What is my Navigator Platform?
Updated at: Jun 26, 2024
This page shows you what your web browser reports as its "Navigator Platform" string.
What is a Navigator Platform string?
Your web browser's Navigator Platform is a short string of text that it makes available to any JavaScript code that it runs. The Navigator Platform string provides a very simple outline of the type of platform your web browser ("Navigator") is running on*
In other words, basically every web browser has a navigator object which can be examined by JavaScript.
The difference between Navigator Platforms and User Agents
User Agents and Navigator Platforms are quite different - they both provide a bit of information about the system that the web browser is running on, but that's about it. Here's a comparison of the two:
| User Agent | Navigator Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Accessed by | Sent as a HTTP header in each request | Only available to the JavaScript engine in the browser |
| Detail level | Can be extremely detailed depending on the browser; usually at least the browser, OS, version, hardware type, software type | Very little - usually just a vague description of the operating system or platform |
| Can be changed or forged? | Yes, easily. Most browsers let you change your user agent | Theoretically yes, but it doesn't seem to be easily possible in most modern browsers; a browser extension might make it easier but none seem to exist |
Does your Navigator Platform say "Win32" when you're really on a 64 bit version of Windows?
In some cases, the navigator platform string seems to actually reflect the platform that the browser was compiled on as opposed to the platform that it's running on - this is why some users on 64 bit platforms will still see a "Win32" value. It's not a failure of the site to detect your platform, it's simply showing what the browser is reporting.
