Getting a browser's name client-side

Question

Is there any object or method that returns data about the browser, client-side?

For example, I need to detect if the browser is IE (Interner Explorer). Following is the code snippet.

function isInternetExplorer()
{
    if(navigator.appName.indexOf("Microsoft Internet Explorer") != -1)
    {
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

Is there a better way?

score 20 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 29 '15 at 13:08

20

JavaScript side - you can get browser name like these ways...

if(window.navigator.appName == "") OR if(window.navigator.userAgent == "")

edited Oct 29 '15 at 13:08

arb

7,753
7
31
66

answered Apr 17 '13 at 08:40

Pedram

6,256
10
65
87

6

The problem with using this is that _Netscape_ will be returned when executed in Firefox. I think a more reliable method is `window.navigator.userAgent`. – ᴍᴀᴛᴛ ʙᴀᴋᴇʀ Feb 05 '14 at 12:55
You seem to have deleted your reply from my thread so I'll post it here. Feel free to remove it when you've read it. – Konrad Viltersten Dec 22 '15 at 09:46
I, the OP, didn't downvote neither. But I can think of two reasons why it got downvoted. First being that the parameter isn't wrongly put (you jumped to conclusions without checking if the issue is a bit more convoluted). Second being that it actually didn't answer the question. The value inserted will be null or create an error. Having said that, I'll upvote you so you don't loose so much rep. But your reply doesn't get to the level of upvote, really. I'll still do that because -2 is too harsh. In the future, though, you might ask yourself - *is it really **that** simple?*. Usually it isn't. – Konrad Viltersten Dec 22 '15 at 09:46
Thanks @KonradViltersten to message me here. I've accepted my mistake and deleted my answer too... It was my mistake. was in hurry to get reputation but lost 4 points :D - BTW good question. – Pedram Dec 22 '15 at 09:49
Yeah, it's a nuisance to get downvote. I prefer to leave a comment. I can give you a wild upvote, since you seem to understand the mistake. No point punishing the wiser ones. – Konrad Viltersten Dec 22 '15 at 09:54
Hahaha... Thanks again @KonradViltersten - you are so nice.. :):):) – Pedram Dec 22 '15 at 09:57

score 19 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 14 '14 at 10:09

This is pure JavaScript solution. Which I was required.
I tried on different browsers. It is working fine. Hope it helps.

How do I detect the browser name ?

You can use the navigator.appName and navigator.userAgent properties. The userAgent property is more reliable than appName because, for example, Firefox (and some other browsers) may return the string "Netscape" as the value of navigator.appName for compatibility with Netscape Navigator.

Note, however, that navigator.userAgent may be spoofed, too – that is, clients may substitute virtually any string for their userAgent. Therefore, whatever we deduce from either appName or userAgent should be taken with a grain of salt.

var nVer = navigator.appVersion;
var nAgt = navigator.userAgent;
var browserName  = navigator.appName;
var fullVersion  = ''+parseFloat(navigator.appVersion); 
var majorVersion = parseInt(navigator.appVersion,10);
var nameOffset,verOffset,ix;

// In Opera, the true version is after "Opera" or after "Version"
if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Opera"))!=-1) {
   browserName = "Opera";
   fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+6);
   if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Version"))!=-1) 
     fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+8);
}
// In MSIE, the true version is after "MSIE" in userAgent
else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("MSIE"))!=-1) {
   browserName = "Microsoft Internet Explorer";
   fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+5);
}
// In Chrome, the true version is after "Chrome" 
else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Chrome"))!=-1) {
   browserName = "Chrome";
   fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+7);
}
// In Safari, the true version is after "Safari" or after "Version" 
else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Safari"))!=-1) {
   browserName = "Safari";
   fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+7);
   if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Version"))!=-1) 
     fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+8);
}
// In Firefox, the true version is after "Firefox" 
else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Firefox"))!=-1) {
    browserName = "Firefox";
    fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+8);
}
// In most other browsers, "name/version" is at the end of userAgent 
else if ( (nameOffset=nAgt.lastIndexOf(' ')+1) < (verOffset=nAgt.lastIndexOf('/')) ) {
    browserName = nAgt.substring(nameOffset,verOffset);
    fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+1);
    if (browserName.toLowerCase()==browserName.toUpperCase()) {
       browserName = navigator.appName;
    }
}
// trim the fullVersion string at semicolon/space if present
if ((ix=fullVersion.indexOf(";"))!=-1)
    fullVersion=fullVersion.substring(0,ix);
if ((ix=fullVersion.indexOf(" "))!=-1)
    fullVersion=fullVersion.substring(0,ix);

