Users Browser Detection Using JavaScript and Libraries

Accurately detect users browsers, including Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Edge, Yandex, and more.

Detecting the user's browser is a crucial task in web development. It allows you to tailor your website's behavior, fix browser-specific issues, and provide a better user experience. In this guide, we'll show you how to detect browsers using JavaScript, including how to identify browser types, versions, and features.

In this article, we will explore several popular JavaScript libraries that make browser detection easier and more reliable.

What is Browser Detection?

Browser detection is the process of identifying the browser type, version, and features of a user's web browser. This can be done using various methods, including user agent detection, feature detection, and browser-specific APIs.

Methods for Detecting Browsers

User Agent Detection: Analyzing the user agent string to identify the browser
Feature Detection: Detecting specific features or capabilities
Browser-Specific APIs: Using APIs specific to a browser

Basic Browser Detection with JavaScript

JavaScript provides built-in capabilities to detect the browser using the navigator.userAgent string. Here is a comprehensive function to detect popular browsers

JavaScript

const detectBrowser = () => {
  const userAgent = navigator.userAgent;
  const browsers = [
    { name: 'Brave', test: async () => navigator.brave && await navigator.brave.isBrave(), versionRegex: /Chrome\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Yandex Browser', test: /YaBrowser/, versionRegex: /YaBrowser\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Microsoft Edge', test: /Edg/, versionRegex: /Edg\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Google Chrome', test: /Chrome(?!.*(?:Edg|Brave|YaBrowser))/, versionRegex: /Chrome\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Safari', test: /Safari(?!.*Chrome)/, versionRegex: /Version\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Mozilla Firefox', test: /Firefox/, versionRegex: /Firefox\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Opera', test: /Opera|OPR/, versionRegex: /(?:Opera|OPR)\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Vivaldi', test: /Vivaldi/, versionRegex: /Vivaldi\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'DuckDuckGo Browser', test: /DuckDuckGo/, versionRegex: /DuckDuckGo\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Pale Moon', test: /PaleMoon/, versionRegex: /PaleMoon\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Maxthon', test: /Maxthon/, versionRegex: /Maxthon\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'SeaMonkey', test: /SeaMonkey/, versionRegex: /SeaMonkey\/([0-9.]+)/ },
    { name: 'Chrome (iOS)', test: /CriOS/, versionRegex: /CriOS\/([0-9.]+)/ },
  ];

  const getVersion = (regex) => {
    const match = userAgent.match(regex);
    return match ? match[1] : 'Unknown Version';
  };

  const detectBrowserInfo = async () => {
    for (const browser of browsers) {
      // Handle async tests
      const isBrowser = typeof browser.test === 'function'
        ? await browser.test()
        : browser.test.test(userAgent);

      if (isBrowser) {
        return { name: browser.name, version: getVersion(browser.versionRegex) };
      }
    }
    return { name: 'Unknown Browser', version: 'Unknown Version' };
  };

  return detectBrowserInfo();
};

Usage

JavaScript

// To run the function and log the results
(async () => {
    const browserInfo = await detectBrowser();
    console.log(`Browser: ${browserInfo.name}, Version: ${browserInfo.version}`);
})();

Click the button below and Live preview and edit code your self

Try it Yourself

This code snippet covers a wide range of browsers, including niche ones like Brave, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, Pale Moon, Maxthon, Chrome (iOS) and Vivaldi.

Keep in mind that browser detection is not always 100% accurate, especially when relying on user agent strings, as these can be spoofed. For most purposes, it is better to detect features rather than specific browsers when possible.

Use Cases

Browser-specific CSS and JavaScript
Feature support and fallbacks
Analytics and debugging

Live Demo: Preview Your Browser Name And Version

Your browser name : ...

Your browser version : ...

Modern Browser Detection: Using navigator.userAgentData

To get the browser name using JavaScript, the latest and most reliable method is to use the navigator.userAgentData API, which is part of the User-Agent Client Hints API. However, it is important to note that this method is relatively new and not supported by all browsers yet. Here is how you can use it

JavaScript

if (navigator.userAgentData) {
  navigator.userAgentData.brands.forEach(brand => {
    console.log(brand.brand);
  });
} else {
  console.log("UserAgentData not supported");
}

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Browser Support Table for navigator.userAgentData and Browser Detection Libraries

Browser	`navigator.userAgentData` Support	`User-Agent` String Support	Feature Detection	Browser Detection Libraries (e.g., Bowser, UAParser.js)
Chrome (v89+)	Full Support	Yes	Yes	Supported
Firefox	No	Yes	Yes	Supported
Safari	No	Yes	Yes	Supported
Edge (v89+)	Full Support	Yes	Yes	Supported
Opera	No	Yes	Yes	Supported
IE 11	No	Yes	Limited	Supported

Browser Detection Libraries

While custom JavaScript solutions work well, using specialized libraries can simplify browser detection and handle edge cases more effectively. Here are some popular libraries

1. Bowser

Bowser is a small, fast, and powerful library for detecting browser versions and identifying different mobile or desktop environments. It is highly customizable and frequently updated to support new browser versions.

