How to Use the Full Facebook Site for Desktop from Your Phone

Robert Hayes July 29, 2022

People have become more dependent on their smartphones to fulfill their browsing needs. Thus, websites have begun building two separate versions: a mobile version and a full-desktop version. Facebook is just one example. The mobile website comes in two flavors depending on the website’s code, including regular and light. The light mobile website versions generally present primary content. Still, they lack functionality better suited to a full-screen environment, such as menu navigation, link locations, options, and other page elements. Sites increasingly use responsive or adaptive web design, such as Facebook, to change and modify themselves to fit screens of any shape or size while still displaying content in a reasonable layout.

However, mobile sites like Facebook are often unsatisfactory in one way or another. More specifically, Facebook hides certain functionalities, limiting what mobile users can see or do while browsing the site. Though this strategy is applied to retain usability and run more smoothly on mobile platforms, it can often leave power users out in the cold when they’re looking for specific abilities or options on Facebook. After all, it can be frustrating when trying to visit a particular site for a specific feature (such as dark mode) and not getting the option when on the mobile version of the site.

Though the Facebook apps on iOS and Android theoretically feature the same capabilities as the desktop version, navigation is different, and many apps take you to the mobile version of the website instead of the app. It’s no secret that the Facebook app consumes a lot of battery life and memory on your phone, so the mobile site can be a much faster and more convenient way to access your social feed on the go.

Unfortunately, Facebook’s mobile browser site is more limited than the app in terms of capabilities. Facebook won’t let you use Messenger on the mobile browser. It will ask you to install the Messenger app instead. Changing your settings or hiding posts from your newsfeed can be aggravating.

If you’re fed up with the restrictions while using the Facebook mobile site or need to change a setting you can’t change from the mobile view, you’re in luck. Both Android and iOS allow you to easily switch between Facebook’s mobile and desktop versions with a single option.

Let’s break down just what you need to do to access the full desktop version of Facebook right from your iPhone or Android device.

Mobile Browsers that Support Facebook Desktop

As of May 01, 2022, major browsers like Chrome and most forks of Chromium like Edge and Opera support Facebook Desktop. However, Firefox, Safari, and other major, non-Chromium browsers tend not to work even if they offer a Desktop View option. When we tested Firefox, it continually went to the Facebook mobile website with “Desktop View” turned on, and the URL changed.

Chrome for Facebook Desktop

Type www.facebook.com in the address bar, tap on the right arrow key (Enter key) on the virtual keyboard, then log in to Facebook if needed.
Tap on the vertical ellipsis (three vertical dots) in the upper-right corner to open the browser menu.
Select Desktop site from the menu’s options. The Facebook page will change, but not entirely just yet.
Tap on the address bar, then tap on the pencil icon below it to edit the URL.
Change m.facebook.com to facebook.com, then tap the right arrow key (Enter key) on the virtual keyboard.
The Facebook page now appears in desktop mode.

Opera for Facebook Desktop

Launch the Opera mobile browser and log in to your Opera account if desired. This action syncs your browser settings, bookmarks, passwords, etc.
Type www.facebook.com in the address bar, then tap on the right arrow key (Enter key) on the virtual keyboard.
Tap on the vertical ellipsis in the top right section, then select Desktop site. The slider should move to the right and turn blue. You can always check it to ensure it is on.
Tap on the address bar and change the URL from m.facebook.com to facebook.com, then press the right arrow key (Enter key) on the virtual keyboard to load the Desktop site.
Facebook should appear in all its full glory with all features from the desktop version.

Microsoft Edge for Facebook Desktop

Launch the Edge mobile browser and log in to your Microsoft account if desired. This action syncs all your browser data, including passwords, history, bookmarks, etc.
Type facebook.com in the address bar, then press the right arrow key (Enter key) on the virtual keyboard.
Tap on the horizontal ellipsis at the bottom to open the Edge browser menu.
Scroll up from the bottom to expose all the menu options. Choose View desktop site from the list.
Log in to Facebook if not done already. You should not need to change the URL from m.facebook.com to facebook.com but do so if necessary.
Microsoft Edge should now display the Facebook Desktop site.

If you haven’t logged into your Facebook account on your chosen mobile browser or got logged out, it will ask you to enter your login details. After logging in, you’ll still get the mobile web version or the Facebook app unless you changed the URL first. Don’t worry; you haven’t done anything wrong. Simply adjust the URL as needed by removing the m. portion in the URL. You must also ensure that the desktop option is on in the browser for this trick to work.

As tested on May 1, 2022, adding /home.php to the end of the URL no longer works when bookmarking the page for future use. You always have to turn the desktop option on and change the URL every time you want to load the Facebook Desktop version. There is no way around it like there used to be.

Also, as long as you browse Facebook on that specific tab, it will stay in desktop mode. Sometimes, though, you can go back to a page, and it will revert to the mobile version. When tested on Edge, the back button stayed in desktop mode for the most part since we clicked on various links.

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While the above methods are helpful and easy enough to accomplish, it’s important to note that Facebook will try to reroute you back to using their mobile app under certain situations. If you reload the homepage or attempt to use specific settings, Facebook will push you back to the mobile site. If this happens, you can always use the above methods to reload the desktop version without too much issue.

Finally, while testing the above methods on Android, we ran into the occasional problem where requesting the desktop site through all browsers instead returned with a tablet version, with the same functionality as the mobile version but zoomed out. If this happens, the page is requesting a desktop version of “m.facebook.com,” which redirects to the mobile version of Facebook no matter the device you’re using. Just reenter “www.facebook.com” into your browser with the “Request desktop site” box still checked, and you should load the traditional display.