WinBox (Work in progress)

Summary

WinBox is a utility that allows the administration of MikroTik RouterOS using a fast and simple GUI. WinBox v4 is a native application available for Windows, Linux, and macOS — no Wine or emulation required. All WinBox interface functions mirror the console functions as closely as possible, which is why there are no separate WinBox sections in the manual.

The following security features are used:

• WinBox is signed with an Extended Validation certificate issued by SIA Mikrotīkls (MikroTik).
• WinBox uses ECSRP for key exchange and authentication.
• Both sides verify that the other side knows the password (no man-in-the-middle attack is possible).
• WinBox uses AES128-CBC-SHA as an encryption algorithm.

info

WinBox v4 replaces the legacy Wine-based WinBox v3. If you are still using the older version, see the WinBox v3 (Legacy) page.

Download and Installation

Download WinBox from the MikroTik download page.

Windows

1. Download the ZIP archive containing WinBox.exe.
2. Extract the archive to a folder of your choice.
3. Run WinBox.exe — no installation required.

Linux

1. Download the ZIP archive containing the Linux binary.
2. Extract the archive to a folder of your choice.
3. Run the binary from the terminal or file manager.

macOS

1. Download the DMG package.
2. Open the .dmg file and drag WinBox to the Applications folder.
3. Launch WinBox from the Applications folder.

warning

Extract the ZIP archive contents into a self-contained subfolder that contains no other files. This is required for the self-update feature to work correctly and applies to the Windows and Linux versions of WinBox.

Login interface

This section will go over the login interface. It is the first thing you will see when launching WinBox application, from here you can connect to the RouterOS device mannualy using login section or using saved credentials from the Saved tab. Also, for more convieniet discovery of the device in L2 network connected to the PC with the WinBox, Neighbors tab can be used. Login interface (see Figure 1) can be devided into two sections:

• Login section - part on the left, that is used for connecting to the RouterOS.
• Device list section - part on the right, contains saved or discovered devices, can be further devided into 3 tabs.
  • Saved - user saved devices.
  • Neighbors - discovered devices.
  • RoMON - RoMON discovered devices.

Elements that are not covered by the above sections can be found in Table 1.

Figure 1 - Login interface

Table 1 - Miscellaneous elements

Element	Description
	Create new session - Located on the top right. This button opens new WinBox window
	Settings/App information - Located on the top right. Opens dropdown menu with following elements: - Settings - general WinBox settings - Shortcuts - Informations about available shortcut combinations (see Keyboard Shortcuts) - About - Aplications information such as version, usefull links, licenses information - Quit - close WinBox application

Quick Connect

Enter the IP or MAC address of the router, specify the username and password (if any), and select Connect. You can also enter a custom port after the IP address, separated by a colon (e.g., 192.168.88.1:9999). The port can be changed in the RouterOS Services menu.

warning

Use an IP address whenever possible. A MAC session uses network broadcasts and is not 100% reliable.

Neighbor Discovery

Use the Neighbors tab to discover available routers on the network. From the list, select a router and click Connect. Click the IP or MAC address column to choose which address to use for the connection.

info

Neighbor discovery also shows devices that are not compatible with WinBox, such as Cisco routers using CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol). Connecting to a SwOS device opens a web browser instead.

Managed Routers List

Save frequently accessed routers in the Managed tab. Each entry can include:

• Connect To — IP or MAC address of the router.
• Login — username for authentication.
• Password — password for authentication.
• Group — group the entry belongs to.
• Note — optional description.

RoMON

To connect through a RoMON Agent:

1. Select Connect To RoMON.
2. Choose the RoMON Agent from the available device list.
3. Enter the destination router address, login, and password.
4. Select Connect.

Connection Fields

• Connect — Connect to the router.
• Connect To RoMON — Connect to a RoMON Agent.
• Keep Password — If unchecked, the password is not saved.
• Open In New Window — Keep the loader open and open a new window for each device.

Interface Overview

The WinBox v4 interface consists of:

• Main toolbar at the top with undo/redo, safe mode, workspace selector, encryption indicator, traffic indicator, and custom info fields.
• Sidebar menu on the left — lists all available menus and sub-menus. The list changes depending on installed packages (e.g., disabling the IPv6 package hides the IPv6 menu).
• Work area — a tabbed area where all menu windows open.