majorVersion = parseInt(''+fullVersion,10);
if (isNaN(majorVersion)) {
    fullVersion  = ''+parseFloat(navigator.appVersion); 
    majorVersion = parseInt(navigator.appVersion,10);
}

document.write(''
                +'Browser name  = '+browserName+'<br>'
                +'Full version  = '+fullVersion+'<br>'
                +'Major version = '+majorVersion+'<br>'
                +'navigator.appName = '+navigator.appName+'<br>'
                +'navigator.userAgent = '+navigator.userAgent+'<br>');

From the source javascripter.net

@mircaea Chrome on the iOS is actually Safari. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11259152/chrome-ios-is-it-just-a-uiwebview — Sir.Nathan Stassen, Jan 30 '19 at 22:31
This doesn't recognize Edge. It appears as Chrome with this code. I'll add the solution I found that works for all browsers. — Sintrias, Oct 31 '19 at 18:36

Raab · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-16T15:53:38.430

13

EDIT: Since the answer is not valid with newer versions of jquery As jQuery.browser is deprecated in ver 1.9, So Use Jquery Migrate Plugin for that matter.

Original Answer

jQuery.browser

jQuery.browser and jQuery.browser.version

is your way to go...

edited Jun 16 '16 at 15:53

answered Sep 19 '12 at 06:32

Raab

34,778
4
50
65

11

The question was not about jQuery – Mouloud85 May 14 '18 at 09:53
6

But it shouldn't be. Nobody mentioned jQuery. – Mr. Nobody Mar 16 '19 at 16:25
**`jQuery.browser`** and **`jQuery.browser.version`** returning `undefined` – Dev Matee Jun 26 '19 at 12:47
Using `jQuery.browser;` has a similar issue as `navigator.appName;` in that multiple browsers will return similar values. Most browsers these days are Chromium-based so `jQuery.browser;` will have `chrome: true;` even though the browser is not actually Google Chrome (i.e. Microsoft Edge and Opera). Using `navigator.userAgent;` gives a lot more information that can be parsed for a much more accurate evaluation. Also, it is pure JavaScript. – Sintrias Jan 18 '22 at 00:13

Sintrias · Answer 4 · 2022-01-17T23:50:16.300

I found a purely Javascript solution here that seems to work for major browsers for both PC and Mac. I tested it in BrowserStack for both platforms and it works like a dream. The Javascript solution posted in this thread by Jason D'Souza is really nice because it gives you a lot of information about the browser, but it has an issue identifying Edge which seems to look like Chrome to it. His code could probably be modified a bit with this solution to make it work for Edge too. Here is the snippet of code I found:

var browser = (function (agent) {
    switch (true) {
        case agent.indexOf("edge") > -1: return "edge";
        case agent.indexOf("edg") > -1: return "chromium based edge (dev or canary)";
        case agent.indexOf("opr") > -1 && !!window.opr: return "opera";
        case agent.indexOf("chrome") > -1 && !!window.chrome: return "chrome";
        case agent.indexOf("trident") > -1: return "ie";
        case agent.indexOf("firefox") > -1: return "firefox";
        case agent.indexOf("safari") > -1: return "safari";
        default: return "other";
    }
})(window.navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase());
console.log(window.navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase() + "\n" + browser);

