What Is a User Agent?
In the early days of the internet, websites didn’t care what browser you used, because most pages were static. But today’s dynamic websites often adapt to the operating system, browser, or screen size your device uses.
If you’d like, you can see your user agent by visiting a site like WhatIsMyBrowser.
User agents are important because sites can use them to modify the content they send to your browser. For example, if you visit most modern sites in Internet Explorer 6, you’ll see a message that you need to upgrade your browser for proper compatibility. User agents also come into play when browsing on a mobile device, so websites know to show you the mobile-friendly version of a page.
As it turns out, your user agent isn’t permanent. It’s easy to change if you know where to look, and some extensions let you change it in just a few clicks.
How to Change Your User-Agent
Let’s look at how to change your user agent in major browsers. This will let you trick websites into thinking you’re on a different type of computer or browser.
Change Your User Agent in Chrome
Open Chrome’s Developer Tools by right-clicking anywhere and choosing Inspect, hitting Ctrl + Shift + I, or by pressing F12.
At the bottom of the resulting panel, you should see a section with the tabs Console, Network conditions, and What’s New. Press Esc to show this if you don’t see it.
On the Network conditions tab, uncheck Select automatically and you can then choose a new user agent from the list. Refresh to update the page with the new agent.
Note that this setting will revert back to normal when you close the developer panel, and only applies to your current tab.
Change Your User Agent in Firefox
The process to change your user agent in Firefox is clunky, as it requires you to manually paste a new user agent string. You’re better off using an add-on to easily change your user agent.
Change Your User Agent in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge uses a similar setup to Chrome for changing your user agent. Press F12 or right-click on an empty spot of the page and choose to Inspect element to open the developer tools window.
Along the top bar, select the Emulation tab you may need to click the dropdown arrow to show it if it’s hidden.
Here, change the User-agent string box to trick the website into thinking you’re something else. You can also change the Browser profile from Desktop to Windows Phone to view the mobile version of webpages. Like Chrome, this only applies to the current tab while the developer tools panel is open.
Unfortunately, there are no extensions that easily change your user agent for the current version of Edge. When Microsoft’s revised browser launches, this will hopefully change.
Change Your User Agent in Safari
You’ll need to enable the hidden Develop menu in Safari before you can change your user agent. To do this, visit Safari > Preferences and go to the Advanced tab.
There, check the box labeled Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
Next, select Develop > User-Agent and pick the option you’d like. Safari even lets you choose Other to specify your own user agent string.
Request Desktop Site on Android and iPhone
While there’s no quick toggle to change your user agent in the mobile versions of Chrome and Safari, you can easily make websites think your phone is a computer.
On Android, open Chrome and tap the three-dot menu button in the top-right. Check the Desktop site box and it will reload to show you the full version.
On Safari for iOS, tap the aA button to the left of the address bar and choose Request Desktop Website. You’ll find the same option in Chrome for iPhone by tapping the Share button at the top-right, followed by scrolling down and choosing Request Desktop Site.
Reasons to Change Your User-Agent
Now you know how to trick websites into thinking you’re on another device. But why would you change your browser’s user agent when you can just install another browser?
Here are some situations where changing your user agent could prove to be fun, useful, or convenient.
1. Website Development
2. View Mobile Sites on Limited Connections
3. Get Around Browser Restrictions
4. Better OS Compatibility
5. See a Different Perspective and Have Fun