The title bar displays the connection information in the following format:

[username]@[Router's IP or MAC] ( [RouterID] ) - WinBox [ROS version] on [RB model] ([platform])

Main Toolbar

On the left side:

• Undo
• Redo
• Safe Mode
• Active workspace name

More about safe mode and undo can be read in the Configuration Management article.

On the right side:

• Encryption indicator (shows whether the session is encrypted)
• Traffic indicator (green bar)
• Custom info fields — right-click the toolbar to add fields such as CPU and memory usage.

Working with Child Windows

WinBox v4 uses a tabbed interface where each configuration window opens as a tab in the work area. This replaces the MDI (Multiple Document Interface) used in WinBox v3.

Tab Toolbar

Each tab has a toolbar with common actions:

• Add — add a new item to the list.
• Remove — remove the selected item from the list.
• Enable — enable the selected item.
• Disable — disable the selected item.
• Comment — add or edit a comment.
• Sort — sort and filter displayed items.

Almost all tabs have a quick search field on the right side of the toolbar. Entering text searches through all items and highlights matches.

Sorting and Filtering

Select the Sort button to show filter options:

1. Choose a column from the first drop-down box.
2. Choose a comparison operator from the second drop-down box (e.g., is, in, is not, contains).
3. Enter the value to compare against.
4. Select Filter to apply.

WinBox supports stacking multiple filters. Select [+] to add another filter and [-] to remove one.

Column Customization

To customize displayed columns:

1. Select the arrow button on the right side of column titles, or right-click the item list.
2. Go to Show Columns and pick the desired column.

Changes are saved and persist between sessions.

Detail Mode

Right-click the item list and select Detail mode to display all parameters as name-value pairs.

Category View

Right-click the item list and select Show Categories to group items alphabetically or by type.

Drag and Drop

Upload and download files by dragging them to or from the WinBox window. You can also download a file by right-clicking it and selecting Download.

Traffic Monitoring

WinBox can monitor traffic for any interface, queue, or firewall rule in real time. Open the relevant window and enable traffic monitoring to view live graphs.

Workspaces

WinBox v4 introduces workspaces, replacing the session system from WinBox v3. Workspaces allow you to organize connections into separate environments. Each workspace maintains its own set of open connections and windows.

Command Line

Use the command line to connect with workspace parameters:

winbox.exe [<connect-to> [<login> [<password>]] <workspace>]

Example (no password):

winbox.exe 10.5.101.1 admin "" "<own>"

This connects to router 10.5.101.1 with user "admin" without a password using the workspace <own>.

To connect through RoMON:

winbox.exe --romon [<romon-agent> [<connect-to> [<login> [<password>]]] <workspace>]

Example:

winbox.exe --romon 10.5.101.1 D4:CA:6D:E1:B5:7D admin "" "<own>"

Transferring Settings

• Managed router list — use Save As and Open to save and load the managed router list.
• Workspace transfer — use Export and Import to save and restore workspaces.

Keyboard Shortcuts

This section covers keyboard shortcuts for different versions of WinBox depending on the operating system.

Windows Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
Control+E	Enables a selected setting
Control+Shift+E	Disables a selected setting
Control/CMD++	Zoom in WinBox
Control/CMD+-	Zoom out WinBox
Control/CMD+0	Reset zoom
Control+Tab	Choose next tab
Control+Shift+Tab	Choose previous tab
Tab	Choose next control
Shift+Tab	Choose previous control
Space	Select focused control
Control+F4 or Alt/Cmd+W	Close window
Alt+A / Cmd+Shift+S	Focus previous window
Alt/Cmd+S	Focus next window
Delete	Delete entry from the list
Alt/Cmd+Opt+F	Global menu search
Alt/Cmd+T	Open a new Terminal window

Troubleshooting

WinBox cannot connect to the router's IP address, devices do not show up in the Neighbors list

Make sure the firewall is set to allow WinBox connections through Private and/or Public network interfaces. On Windows, this can be configured in Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Defender Firewall\Allowed applications.

MAC connection fails with error "(port 20561) timed out"

Windows does not allow MAC connection if file and print sharing is disabled.

MAC connection fails with "ERROR could not connect to XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX"

Most network drivers require an IP configuration before enabling the IP stack. Set an IPv4 configuration on the host device.

warning

WinBox MAC address connection requires an MTU value set to 1500, unfragmented. Other values may cause poor performance or connectivity loss.