UPDATED

Here is a better version from BSlink's answer which has a few problems. There are too many edits in the queue for me to submit one in his answer so I'm editing my own answer to share the corrections:

  const agent = window.navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
  const browser =
    agent.indexOf('edge') > -1 ? 'edge'
      : agent.indexOf('edg') > -1 ? 'chromium based edge'
      : agent.indexOf('opr') > -1 && window.opr ? 'opera'
      : agent.indexOf('chrome') > -1 && window.chrome ? 'chrome'
      : agent.indexOf('trident') > -1 ? 'ie'
      : agent.indexOf('firefox') > -1 ? 'firefox'
      : agent.indexOf('safari') > -1 ? 'safari'
      : 'other';
  
  console.log(`${agent}\n${browser}`);

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 19 '12 at 06:39

In c# you your browser name using:

System.Web.HttpBrowserCapabilities browser = Request.Browser;

For details see a link.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3yekbd5b%28v=vs.100%29.aspx

and in Client side:

JQuery:

jQuery.browser

For details see a link:

http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.browser/

score 5 · Answer 6 · edited Sep 01 '22 at 10:35

5

I liked Sintrias's answer but I wanted to uppdate a bit with a slightly more modern syntax.

  const userAgent = window.navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
  const browser =
    userAgent.indexOf('edge') > -1 ? 'edge'
      : userAgent.indexOf('edg') > -1 ? 'chromium based edge'
      : userAgent.indexOf('opr') > -1 && !!window.opr ? 'opera'
      : userAgent.indexOf('chrome') > -1 && !!window.chrome ? 'chrome'
      : userAgent.indexOf('trident') > -1 ? 'ie'
      : userAgent.indexOf('firefox') > -1 ? 'firefox'
      : userAgent.indexOf('safari') > -1 ? 'safari'
      : 'other';
  
  console.log(`${userAgent.toLowerCase()}\n${browser}`);

edited Sep 01 '22 at 10:35

Anatol

3,720
2
20
40

answered Jul 27 '21 at 21:57

BSlink

141
2
6

1

I like your syntax much better than what I posted, but this has a problem. You need to get the `.toLowerCase()` of `userAgent` because the string includes upper-cased letters. Running your code as it is now will always result in `'other'`. Also, I'm curious as to why you're using double negations, `!!`. No need for those unless I'm not aware of some special use case. – Sintrias Jan 17 '22 at 23:34

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 19 '12 at 06:47

The browser discloses it in navigator.userAgent. If you're using jQuery, you're better off using jQuery.browser as @Rab Nawaz said. However, as the API documentation says, it's better to check for feature support if possible. Quoting the documentation:

We recommend against using this property; please try to use feature detection instead (see jQuery.support). jQuery.browser may be moved to a plugin in a future release of jQuery.

Here is a code example:

function isIE() {
    if (window.jQuery) {
        return jQuery.browser.msie || false;
    } else {
        // adapted from jQuery's source:
        return navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf('msie') >= 0;
    }
}

navigator method suited my work since it reduces the dependency on jQuery library in general. Thanks — rahoolm, Feb 04 '14 at 09:19

score 3 · Answer 8 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

3

This is answered in

How to detect Safari, Chrome, IE, Firefox and Opera browser?

Check this fiddle.

Hope this helps.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

1
1

answered Apr 03 '17 at 12:19

Steven Dsouza

146
9

the fiddle returns: isFirefox: false isChrome: false isSafari: false isOpera: false isIE: false isEdge: false isBlink: false (and I am using latest Chrome on Linux) – Zibri Aug 28 '19 at 18:08

score 3 · Answer 9 · edited May 25 '23 at 15:59

3

You can also get an array of brands that is used by user using the following way:

let browser = window.navigator.userAgentData.brands;
console.log('browser', browser);

edited May 25 '23 at 15:59

General Grievance

4,555
31
31
45

answered Aug 28 '22 at 16:47

Rishabh Singh

852
3
12

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 19 '12 at 06:54

It's all about what you really want to do, but in times to come and right now, the best way is avoid browser detection and check for features. like Canvas, Audio, WebSockets, etc through simple javascript calls or in your CSS, for me your best approach is use a tool like ModernizR:

Unlike with the traditional—but highly unreliable—method of doing “UA sniffing,” which is detecting a browser by its (user-configurable) navigator.userAgent property, Modernizr does actual feature detection to reliably discern what the various browsers can and cannot do.

