Wireshark writes to this file each time it is closed.
I hope this helps those of you who want to remove the ads from Wireshark.
Enjoy!
