How To View The Mobile Version Of A Website On A PC

If you’re a web developer or own an online business, you might be curious to know how a mobile site looks on a desktop. The appearance and functionality of your mobile site could be crucial as more than half of Internet traffic comes from phones. Customers are more likely to stay on a site longer or buy something if it’s visually appealing. A desktop view could also help you make edits and fix possible issues sooner.

Fortunately, this is a relatively straightforward process. In this article, we’ll show you how to view a mobile version of a website on different devices and browsers.

How to View the Mobile Version of a Website in Chrome on a Mac

In Chrome, you can test the front end and see if all of the website’s components are operating properly by using a built-in developer tool called DevTools. Because it provides predefined device choices, DevTools is the greatest way for the developer to rapidly shift the view from desktop to mobile and vice versa without any developer extensions.

You can also change the screen size to fit your needs and adjust the screen width and height to see how your website will look on different screen sizes. To do so on a Mac, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Google Chrome browser and go to the site you want to view.
   
2. Hit F12 on your keyboard to access DevTools.
   
3. When the mode is turned on, click the “Toggle Device Emulation” icon.
   
4. You can choose from a list of iOS and Android devices to emulate them.
   
5. It will show the website in the mobile form that you’ve chosen.
   

When you’re finished, just shut the developer tools window to close the mobile version of the website.

How to View the Mobile Version of a Website in Chrome on a Windows PC

If you want to view a mobile version of a website on windows PC in Chrome, it’s pretty a similar process:

1. Open the Chrome browser.
   
2. In Chrome, go to the website you wish to see in the mobile version.
3. Right-click the webpage and select “Inspect” from the menu.
   
4. To go to Developer Tools, click on the “More Tools” tab and select “Developer Tools” or press F12 to open DevTools.
   
5. The Developer Tools window will open.
6. Click the Device Toggle Icon to switch to the Mobile Site View Mode.
   
7. Choose the mobile device you would like to emulate (optional).
   
8. You can now modify the screen’s dimensions to suit your needs.

How to View the Mobile Version of a Website in Chrome on a Chromebook

Accessing the mobile version of a website in Chrome using a Chromebook is very similar to the first two methods.

1. Open the Google Chrome web browser.
   
2. Open the webpage you’d want to access on your mobile device.
   
3. To access the menu, click the vertical three dots icon.
   
4. Drag your mouse over the More Tools item in the list.
   
5. Select “Developer Tools.”
   
6. The Developer Tools window in the browser will open.
   
7. Toggle the mobile site view mode by clicking the Device toggle icon.
   

This will bring up the user interface for the mobile site. You may also pick the preferred device experience by selecting the make and model from the dropdown box. The webpage will refresh as a desktop site whenever you close the developer tools console.

How to View the Mobile Version of a Website in Firefox on a Mac

You can use other web browsers like Firefox to view a mobile site on a Mac desktop. Resizing the browser window is one of the methods most web developers use to evaluate the responsive design website. However, most of the time, this alternative will not appear acceptable.

That’s where the Firefox browser’s web development capabilities come in handy. You can browse your web pages in multiple resolutions if you know how to access mobile versions of websites in Firefox. Follow these steps:

1. Open the mobile version of the website you wish to see.
2. Right-click on the webpage and select the “Inspect” option from the menu.
   
3. Choose the “Responsive Design Mode.”
   
4. Choose the screen size of the website.
   

How to View the Mobile Version of a Website in Firefox on a Windows PC

Windows PCs also have the option to view mobile versions of websites using Firefox. Here’s how to do so:

1. Start Firefox on your PC.
   
2. Go to the website you want to see as a mobile version.
   
3. Go to “Settings” by clicking the horizontal three-bar icon.
   
4. You’ll see a drop-down menu where you’ll have to choose a “Web Developer” option.
   
5. Select “Responsive Design Mode.”
   
6. Finally, you can select a smartphone model to see how your site will appear on that device.
   

How to View the Mobile Version of a Website in Safari on a Mac

We’ve covered how to view a mobile website on a desktop using Chrome and Firefox. But what about the default browser that comes with Mac devices, Safari? Luckily, it is possible to view a mobile version of a website in Safari as well.

1. Launch the Safari browser.
   
2. Go to the website you want to view as a mobile version.
   
3. Click on “Options” and then on the “Develop” menu.
   
4. From the Drop-Down menu, choose “Enter Responsive Design Mode.”
   
5. You can now view the mobile version of the website.
   

Additional FAQ

Can I View the Desktop Version of a Website on My Phone?

The answer is yes! You can switch from the mobile version to the desktop version to check it out without using a computer. The steps to shift the mobile version to the desktop version in Chrome are as follows:

1. Go to the website you want to see in desktop view.

2. Tap on the three-dot icon to access the menu.

3. Select the “Desktop View” option now.

Keep in mind that these steps can vary depending on the phone you’re using.

Making Mobile Web Designing Easier

The developer tools are great to analyze and modify a mobile version of a website on a desktop without switching devices. You can change the screen size to observe how the components function on various devices. You can adjust different components and create the website for multiple screen sizes using the responsive mode.

When designing a website, the designer should always keep in mind how the front end of the site appears on phones, tablets, and desktops. Using the methods described in the article can also help the developer to do so and also to identify which components of a website are creating issues to fix them.

Have you ever tried viewing a mobile version of a site on your desktop? Which browser do you prefer to use to do so? Let us know in the comments section below.