jQuery jQuery.browser Property

The jQuery.browser property was used to detect the user's browser and its version. It provided a simple way to identify specific browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer, mainly for applying browser-specific behavior or fixes. However, it was discouraged due to reliability and maintainability issues.

The $.browser is just shorthand for jQuery.browser. Learn more in the syntax section of the jQuery tutorial.

What is the $.browser Property?

  • jQuery.browser is an object that holds boolean flags such as msie, mozilla, webkit, and chrome.
  • You can also access the version string via $.browser.version.
  • This property was commonly used in older jQuery scripts for conditional logic based on the user's browser.
  • It was removed due to poor reliability and the recommendation to use feature detection instead.

Version History

  • Deprecated in jQuery 1.3
  • Removed in jQuery 1.9 (January 2013)

How the $.browser Property Works?

When jQuery loads, it parses the navigator.userAgent string to populate the jQuery.browser object. For example, in older versions, visiting a site with Chrome would result in $.browser.chrome being true.

Syntax

Example

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if ($.browser.msie) {
    alert("You're using Internet Explorer " + $.browser.version);
}

Detect Browser Type and Version

This example demonstrates the basic usage of the jQuery.browser property. It displays the detected browser and version info using jQuery 1.8.3. Modern development should avoid relying on this method.

Example

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Try in CodeLab
$(document).ready(function() {
	$("#detectBrowser").click(function() {
		var browserInfo = "";
		if ($.browser.msie) browserInfo = "Internet Explorer " + $.browser.version;
		else if ($.browser.mozilla) browserInfo = "Firefox " + $.browser.version;
		else if ($.browser.webkit) browserInfo = "Webkit (Safari/Chrome) " + $.browser.version;
		else browserInfo = "Unknown browser";

		$("#output").text("Detected: " + browserInfo);
	});
});

Why $.browser Property Was Removed?

  • Relied on parsing userAgent, which is unreliable and can be spoofed.
  • Encouraged browser-specific logic instead of feature detection.

Modern Alternatives

  • Use navigator.userAgent directly (with caution).
  • Use feature detection libraries like Modernizr.
  • Prefer progressive enhancement and responsive design to avoid browser checks.

Detect Browser Using navigator.userAgent

Detect the user's browser information using plain JavaScript with the navigator.userAgent property.

Example

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Try in CodeLab
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() {
	const info = navigator.userAgent;
	document.body.innerHTML += "<p>Your user agent is: " + info + "</p>";
});