When you navigate to a website on your iPhone, the server detects that you are using a mobile device and automatically serves you a stripped-down, touch-friendly version of the webpage. This “mobile view” is usually excellent for reading articles on a small screen. However, on complex websites—such as banking portals, corporate intranets, or advanced web apps—the mobile version often hides critical menus, removes advanced features, or simply breaks entirely. When this happens, you must force Safari to request the full, uncompromised “Desktop Website” exactly as it would appear on a Mac or PC.
How to Request the Desktop Website Temporarily
If you only need to use the desktop version of a site for a single session to access a hidden menu, you can toggle it on the fly without affecting how other websites load.
- Open the Safari app on your iPhone or iPad and navigate to the website you want to view.
- Look at the address bar at the bottom of the screen (or the top of the screen, depending on your iOS layout settings). On the far left side of the address bar, you will see a small icon consisting of a lowercase “a” and a capital “A” (aA).
- Tap the aA icon to open the website settings menu.
- In the dropdown menu, tap the option labelled Request Desktop Website (it features an icon of a computer monitor).
The webpage will instantly refresh. Because your iPhone screen is much smaller than a computer monitor, the text will likely appear tiny. You will need to use two fingers to pinch and zoom in on the specific sections or menus you need to interact with.
To return to the mobile view, simply tap the aA icon again and select Request Mobile Website.
How to Force Desktop View Permanently for a Specific Site
If there is a specific website that you use frequently and its mobile version is consistently terrible, having to tap “Request Desktop Website” every single time you visit it becomes tedious. Safari allows you to set a permanent rule for specific domains.
- Navigate to the problematic website in Safari.
- Tap the aA icon in the address bar.
- Instead of tapping the desktop request button, tap Website Settings at the very top of the menu.
- A new preferences panel will slide up. Locate the toggle switch for Request Desktop Website.
- Toggle the switch to the ON (green) position.
- Tap Done in the top right corner.
From now on, whenever you type that specific URL into Safari, it will automatically load the full desktop version without you having to press any additional buttons.
Global Desktop View on iPadOS
It is worth noting that if you are using an iPad, Apple changed the default behaviour starting with iPadOS 13. Because iPads have large screens similar to laptops, Safari on the iPad is configured to request the Desktop Website for all websites by default automatically. You generally do not need to use the “aA” menu on an iPad unless a website forces a mobile layout against the browser’s request.