We have previously written about user agent switchers for Mozilla Firefox which help Firefox pose as a different web browser. Websites look for the user agent strings data sent by a web browser and then determine the browser name and version. If we alter this user agent string, then we can fool a website into thinking that we are using a different web browser. This is very useful if a website forces you to use a specific web browser. Now you can switch the user agent string in the Google Chrome browser too, using the User Agent Switcher extension.
You can download and install the User Agent extension in Chrome browser and you would be able to see the extension icon in the Chrome toolbar on the right side. The icon has a masked person look. Nothing can be easier than using this User Agent extension. All you have to do is click on the user agent switcher icon and choose a web browser name and version from the drop-down list as shown.
As you choose a browser name and version from the list, the user agent would immediately switch to your selected browser version. The change would only impact the website in the tab where you selected the user agent. In all other tabs, the user agent would stay the default, that is, user agent string stays Google Chrome.
In the extension options, you can add or edit the user agent strings. You can also choose a user agent string to always go with a domain name in the permanent spoof list section. This way you do not have to select a user agent string manually for the selected domain – the extension automatically changes the user agent string for that domain name.
How to set permanent user agent spoof for all domains?
This extension allows you to set permanent user agent spoof for some domains, so that you do not have to change the user agent string every time you start the Chrome browser. But how can you set permanent spoof for all the domain names? It is very easy, just in the domain name user http://* for non-secure domain names and https://* for secure domain names, as shown in the following screenshot. Actually, you can use wild cards using * and ? to match the domain names, just do not forget to start the rule with http:// or https://.
Another thing, that you would have to do if you want to set permanent user agent string spoof for all the domain names is to set the option Permanent spoof always override any user-agent selection in the toolbar. This option can be found under Other Settings section in the User Agent Switcher settings. This will make sure that permanent user agent spoofs are preferred over any other selected user agent strings.
Conclusion: The “User Agent Switcher” extension for Chrome can be very helpful for you if you want to spoof browser user agent strings in Chrome. It comes with many user agent strings for different platforms and browsers, and allows to add your own browser user agent strings.
You can download and install this extension from https://chrome.google.com/.
Is it possible permanent spoof to ALL domains? How to write a rule?
Yes, it is possible. I have updated the article with the instructions to set the permanent spoof for all domains. You can read it above.