Usage:

JavaScript

// Install via npm
// npm install bowser

// Example Usage
const Bowser = require('bowser');
const browser = Bowser.getParser(window.navigator.userAgent);

console.log(browser.getBrowserName()); // Outputs browser name
console.log(browser.getBrowserVersion()); // Outputs browser version
console.log(browser.getOSName()); // Outputs operating system name

Features:

Provides detailed information about the browser, device, and OS.
Can detect the CPU architecture and device type (mobile, tablet, desktop).
Frequently updated to recognize new browsers and devices.

When to Use:

When you need a detailed and accurate browser detection with continuous updates for new browsers.

2. UAParser.js

UAParser.js is a lightweight JavaScript library that parses the User-Agent string to extract detailed information about the browser, device, and operating system.

Usage:

JavaScript

// Install via npm
// npm install ua-parser-js

// Example Usage
const UAParser = require('ua-parser-js');
const parser = new UAParser();
const result = parser.getResult();

console.log(result.browser.name); // Outputs browser name
console.log(result.browser.version); // Outputs browser version
console.log(result.device.model); // Outputs device model

Features:

Provides detailed information about the browser, device, and OS.
Can detect the CPU architecture and device type (mobile, tablet, desktop).
Frequently updated to recognize new browsers and devices.

When to Use:

When you need to detect both browser and device information in a lightweight and fast manner.

3. Platform.js

Platform.js is a robust library for detecting operating systems, browsers, engines, and devices. It’s well-known for its accuracy and performance.

Usage

JavaScript

// Install via npm
// npm install platform

// Example Usage
const platform = require('platform');

console.log(platform.name); // Outputs browser name
console.log(platform.version); // Outputs browser version
console.log(platform.os.family); // Outputs OS family

Features:

Comprehensive detection of browsers, engines, and operating systems.
Supports a wide range of devices and environments.
Provides a simple and intuitive API.

When to Use:

When you need detailed platform detection for a wide variety of devices and environments.

4. Detect.js

Detect.js is a small and easy-to-use library for detecting mobile devices and browsers. It is designed for lightweight applications where only essential detection is needed.

Usage

JavaScript

// Install via npm
// npm install detect.js

// Example Usage
const detect = require('detect.js');
const userAgent = detect.parse(navigator.userAgent);

console.log(userAgent.browser.family); // Outputs browser family
console.log(userAgent.device.type); // Outputs device type (mobile, tablet, desktop)

Features:

Simple and lightweight, focusing on essential detection.
Supports detecting mobile, tablet, and desktop environments.
Can identify popular browser families and versions.

When to Use:

When you need a straightforward solution for detecting mobile browsers or basic browser identification.

5. Browser-Detect

Browser-Detect is a minimalistic library for browser and OS detection. It focuses on providing the most common and necessary information about the user's browser and platform.

Usage

JavaScript

// Install via npm
// npm install browser-detect

// Example Usage
const browser = require('browser-detect');

const result = browser();

console.log(result.name); // Outputs browser name
console.log(result.version); // Outputs browser version
console.log(result.os); // Outputs operating system name

Features:

Simple API for detecting browsers, versions, and operating systems.
Lightweight and easy to integrate into existing projects.
Covers the most commonly used browsers.

When to Use:

When you need quick and basic browser detection with minimal setup.

6. FingerprintJS

FingerprintJS is a powerful library that not only detects the browser but also creates a unique fingerprint for each visitor, which can be used for identification purposes.

Usage

JavaScript

// Install via npm
// npm install @fingerprintjs/fingerprintjs

// Example Usage
const FingerprintJS = require('@fingerprintjs/fingerprintjs');

FingerprintJS.load().then(fp => fp.get()).then(result => {
    console.log(result.visitorId); // Outputs unique visitor ID
    console.log(result.components.userAgent.browser.family); // Outputs browser family
});

Features:

Generates a unique fingerprint for each visitor.
Provides detailed information about the browser and device.
Useful for fraud prevention, analytics, and security.

When to Use:

When you need to track users uniquely across different sessions or detect bots and fraud attempts.

These libraries are especially useful when you need to support a broad range of devices and browsers.

Conclusion

Accurate browser detection is crucial for providing tailored experiences to users. Whether you choose to implement your own solution or use a library, ensuring compatibility across various browsers is key to successful web development.

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