But sometimes, you may need to view or use the desktop version of a site. In that case, what can you do—especially if your computer is miles away?
Thankfully, there’s a useful setting that allows you to view and access the original desktop version of any website on your mobile phone. In this article, we’ll show you how to change to desktop view while using your preferred Chromium-based mobile browser.
How to Enable and Disable Desktop View on Chrome Mobile Browser
Enabling desktop view on the Chrome mobile browser is simple and can be done in two ways. You can either set desktop view as your default for all sites or per site you visit.
How to Enable Desktop View for All Sites in Chrome Mobile Browser
To make desktop view your default for all sites:
Open Chrome on your phone. Tap on the three dots button in the top-right corner. Scroll down and tap on Settings. Scroll down and tap on Site settings. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the menu options and tap on Desktop site. Now, toggle on the Desktop site switch, and you’re all set.
How to Enable Desktop View for Specific Sites in Chrome Mobile Browser
Here’s how to switch between mobile and desktop views on Chrome.
Launch Chrome. Go to the site you want to view in desktop mode. Tap on the three dots menu button in the top right corner. 3 Images Close Scroll down the menu options and tap on the Desktop site box.
The site will reload in desktop view. To revert to mobile view, simply tap on the three dots menu button again and uncheck the Desktop site box. We’ve covered how to use Google Chrome as a student.
How to Enable and Disable Desktop View on Edge Mobile Browser
You can also enter desktop view on the Microsoft Edge browser. Here’s how it’s done:
Launch the Edge browser on your phone. Tap on the three dots menu button at the bottom of your screen. Tap on Settings. From the menu options, tap on General. 3 Images Close Tap on Site display settings. Select Show desktop site as default. Upon exit, the page will relaunch, and you can continue browsing in desktop mode.
To revert to mobile view, simply repeat steps 1-5 above and select Show mobile site as default.
How to Enable and Disable Desktop View on Firefox Mobile Browser
There’s currently no option to enable desktop view for all websites in the Firefox mobile browser. To enable desktop view for a specific website instead:
Open Firefox on your mobile device. From the Firefox homepage or the website that you want to view in desktop mode, tap the three dots button in the top right corner. 3 Images Close Go down the menu options and turn on the Desktop site toggle switch. The site will reload in desktop view.
To revert to mobile view, simply reverse the steps above, and you’ll be back to normal view.
How to Enable and Disable Desktop View on Brave Mobile
If you use the Brave browser, you can also easily switch between mobile and desktop views. You can equally make desktop view your default viewing mode.
How to Enable Desktop View for All Sites in Brave Mobile
Here’s how to set desktop view as the default for all websites:
Launch the Brave mobile browser. Tap on the three dots menu button in the bottom right corner. Tap on Settings. Scroll down and tap on Site settings. Scroll all the way down and tap on Desktop site. Toggle on the Desktop site switch.
How to Enable Desktop View for Specific Websites on Brave Mobile
To enable desktop view for a particular site in Brave:
Open the Brave browser on your device. Tap on the three dots button in the bottom right corner of your screen. 3 Images Close Go down the menu options and tap on the Desktop site checkbox. The site will automatically reload in desktop view.
To go back to the mobile view, simply reverse the steps described above. We’ve covered reasons to switch from Chrome to Brave.
How to Enable and Disable Desktop View on Vivaldi Mobile
There are two ways to enable desktop view on Vivaldi. You can do so from the Vivaldi Start Page or from the site you want to view in desktop mode.
How to Enable Desktop View for All Sites on Vivaldi Mobile
To open Vivaldi in desktop mode from the start page:
Open your Vivaldi mobile browser. If you don’t land on the Start Page by default, simply tap on the Home icon. It’ll take you to Vivaldi’s homepage. Tap on the V menu button in the top right corner. From the menu options, tap Settings. Scroll all the way down to the Web Pages section and enable the Always Show Desktop Site toggle switch.
This will set the desktop view as your default website viewing setting in Vivaldi.
How to Enable Desktop View for Specific Websites on Vivaldi Mobile
If you want to view a particular website on Vivaldi in desktop view, do this instead:
Open Vivaldi on your mobile phone. Go to the particular website you want to view in desktop mode. Tap on the V menu button in the top right corner. Scroll down the menu options and check the Desktop site check box. The site will automatically reload in desktop mode.
With this option, you can view different tabs in different website viewing modes, some in desktop view and others in mobile view.
Irrespective of your preferred method, disabling desktop view is the same process. It’s also fast and easy. To do so, simply tap on the V menu button, scroll down and uncheck the Desktop site checkbox.
How to Enable and Disable Desktop View on Opera Mobile
It’s also easy to enable desktop view on the Opera browser. Just like Vivaldi, you can do so in two ways; either via the start page or from any website.
How to Enable Desktop View for All Sites on Opera Mobile
Here’s how to enable desktop view for all sites in Opera:
Open Opera on your mobile device. Tap on your profile picture in the bottom right corner of your screen. Tap on the settings gear icon. Scroll all the way down to the Content section and tap on Default user agent. Select Desktop.
Once you exit, all sites will henceforth render in desktop view by default.
How to Enable Desktop View for Specific Websites on Opera Mobile
To enable desktop view for any website:
Launch Opera. Tap on the three dots menu button in the top right corner. Scroll down the menu options and tap on the Desktop site switch.
To revert to the original mobile view for any of these options, simply tap on the three dots menu button in the top right corner, and turn off the Desktop site switch.
Enjoy Any View, Anywhere, Any Time
With this knowledge, you can now easily switch between mobile and desktop views while browsing your favorite websites. All the methods described above work for Android and iOS, where the respective browsers are available.
