User-Agent: what is it and how to change it in the browser

The fact that the target sites collect information about their visitors for their own purposes — this is no longer news to most of today's netizens. When you access any resource, the system automatically identifies not only the IP address of the device from which the connection was made, but also the operating system used, the browser, as well as a number of additional information. All this is called User-Agent.

In its original content, this information was necessary for the system in order to display the requested information from a particular page of the site as correctly as possible on the user device. The fact is that earlier Internet resources were created taking into account the features of certain browsers. As a result, users had to change the User Agent in order to conveniently view the pages of the site, find the necessary and useful information there. Today, developers often use this tool to test the operation of pages for various devices.

Now let's get acquainted with what a user agent is in more detail, let's dwell on the moment of network security. We will show you how to change or disable the User-Agent in browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome (and others running on the Chromium engine), Opera, Yandex.Browser. We will show you how to organize the most stable and functional work, including in multi-threaded mode using mobile proxies.

What is a User-Agent?

The browser's User-Agent itself does not pose any danger or harm to the user. But, many resources, which, to put it mildly, can be called "unscrupulous", use identified information for their own purposes. In particular, they determine the user by it. Where is this information sent next? There are cases when it was sold, transferred to third parties. And advertising companies — it's not the worst option. Yes, constant annoying mailing, advertising can add a considerable amount of discomfort to the work. But still, the loss of important personal data from the interception of financial transactions — this is a much more serious consequence of identifying your User Agent.

And the User-Agent can also cause a lot of trouble and problems in the work of those people who specialize in multi-accounting. And that is, if you work in social networks, on bulletin boards, marketplaces, specialize in traffic arbitrage, SEO and SMM promotion, sports betting, then such identification of your data significantly reduces the functionality of the work. The fact is that if the system notices your work with two or more accounts at the same time, it will simply block personal pages. And this means that all the work you have done will come to naught. How to act in such a situation? It is necessary to replace the User Agent both in separate programs and in browsers, that is, wherever the work is being done.

In addition to multi-accounting, User-Agent spoofing also provides a fairly high level of security and anonymity of networking, allows you to visit sites tailored for certain platforms or devices. But it is also important to understand that replacing the User Agent can lead to a rather incorrect display of the site, which will make it difficult to work with it. That is why experts recommend a fairly conscious and professional approach to this procedure.

Features of changing or disabling User-Agent

Today, there are several options for disabling or changing the User-Agent. But they all depend on which program or browser you use at work. In some cases, you can not do without additional software. Now let's take a closer look at the features of changing the User-Agent in browsers such as:

1. Mozilla Firefox.
2. Those that work on the Chromium engine.
3. Opera.
4. Yandex.Browser.

How to change User-Agent in Mozilla Firefox

To change the User-Agent in Mozilla Firefox, follow these steps in sequence:

1. Launch the browser. We write the phrase about:config.
2. directly in the address bar
3. We click on the corresponding line with the right mouse button and select from the drop-down list, first the "Create" tab, and then "Line".
4. Come up with a name for the User Agent, write it in the appropriate line. After that, click on the "OK" button.
5. Now you need to enter a new User-Agent value in the box. After that, press the "OK" button again.

That's it, you have changed your User-Agent in Mozilla Firefox browser.

How to change the User-Agent in Chromium browsers

The instructions below will be relevant for all browsers that run on the Chromium engine. A distinctive feature here — the presence of built-in tools from developers that allow you to replace directly in the search engine. We perform actions in the following sequence:

1. Go to the main browser menu. From the drop-down window, select the "Additional Tools" tab, and immediately click on the "Developer Tools" line here. You can also call the tab we need by pressing the key combination Ctrl + Shift + L or by pressing the button on the keyboard F12.
2. A new window opens in front of you, in which we need to click on the button with the image of three vertical dots. From the drop-down list, select the "More Tools" tab, and then – "Network conditions".
3. Immediately after that, an additional tab will open in front of you. In the User-Agent block, we manually uncheck the box next to the "Select automatically" line.
4. After that, you set the User-Agent that you want to use in subsequent work. To do this, it will be enough for you to choose the appropriate option from those presented below.

In principle, this completes all the settings. But, as practice shows, this method does not always give the desired result. Most often, the problem is observed in the Google Chrome browser. In this case, you need to perform slightly different steps. So, we go to the "Internet Options" menu, click on the corresponding icon with the right mouse button. In the "Object" field we write the phrase user-agent =…, instead of an ellipsis, indicating the option that suits you. After that, it remains only to click on the "OK" button. This way you can change the User-Agent as quickly and easily as possible. By the way, User-Agent Switcher has gained high popularity among users. We want to note right away that such instructions are relevant for all Google Chrome browsers, starting from version 26.

How to change User-Agent in Opera browser

You can change the User Agent in the Opera browser in just a couple of minutes without much effort. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Launch the browser. Directly in the address bar, enter the phrase opera:config#UserPrefs|CustomUser-Agent.
2. After that, a new window opens in front of you, in which you will need to enter the User-Agent that you plan to use in future work.

You can use this method in all versions of the Opera browser starting from 43. But a number of experts have encountered the fact that in the latest generations of the search engine, this method of changing the User-Agent may not work. In this case, the best solution would be to use an additional extension, as a variant of the same User-Agent Switcher, which we already talked about above. But this is just a recommendation, other solutions can be used.

How to change User-Agent in Yandex.Browser

Here, we immediately note that it is optimal to change the User-Agent using the User-Agent Switcher extension. This is the simplest, fastest and most convenient solution. But, in any case, you need to understand that all the manipulations associated with changing the User Agent must be performed as correctly and accurately as possible, because the mistakes made can lead to quite negative consequences.

Does this problem have an easier solution? Yes, I have. And these are mobile proxies that work in conjunction with antidetect browsers.

Mobile proxies for functional and stable network operation without any restrictions

Mobile proxies — this is a specialized intermediary server operating on the technical capabilities of cellular network operators. It will pass all traffic through itself, while replacing your real IP-address and geolocation with its own technical data. But if you decide to additionally use an anti-detect browser, you will get a complete replacement of your digital fingerprint (fingerprint), including the type of browser you use, operating system, language, date and time, and many other parameters.

This ensures:

• high level of online privacy;
• reliable protection against any unauthorized access, including hacker attacks;
• stable work with multi-accounting: no system will associate your multi-threaded actions with one person;
• Effective bypass of regional blocking: you can access resources from any corner of the world, including those that are currently blocked in your country;
• Higher connection speed, which will positively affect the efficiency of the work performed.

But for work it is worth using not free, but private mobile proxies. We have repeatedly talked about how many dangers are fraught with free proxy servers. Don't take risks if you want to provide yourself with the widest possible functionality when working on the network. For those who are looking for stability and reliability, we recommend paying attention to mobile proxies from the MobileProxy.Space service. In this case, you get a dedicated channel with unlimited traffic, as well as access to a huge pool of IP-addresses. To date, their number has already exceeded 1,300,000.

Such mobile proxies work simultaneously on the HTTP(S) and Socks5 protocols, which is implemented by connecting to parallel ports. You can independently set up an IP-address change or by a timer in the interval of 2 minutes to 1 hour, or you can force it to change every time, as you need it via a link from your personal account. Moreover, in the workflow, it will be possible to choose the appropriate geolocation and mobile network operator for yourself in order to bypass regional blocks and gain access to the desired resource here.

MobileProxy.Space customers also have a 24/7 technical support service that promptly responds to all requests related to problems in the settings and operation of mobile proxies.

Share this article: