A Complete Guide to Browser Fingerprints

Are you trying to understand what “browser fingerprints” are? Maybe you’ve seen the term online, or perhaps you’re using a special tool like an antidetect browser and feel a little lost with all the settings.

If that sounds like you, then you’ve come to the right place. This is not another complicated, technical article. This is a complete, simple guide made for you.

We will walk through every common browser fingerprint parameter, one by one. We’ll explain what each one is, how websites see it, and why it matters.

Think of this as your personal cheat sheet for browser fingerprints. By the time you’re done, you’ll have the confidence to understand and manage your digital identity. Bookmark this page, and let’s get started.

What Are Browser Fingerprints?

Every time you open a website, your browser quietly shares small details about your device — like your screen size, language, and time zone. This helps websites load faster and display things the right way for you.

But that’s not all. Websites can also read deeper data, such as how your computer draws pictures, which fonts you have, and how your sound system works.

When these small pieces of data are put together, they form what’s called browser fingerprints.

This process, called browser fingerprinting, helps websites track visitors for things like ads or fraud prevention. But it can also raise privacy concerns, since it allows sites to recognize you without asking first.

Learning how browser fingerprints work is the first step to protecting your privacy online. Next, let’s take a closer look at the main types of browser fingerprints — and what each one means.

Types of Browser Fingerprints

User Agent

Think of the User Agent as your browser’s digital ID card. It’s a short line of text that your browser shows to every website you visit. This line works as a quick introduction, telling the site what kind of device and browser you’re using.

A User Agent string may look like a jumble of technical terms, but it’s easy to understand once you break it down. Here’s an example from Chrome:

This string tells a website several key things:

• You’re using a Chrome browser (version 141).
• Your computer runs Windows 10 or 11.
• It’s a 64-bit system (Win64; x64).

Why Does It Exist?

The User Agent was created to help websites work better.

In the early days of the internet, websites needed to know which browser a visitor was using. This helped them show a version of the site that worked correctly — like sending a mobile layout to phones and a full layout to desktops. That same purpose still exists today.

How Do Websites Get It?

This is one of the easiest details for a website to collect. Your browser automatically sends the User Agent string every time it connects to a website’s server.

It happens quietly in the background, with no extra action from you.

Because it’s always shared, the User Agent is often the first building block of your browser fingerprints.

While many people might use the same User Agent, it still helps websites start narrowing down who you are.

Language

Your browser keeps a list of the languages you prefer to use online. You can see this in your browser settings — it’s usually called “Preferred languages.”

For example, you might have:

• English
• French (France)

This setting tells websites:

“I prefer to see content in English first, but French is also okay.”

Now, when a website checks your browser fingerprint, it sees something like this:

Each line comes from a different part of your browser:

• Languages from JavaScript → what your browser reports directly from your settings.
• Accept-Language Header → what your browser automatically sends when connecting to a website.
• InternationalizationAPI → how your system formats things like dates and numbers.

So when you add or reorder languages in your browser settings, it changes what websites see in these fingerprint values.

Why Does It Exist?

The language setting exists for a simple reason — to make websites more readable.

It helps websites show you the right language version automatically.

For example:

• If your browser says English (en-US), you’ll see the English version of a site.
• If it says French (fr-FR), the site may switch to French.

These details also help format things correctly for your region, like how dates, currency, and numbers are displayed.

But while this feature improves your browsing experience, it also becomes a small part of your browser fingerprint — because your language combination and order are often unique.

How Do Websites Get It?

You don’t have to click anything — your browser sends this information automatically. When you open a site:

• The JavaScript values come directly from your language preferences.
• The Accept-Language header is sent silently with every page request.
• The Intl API reveals how your device handles local formatting.

For example, if your browser says fr-FR but your IP is in the U.S. and your time zone is in Asia, the combination might look unusual to a website.

IP Address / Geolocation / Time Zone

When you visit a website, your browser and network automatically reveal where you are — or at least, where your device appears to be.

Websites use three main data points to estimate this: IP address, time zone, and geolocation.

IP Address

Your IP address is your online “return address.” It’s assigned by your internet service provider and shared every time you connect to a website.

From your IP, a website can see:

• The country and city of your connection
• Your internet service provider (ISP)
• The type of network you’re using (residential, data center, etc.)

From that alone, a website already knows your approximate physical location.

Time Zone

Your time zone fingerprint tells websites what local time your computer is using. This value comes from two separate sources:

• From JavaScript (System Time Zone)：Your browser simply reads your computer’s current clock and time zone setting — for example, Asia/Shanghai or America/New_York. If you’ve ever changed your computer’s date and time manually, this value changes too.
• From IP (Network Time Zone): Even if you don’t change anything, your IP address can also be used to guess your time zone. Websites use databases that map IP ranges to regions — and each region has its standard time zone.

If both your system time zone and IP-based time zone match, websites assume your environment is real. But if your system clock shows France time (GMT+2) while your IP is in the U.S., that mismatch looks suspicious. It’s a common sign of proxies or multi-account environments.

That’s why keeping your time zone consistent with your IP address and language settings is so important when managing multiple online profiles.

Geolocation

When a website asks to “know your location,” it’s using your browser’s Geolocation API.

If you click Allow, your browser collects signals from your device to estimate where you are. These signals can include:

• GPS data (on phones)
• Nearby Wi-Fi networks
• Cell tower or Bluetooth information
• Your IP address (for rough confirmation)

The browser sends this data to a location service, such as Google Location Services, which calculates your approximate coordinates. Then it returns simple data like this:

From this, websites can identify your city, region, or exact location, depending on how precise your device data is. Even if you deny access, your IP and time zone still allow a rough guess of your country.

Screen Resolution

Your browser always knows how big your screen is — and it shares this information with every website you visit. This data is called the screen resolution fingerprint, and it usually includes two numbers:

In this example:

• Screen resolution:1920×1080 — the full size of your monitor in pixels.
• Available screen size:1920×1032 — the part of the screen actually visible inside the browser window (a few pixels are used by the taskbar or toolbar).

Why Does It Exist?

Screen data helps websites adapt to different devices and layouts:

• It tells them whether you’re on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone.
• It helps them adjust design and font sizes for your display.
• It’s used in analytics to understand how users access the site.

But it also becomes a small part of your browser fingerprint. Why? Because not many people share the exact same screen setup — especially when combined with other details like your operating system, time zone, and browser type.

Installed Fonts

Every computer and operating system comes with a set of built-in fonts — like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.

When you install new software or language packs, more fonts are added to the list.

Websites can detect which fonts are available on your device and use that list as part of your fingerprint.

In this example, the browser reports:

• A list of available fonts (such as Arial, Calibri, Cambria, etc.)
• A font hash — a unique code that summarizes your full font list (c29ed6e33ca3a58de471b0c4daf45f65 in this case).

This hash value acts like a compressed signature of your system’s font library. Even if two devices look similar, small font differences can make the hash completely unique.

Hardware Concurrency & Device Memory

Two more pieces of hardware info your browser can reveal:

Hardware Concurrency This refers to how many logical CPU cores your device reports. For example, a modern laptop might report 8, meaning eight threads or logical cores can run concurrently.

Device Memory This refers to how much RAM your device has. Note: it’s not super precise — browsers often round or limit the values to avoid privacy leaks. For example, it might say 4 GB or 8 GB.

WebRTC

WebRTC stands for Web Real-Time Communication. It’s a built-in browser feature that allows voice calls, video chats, and file sharing to work directly between users — without needing extra apps or plugins.

Apps like Google Meet, Discord, and WhatsApp Web use WebRTC to make those instant connections possible.

To make a real-time connection, your browser needs to know your IP address — that’s how it finds and talks to other devices on the internet.

Why Does It Show an IP Address?

Even when you use a VPN or proxy, your browser can sometimes leak another IP address through WebRTC.

Here’s what it might look like on a fingerprint test page:

You might notice two different IPs:

• One from your proxy or VPN — shown under “IP Address”
• Another from WebRTC — sometimes your real local or network IP

This happens because WebRTC tries to create a direct connection between your browser and another device.

To do that, it looks up your local network IPs (for example, 192.168.x.x) and your public IP (your real internet address).

Even if you’re behind a VPN, WebRTC can sometimes expose your true IP, depending on how your browser handles it.

That’s why it’s considered a privacy leak — and also a reliable browser fingerprint.

WebGL Fingerprint

WebGL: Web Graphics Library. It’s a browser feature that lets websites draw 3D graphics or animations — for example, in online games, design tools, or data visualizations.

When WebGL runs, it uses your computer’s graphics card (GPU) to do the drawing. Each GPU model has its own way of rendering shapes, lighting, and colors. That’s why websites can use WebGL data as a “visual signature” of your device.

A fingerprint test page might show details like:

• WebGL Vendor:Google Inc. (Intel)
• WebGL Renderer:ANGLE (Intel UHD Graphics 770)
• WebGL Version:WebGL 1.0
• WebGL Hash: a long code representing your device’s rendering output

Even though many people have Intel or NVIDIA GPUs, the combination of vendor + renderer + rendering output can still be unique.

Why Does It Matter?

WebGL information tells websites what kind of graphics hardware you’re using — and even how it behaves. This helps with:

• Optimizing graphics and performance
• Preventing fraud or automation (by spotting virtual machines or cloud devices)
• Tracking unique devices across sessions

For example, if your WebGL output always shows the same rendering hash, websites can recognize your device even after you clear cookies.

Canvas Fingerprint

Canvas is a built-in part of every modern browser that allows websites to draw 2D images — like charts, logos, or animations — directly on the screen. It’s mainly used for web design and graphics, but it can also reveal tiny, hidden details about your device.

When a website uses Canvas fingerprinting, it tells your browser to draw a simple image (like text or shapes) and then reads how that image looks at the pixel level. Because every device and graphics system renders those pixels slightly differently, the result becomes a kind of digital signature for your computer.

In the screenshot above, you can see a Canvas hash. This hash is a short code that represents how your system drew that test image. Even if two computers look the same, the exact hash value is rarely identical.

Why Does It Matter?

The Canvas fingerprint is powerful because it depends on many tiny hardware and software differences:

• Your graphics card (GPU)
• Your browser version
• Your operating system
• Your font rendering and anti-aliasing settings

All these small differences combine to form a pattern unique to your device, much like a person’s handwriting.

That’s why websites and trackers can use Canvas fingerprints to recognize you even after you delete cookies or change your IP address.

Audio Fingerprint

An audio fingerprint (also called an AudioContext fingerprint) is created when a website uses your browser’s sound system, even if you can’t hear it.

It works through a built-in feature called the Web Audio API, which lets websites process and analyze sounds in real time.

When the page loads, it quietly tells your browser to generate a short piece of audio (a few milliseconds long) and then measures how your device handles it.

Every computer, phone, or virtual machine processes that sound a bit differently — depending on your hardware, operating system, and browser version.

For example, your browser might produce an audio hash like:

That code represents your device’s unique “audio response.”

Why Does It Matter?

Every computer and browser combination produces slightly different results when creating or processing audio.

These differences come from:

• Your hardware (sound card, CPU, etc.)
• Your operating system and drivers
• Your browser version and internal math precision

Even if two devices are identical, their floating-point calculations or signal processing can vary just enough to create a distinct result.

That’s why websites can use audio fingerprints to help identify you — especially when combined with other details like Canvas, WebGL, or fonts.

Client Rects

Client Rects is a way for websites to look at how your browser places and sizes things on a page — like buttons, text boxes, images — and use the tiniest differences to help recognize your device.

Two devices might display the same web element in slightly different sizes or positions because of differences in screen, zoom settings, fonts, or display hardware. A website can secretly check those layout differences — how wide a button is, where text appears, how big a box is — and turn that into a fingerprint.

Because those small layout differences are hard to make exactly the same across devices, they help websites distinguish one device from another.

Speech Voices

Web browsers support a feature called speech synthesis (i.e. converting text into spoken voice). This feature includes a list of available voices your device supports — for example, voices in different languages, accents, genders (male/female), or “robotic / human” styles.

When a website asks, your browser can provide the full list of these voices your device has.

Because the voices installed depend on your operating system, browser, language packs, and software settings, two devices often have different voice lists. That makes the list of voices itself a kind of “voice fingerprint.”

Why Does It Matter?

Here’s why websites use the voice list as part of fingerprinting:

• Most users don’t tinker with speech voices — they just use defaults.
• The combination of voices (which languages, accents, voice engines) is often unique to a device.
• Even if you change your IP, clear cookies, or switch browsers, the voice list can stay the same and help websites recognize your environment.
• Because voice lists are less commonly manipulated, they are relatively stable — another signal that is hard to fake.

Hardware and Media Devices

Websites can ask your browser for a list of available media devices through the Media Devices API. You’ll only see a permission popup (“Allow this site to use your microphone?”) if the site wants to use the devices — but just listing their names and counts usually requires no explicit permission.

This is part of how video-calling apps (like Zoom or Google Meet) know which camera or mic to show in their settings.

Even without your permission to use them, the browser can still learn the device names and counts (for example: “1 webcam,” “2 microphones,” “3 audio outputs”). Because this list depends on your hardware, drivers, and operating system, it becomes another small piece of your digital fingerprint.

Why Does It Matter?

Different users have different setups. One person might have a built-in laptop webcam and mic, another might have several USB devices or Bluetooth headsets.

These differences — how many devices, what their names look like, and how they’re ordered — help websites spot unique patterns.

So even if two people have the same browser, their hardware setup will likely produce a different fingerprint.

Cookies vs. Browser Fingerprints: What’s the Difference?

Cookies are small text files that websites store on your device to remember things — like your login, language, or shopping cart. They were designed to make browsing easier and more personal, not to track people across the internet.

But over time, advertisers and analytics companies learned to use them to recognize returning visitors and build user profiles. Each cookie is stored by your browser and sent back to the website every time you visit again.

That’s how a website “remembers” you — even after you close the tab or restart your computer.

Why They’re Different from Fingerprints

Cookies are stored data, while fingerprints are observed data. In other words:

• A cookie is something the website puts on your browser.
• A fingerprint is something the website detects from your system (without saving anything).

Cookies are easy to reset — you can delete them anytime.

Fingerprints, on the other hand, are much harder to change because they come from your real device setup (screen, fonts, hardware, etc.).

That’s why privacy experts often say:

“Cookies tell websites who you are — but fingerprints show what you are.”

Why They Still Matter

Even with modern privacy tools, cookies remain one of the most common ways to identify users.

Websites use them to:

• Keep you logged in
• Remember your preferences
• Track visits and measure ads
• Sometimes connect fingerprint data with your real account.

When cookies and fingerprints are combined, tracking becomes extremely powerful: cookies provide a stable ID, while fingerprints verify that the same person is behind the same browser — even after cookies expire.

All-in-One Antidetect Solution

Browser fingerprints aren’t going away — they’re part of how the modern web identifies users. Every site you visit collects tiny details about your system: your IP, screen, fonts, and hardware setup. Even if you clear cookies or switch browsers, those clues can still reveal patterns that make your online identity recognizable. To truly protect your privacy, you need more than simple masking.

For multi-account users, managing multiple profiles is now essential — and each profile needs its own unique fingerprints.

GeeLark provides antidetect browser and antidetect phone, giving you complete flexibility across both desktop and mobile platforms. You don’t have to juggle multiple tools or switch between different apps to manage your accounts — everything is unified in one place.

Whether you’re running ad campaigns, operating e-commerce stores, or managing social media accounts, GeeLark makes every environment look like a real, independent device.