What Is My Browser — and Why the Answer Is Not Certain
Turn on JavaScript to read the values — the browser has them, but the page needs script to ask.
- Browser (self-reported) What the browser states about itself in a structured form, not parsed from text.
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- Engine No browser reports this directly, so it is worked out from markers in the raw string.
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- Platform The operating system family the browser says it is running on.
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- Language—
- Cookies—
- Touch points—
- Online—
Raw user agent
The full string, unedited. Everything above is derived from this or from the structured report beside it.
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This is a self-report, not a verification. Browsers impersonate each other on purpose — an Edge user agent contains both Chrome and Safari — and Chrome froze the version in this string years ago, moving the real number elsewhere. Some browsers reduce or vary it for privacy. A page that reads the string and declares your browser with confidence is trusting something that was built to be untrustworthy.
About What Is My Browser
Asking a browser what it is gets you an answer that was designed, decades ago, to be misleading — and it still is.
The user agent string began as an identity and became a compatibility ritual. Sites used to check the name before deciding which features to serve, so every browser learned to carry its rivals' names to avoid being locked out. That is why an Edge string contains Chrome and Safari, and why almost every string on the web starts with a word from a browser that has not shipped since the nineties.
It got stranger. Chrome froze the version number in that string and moved the real one into a separate structured report, so a page that parses the text can be years out of date without knowing. Some browsers shorten the string on purpose, or vary it, so that it cannot be used to recognize you.
This page does not tell you what you are running. It shows what your browser claims, in both forms — the structured claim and the raw string it came with — and marks which parts are inference rather than fact.
How to read this
- Read the first row first. That is the browser's structured self-report, which is the closest thing to a straight answer available.
- If the first row says not reported, your browser does not offer the structured form. That is a privacy choice, not a fault.
- Treat the engine row as a guess. It is worked out from markers in the raw string, and those markers are exactly the part that browsers copy from each other.
- Scroll to the raw string when something disagrees. Support pages and bug reports usually want that exact text, not a summary of it.
- Use the copy button for support tickets. It writes plain text including the full raw string, so nothing is lost in retyping.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my user agent mention browsers I do not use?
Because compatibility was more valuable than honesty. Sites once decided which version of a page to serve by matching names in this string, so every browser added its competitors' names to avoid being served the worse page. The words stayed long after the practice stopped mattering, and removing them now would break old sites.
The version here does not match my browser's About page. Which is right?
The About page. Some browsers deliberately freeze the version inside the user agent string so that sites stop branching on it, and publish the real number through a separate structured report instead. That is why this page shows the structured report first and treats the raw string as evidence rather than as the answer.
Can this page prove which browser I am really using?
No, and neither can any other page. Everything a website sees about your browser is what the browser chose to say, and browsers are free to say something else — extensions and privacy settings can change it too. Treat every browser-detection page, including this one, as reading a claim rather than checking an identity.
Why is there no IP address or location here?
Because both would need a server, and asking for them means sending information off your machine. This page reads only what your own browser already holds and never makes a request to find out more about you. If you need your IP, that is a different kind of tool and it necessarily involves a third party.
What should I paste into a bug report?
The raw string, complete and unedited, plus the browser's About-page version if you can get it. The copy button includes both the raw string and the structured claim. Summaries lose the part a developer usually needs, which is the exact text the site received.
Does this collect a fingerprint?
No. It reads a handful of values your browser already sends to every site you visit and shows them back to you, on your machine. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and closing the tab discards it. Fingerprinting works by combining many more signals than this and by keeping the result — neither happens here.
Is this free, and do I need an account or an extension?
The browser check is free, needs no account and installs nothing — it is a web page that reads values your browser already hands to every site, so there is nothing to add to your computer. Opening it in a private window works the same and is a useful comparison: whatever changes between the two windows came from your normal profile rather than from the browser itself.