ZENMAP(1)

💅 ZENMAP(1) — the Zenmap Reference Guide, bestie edition 🎀

okay so welcome to the Zenmap man page!! this is the official reference guide for the ZENMAP(1) manual, and i'm gonna walk you through it like we're texting at 1am 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

zenmap — a graphical Nmap frontend and results viewer. literally the glow-up Nmap deserved 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

zenmap [options] [results file]

that's it. that's the whole vibe check. two little slots: some options, and optionally a results file 🫶

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👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

So. Zenmap is a multi-platform graphical Nmap frontend and results viewer. it's cross-platform, it's pretty, it's giving main character energy ✨

The whole point of Zenmap is that it makes Nmap easy for beginners to actually use, while still handing experienced Nmap users all the advanced features they'd want. both vibes, one app, no cap 👑

• Frequently used scans can be saved as profiles, so you can run them over and over without retyping anything 🎀
• There's a command creator that lets you build Nmap command lines interactively, like a little build-a-bear but for scans 🧸
• Scan results can be saved and viewed later 💾
• Saved scan results can be compared with one another so you can see exactly how they differ 🔍
• The results of recent scans get stored in a searchable database 🗂️

Heads up bestie: this man page only covers the few Zenmap command-line options plus some critical notes. it is not the whole story!!

If you want the full lore, there's a much more detailed Zenmap User's Guide at https://nmap.org/book/zenmap.html 📖 and other documentation and info lives on the Zenmap web page at https://nmap.org/zenmap/.

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💖 OPTIONS SUMMARY 💖

• -f, --file results file — opens the given results file for viewing. the results file can be either an Nmap XML output file (.xml, as produced by nmap -oX) or a Umit scan results file (.usr). and yes, you can pass this more than once — stack 'em, slay 💅
• -h, --help — shows a help message and exits. short, sweet, iconic.
• -n, --nmap Nmap command line — runs the given Nmap command right inside the Zenmap interface. ⚠️ important: after -n or --nmap, every remaining command line argument is read as the command line to execute. so -n or --nmap has to come last, after all your other options, periodt. also ngl the command line has to include the nmap executable name itself, like this:

zenmap -n nmap -sS target

don't forget the nmap in there, that's the part that trips people up 😭

• -p, --profile profile — starts with the given profile already selected. the profile name is just a string, e.g. "Regular scan". and if you combine it with -t, it'll begin a scan with the given profile against the specified target 🔥
• -t, --target target — starts with the given target. if you combine it with -p, it begins a scan with the given profile against that specified target 🎯
• -v, --verbose — increases verbosity (of Zenmap, not Nmap, iykyk). you can give this multiple times to get even MORE verbosity 🗣️

Also: any other arguments are taken to be the names of results files to open. so you don't even have to use -f if you don't want to, she's flexible like that 🦋

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🌈 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🌈

• ZENMAP_DEVELOPMENT — set ZENMAP_DEVELOPMENT to disable automatic crash reporting. that's the whole bit 🙈

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💀 BUGS 💀

Like their authors, Nmap and Zenmap aren't perfect. 😭 yes, that's the actual energy. but you can help make them better by sending bug reports or even writing patches — that's the good stuff 🫶

If Nmap or Zenmap doesn't behave the way you expect, first upgrade to the latest version available from https://nmap.org. If the problem persists, do some research to figure out whether it's already been discovered and addressed. try googling the error message, or browse the nmap-dev archives at https://seclists.org/. and read this full manual page as well, genuinely, it's right here 👑

If nothing comes of all that, mail a bug report to <dev@nmap.org>. please include everything you've learned about the problem, plus what version of Zenmap you're running and what operating system version it's running on. problem reports and Zenmap usage questions sent to dev@nmap.org are far more likely to be answered than those sent to Fyodor directly — no offense to Fyodor, he's just busy, fr fr.

And code patches to fix bugs are even better than bug reports 💖 basic instructions for creating patch files with your changes are available at https://svn.nmap.org/nmap/HACKING. patches may be sent to nmap-dev (recommended) or to Fyodor directly. queen behaviour, honestly 👑

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🦋 HISTORY 🦋

Zenmap was originally derived from Umit, an Nmap GUI created during the Google-sponsored Nmap Summer of Code in 2005 and 2006. the primary author of Umit was Adriano Monteiro Marques. when Umit was modified and integrated into Nmap in 2007, it was renamed Zenmap. a rebrand, a glow-up, a whole new era ✨

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⭐ AUTHORS ⭐

🎀 Nmap 🎀

Fyodor <fyodor@nmap.org> (https://insecure.org)

Hundreds of people have made valuable contributions to Nmap over the years. these are detailed in the CHANGELOG file which is distributed with Nmap and also available from https://nmap.org/changelog.html. hundreds of people!! a whole community!! we love to see it 🌸

🧚 Umit 🧚

Zenmap is derived from the Umit Nmap frontend, which was started by Adriano Monteiro Marques as an Nmap/Google Summer of Code project (<py.adriano@gmail.com>, http://www.umitproject.org).

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ok that's the whole page bestie, you're now officially Zenmap-literate 💜 go scan something responsibly and remember: -n goes last, always 🫶

— written for the Zenmap manual page, 10/23/2026 edition, published as ZENMAP(1) 🌟