When you open desktop websites on mobile, you will realize that you cannot access the desktop mode. As you surf various websites from your desktop computer, you also surf the same on your mobile phone and you will find out that the interface you see on the desktop and the mobile is imperceptibly different, but because you are familiar with the desktop mode, you would like to open desktop websites on mobile.
Nowadays, many websites are built in such a way that if you open it from a desktop PC, you can view the full desktop site, if you open it from a smartphone, you will see the website is optimized for your phone display and likewise for a tablet. They call it a responsive website since it adapts itself according to the device and the screen size it is accessed from. So, even if you like the full desktop version of the websites, you still aren’t able to view it on your mobile.
It is, however, a good implementation as the mobile version of the website uses fewer resources and takes less data eventually helping out your smartphone in a better way. If you would like to surf desktop websites on your mobile just like you see it on a desktop then follow the 2-step guide.
How to open desktop websites on mobile
Step 1: Open your favourite website or the one you surf the most on a desktop on chrome browser. We have chosen Google just to show you an instance. If you are using a different browser like Mozilla Firefox, or any other, the next step is very similar.
Step 2: Tap the three dots on the Chrome Browser and tap the checkbox ‘Request desktop site‘. On other browsers, it is quite similar but the UC browser has an unusual setting and you have to get into the deep.
For UC Browser
For the users who are using UC browser, they can open desktop websites on mobile by entering into the settings.
Head to the Settings -> Browser Settings -> Website Preferences. There are options to set it as a lite view, mobile view or a desktop view. Select desktop view under the Others.
Now you can open any websites on full view desktop mode that you want on your mobile. If you still cannot find an option or you are using any other browsers that aren’t mentioned here, let us know in the comments, we will help you out. For more tutorials, check out our How-To Guides.
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Chrome on Android soon will get an option in Site settings, which when turned on, continuously requests the browser to open the desktop version of sites. The option can be enabled and used right now in Chrome 96 Canary.
Why you may want to see the desktop version of a Webpage on mobile?
Generally, if you use Android devices, the browser displays a website version optimized for smartphones by default
- Developers these days design their websites for mobile than desktop, and on certain sites, feature access could be limited. To view the full website, you may have to switch to desktop view.
- Users running Android tablets with large sizes may want a dekstop experience than mobile to be honest.
Note: Google has recently defaulted desktop mode for Android tablets running Chrome. - You may want to check how your site looks on the desktop for compatibility reasons.
How to request a desktop site in Chrome on Android
Like other mobile browsers, Android Chrome offers a setting to view the webpage in desktop mode.
All you need to do is visit that site, tap on the menu and select the “Desktop” option checkbox. However, the option is available per-site basis and you need to manually do this each time for every site.
Google is working to provide a “desktop site” option in its Android Chrome Settings [disabled by default] that always tries to request for dekstop view of sites when enabled.
Permanently enable desktop sites in Chrome on Android
- Launch chrome
- Visit chrome://flags
- Search for “desktop”, for “Global setting to request desktop site on Android“, select Enabled and restart the browser.
- Tap on menu , select Settings > Site Settings > Desktop Site> enable toggle to “Request the desktop view of sites“.
Closing words:
If viewing the desktop version for a site is a one-off thing, you can continue to use the option available in the menu without needing to enable the setting.
Now, you tell us when was the last time you’ve asked Chrome on Android to open a desktop site?
More about Chrome for Android:
Chrome to warn when you download files in Incognito
Chrome Tab Groups on Android getting significant changes after User feedback
Chrome for Android: Bookmarks getting a ‘Visual Refresh’