Set the limit of the buffer equal to its position and set its position to 0.
import java.nio.ByteBuffer; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { // Create a byte buffer of capacity 8 and populate its elements ByteBuffer bb = ByteBuffer.allocate(8); for (int i = 50; i < 58; i++) { bb.put((byte) i); }/* w w w. j a va 2 s .com*/ // Set the limit the same as the position and set the position to 0 bb.limit(bb.position()); bb.position(0); // Now bb is set to read all data using relative get() method int limit = bb.limit(); for (int i = 0; i < limit; i++) { byte b = bb.get(); // Uses a relative read System.out.println(b); } } }