If using CSS, you can do this:

.no-js .glossy,
.no-cssgradients .glossy {
    background: url("images/glossybutton.png");
}

.cssgradients .glossy {
    background-image: linear-gradient(top, #555, #333);
}

as it will load and append all features as a class name in the <html> element and you will be able to do as you wish in terms of CSS.

And you can even load files upon features, for example, load a polyfill js and css if the browser does not have native support

Modernizr.load([
  // Presentational polyfills
  {
    // Logical list of things we would normally need
    test : Modernizr.fontface && Modernizr.canvas && Modernizr.cssgradients,
    // Modernizr.load loads css and javascript by default
    nope : ['presentational-polyfill.js', 'presentational.css']
  },
  // Functional polyfills
  {
    // This just has to be truthy
    test : Modernizr.websockets && window.JSON,
    // socket-io.js and json2.js
    nope : 'functional-polyfills.js',
    // You can also give arrays of resources to load.
    both : [ 'app.js', 'extra.js' ],
    complete : function () {
      // Run this after everything in this group has downloaded
      // and executed, as well everything in all previous groups
      myApp.init();
    }
  },
  // Run your analytics after you've already kicked off all the rest
  // of your app.
  'post-analytics.js'
]);

a simple example of requesting features from javascript:

http://jsbin.com/udoyic/1

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Apr 13 '17 at 09:11

This code will return "browser" and "browserVersion"
Works on 95% of 80+ browsers

var geckobrowsers;
var browser = "";
var browserVersion = 0;
var agent = navigator.userAgent + " ";
if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Mozilla/")+8, agent.indexOf(" ")) == "5.0" && agent.indexOf("like Gecko") != -1){
    geckobrowsers = agent.substring(agent.indexOf("like Gecko")+10).substring(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("like Gecko")+10).indexOf(") ")+2).replace("LG Browser", "LGBrowser").replace("360SE", "360SE/");
    for(i = 0; i < 1; i++){
        geckobrowsers = geckobrowsers.replace(geckobrowsers.substring(geckobrowsers.indexOf("("), geckobrowsers.indexOf(")")+1), "");
    }
    geckobrowsers = geckobrowsers.split(" ");
    for(i = 0; i < geckobrowsers.length; i++){
        if(geckobrowsers[i].indexOf("/") == -1)geckobrowsers[i] = "Chrome";
        if(geckobrowsers[i].indexOf("/") != -1)geckobrowsers[i] = geckobrowsers[i].substring(0, geckobrowsers[i].indexOf("/"));
    }
    if(geckobrowsers.length < 4){
        browser = geckobrowsers[0];
    } else {
        for(i = 0; i < geckobrowsers.length; i++){
            if(geckobrowsers[i].indexOf("Chrome") == -1 && geckobrowsers[i].indexOf("Safari") == -1 && geckobrowsers[i].indexOf("Mobile") == -1 && geckobrowsers[i].indexOf("Version") == -1)browser = geckobrowsers[i];
        }
    }
    browserVersion = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1, agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1).indexOf(" "));
} else if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Mozilla/")+8, agent.indexOf(" ")) == "5.0" && agent.indexOf("Gecko/") != -1){
    browser = agent.substring(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Gecko/")+6).indexOf(" ") + agent.indexOf("Gecko/")+6).substring(0, agent.substring(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Gecko/")+6).indexOf(" ") + agent.indexOf("Gecko/")+6).indexOf("/"));
    browserVersion = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1, agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1).indexOf(" "));
} else if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Mozilla/")+8, agent.indexOf(" ")) == "5.0" && agent.indexOf("Clecko/") != -1){
    browser = agent.substring(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Clecko/")+7).indexOf(" ") + agent.indexOf("Clecko/")+7).substring(0, agent.substring(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Clecko/")+7).indexOf(" ") + agent.indexOf("Clecko/")+7).indexOf("/"));
    browserVersion = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1, agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1).indexOf(" "));
} else if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Mozilla/")+8, agent.indexOf(" ")) == "5.0"){
    browser = agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1, agent.indexOf(";"));
    browserVersion = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1, agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1).indexOf(" "));
} else if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Mozilla/")+8, agent.indexOf(" ")) == "4.0" && agent.indexOf(")")+1 == agent.length-1){
    browser = agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1, agent.indexOf(")")).split("; ")[agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1, agent.indexOf(")")).split("; ").length-1];
} else if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("Mozilla/")+8, agent.indexOf(" ")) == "4.0" && agent.indexOf(")")+1 != agent.length-1){
    if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf(") ")+2).indexOf("/") != -1)browser = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(") ")+2, agent.indexOf(") ")+2+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(") ")+2).indexOf("/"));
    if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf(") ")+2).indexOf("/") == -1)browser = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(") ")+2, agent.indexOf(") ")+2+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(") ")+2).indexOf(" "));
    browserVersion = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1, agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1).indexOf(" "));
} else if(agent.substring(0, 6) == "Opera/"){
    browser = "Opera";
    browserVersion = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1, agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1).indexOf(" "));
    if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1).indexOf(";") != -1)os = agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1, agent.indexOf("(")+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1).indexOf(";"));
    if(agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1).indexOf(";") == -1)os = agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1, agent.indexOf("(")+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf("(")+1).indexOf(")"));
} else if(agent.substring(0, agent.indexOf("/")) != "Mozilla" && agent.substring(0, agent.indexOf("/")) != "Opera"){
    browser = agent.substring(0, agent.indexOf("/"));
    browserVersion = agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1, agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1+agent.substring(agent.indexOf(browser)+browser.length+1).indexOf(" "));
} else {
    browser = agent;
}
alert(browser + " v" + browserVersion);

