Download PacketHound
Free for Windows 10 and 11. One installer, nothing else needed.
PacketHound 1.2.0
Released 6 November 2026 · 68.2 MB · 64-bit installer
Download PacketHound-Setup-1.2.0.exeEnjoying PacketHound?
It's free, with no adverts or tracking. If it's useful to you, a coffee helps keep it going.
Requirements
- Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11, 64-bit
- An administrator account (PacketHound changes Windows Firewall settings)
- Windows Firewall switched on (it is by default)
- Nothing else to install: .NET is included
Installing
- Run the installer and click Yes when Windows asks for permission.
- When PacketHound first starts, it explains what it will change and asks whether to turn protection on.
- Let it start when you sign in, so you're protected from the moment Windows starts.
"Windows protected your PC"?
Microsoft SmartScreen shows this for programs it hasn't seen many people download yet. It isn't a virus warning. Click More info, then Run anyway. If you'd like to be sure the file hasn't been tampered with, check its fingerprint below.
PacketHound is open source, so you can also read exactly what it does in its source code on GitHub.
Check the download
The SHA-256 fingerprint of PacketHound-Setup-1.2.0.exe is:
d5bceee4783496676164579e77f83b96da011bb1b0ceede3a8d7e1b16805fde9
To check it, open PowerShell in your Downloads folder and run:
Get-FileHash .\PacketHound-Setup-1.2.0.exeThe Hash it prints should match the fingerprint above exactly.
What's new in 1.2.0
- Decide later now has a home: apps you put off are listed on the Rules tab under "Waiting for your decision", with a Decide button to bring the prompt back. They stay blocked until you decide.
- When the wait is over, PacketHound asks again straight away if the app is still running, or the next time it connects.
- The main window, the tray icon and its menu show how many apps are waiting. In Activity, right-click a row to decide about that app or copy its IP address.
- Pause protection for 5 minutes, 15 minutes or an hour, and it turns itself back on, even after a restart.
- Installers and updaters that run from a temporary folder are recognised: their rules last only until they quit, and signed ones you allow are remembered, so the next copy is let through before it even starts.
- After you allow an installer, a notification offers to pause protection for 5 minutes in one click, for installers that give up after their first blocked attempt.
- Rules for programs that are no longer on your PC are highlighted as "Program not found", and "Remove missing" deletes them after asking you.
- The rules list has a Status column.
- The main window remembers its size, position and whether it was maximized.
Uninstalling
Go to Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find PacketHound and choose Uninstall. It asks whether to delete the firewall rules it created, then puts Windows Firewall back the way it was before PacketHound.