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Dec 21 '19 at 08:22

Based on is.js you can write a helper file for getting browser name like this-

const Browser = {};
const vendor = (navigator && navigator.vendor || '').toLowerCase();
const userAgent = (navigator && navigator.userAgent || '').toLowerCase();

Browser.getBrowserName = () => {
  if(isOpera()) return 'opera'; // Opera
  else if(isChrome()) return 'chrome'; // Chrome
  else if(isFirefox()) return 'firefox'; // Firefox
  else if(isSafari()) return 'safari'; // Safari
  else if(isInternetExplorer()) return 'ie'; // Internet Explorer
}


// Start Detecting browser helpers functions
function isOpera() {
  const isOpera = userAgent.match(/(?:^opera.+?version|opr)\/(\d+)/);
  return isOpera !== null;
}

function isChrome() {
  const isChrome = /google inc/.test(vendor) ? userAgent.match(/(?:chrome|crios)\/(\d+)/) : null;
  return isChrome !== null;
}

function isFirefox() {
  const isFirefox = userAgent.match(/(?:firefox|fxios)\/(\d+)/);
  return isFirefox !== null;
}

function isSafari() {
  const isSafari = userAgent.match(/version\/(\d+).+?safari/);
  return isSafari !== null;
}

function isInternetExplorer() {
  const isInternetExplorer = userAgent.match(/(?:msie |trident.+?; rv:)(\d+)/);
  return isInternetExplorer !== null;
}
// End Detecting browser helpers functions

export default Browser;

And just import this file where you need.

import Browser from './Browser.js';

const userBrowserName = Browser.getBrowserName() // return your browser name
                                                 // opera | chrome | firefox | safari | ie

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered May 01 '23 at 13:44

A simple solution for that is userAgentData object.

Right now the navigator appName returns 'Netscape' in most of browsers for compatibility reasons.

A simply way to get the browsers name is this:

let userBrowser = navigator.userAgentData.brands[1].brand; 

// will return the exact name of the browser... E.g. 'Google Chrome', 'Microsoft Edge' ... Etc.

Getting a browser's name client-side

13 Answers13

Linked