How to Choose Browser List for Cross Browser Testing

Choosing the right set of browsers for cross-browser testing ensures your website works for your actual audience without wasting time on every possible combination. This guide walks you through a practical, data-driven method to build a browser list that balances coverage, effort, and cost. You’ll need access to your website analytics and a basic understanding of your users’ devices.

What You’ll Need

• Website analytics (Google Analytics, Matomo, or similar) – to see which browsers, versions, and devices your visitors actually use.
• A list of your site’s key features and critical user paths (e.g., login, checkout, sign-up).
• Knowledge of your target audience – for example, if you’re a B2B SaaS, your users may be on older browsers due to corporate IT policies.
• Access to a browser testing tool (BrowserStack, Sauce Labs, LambdaTest) or the ability to install multiple browsers locally.

Step-by-Step

1. Pull your browser usage data. In your analytics platform, look for the ‘Technology’ or ‘Browser & OS’ report. Export the last 3–6 months of data to see trends, not just a snapshot. Note the browser name, version, and operating system for each session.
2. Identify the top browsers by usage share. Sort the data by sessions or pageviews. Typically, the top 5–8 browsers will cover 90–95% of your traffic. Include any browser that accounts for at least 1–2% of sessions – that’s a reasonable threshold to avoid missing a significant chunk.
3. Group by browser engine, not just name. Modern browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Opera all use the Chromium engine, so they often render pages similarly. If you’re short on time, test one Chromium browser (usually Chrome), one WebKit browser (Safari), and one Gecko browser (Firefox) to cover the major rendering differences.
4. Include the latest two versions of each major browser. Most users are on the latest or previous version. For Chrome and Firefox, that’s usually enough. For Safari, check if your analytics show older versions – some users delay updates due to macOS compatibility.
5. Add the most used mobile browsers. If your analytics show significant mobile traffic (often 50%+), include mobile Safari (iOS) and Chrome for Android. These are not the same as their desktop counterparts – they have different viewport sizes, touch behavior, and sometimes feature support.
6. Consider your audience’s context. If you’re a government site or serve enterprise clients, you may need to support Internet Explorer 11 (still used in some organizations) or older versions of Edge. If you’re a tech-savvy consumer product, you can probably ignore IE entirely.
7. Prioritize by criticality. List the features that must work flawlessly (e.g., checkout, forms, video playback). For each browser in your list, decide if it’s ‘must-test’ (high traffic or critical for business) or ‘nice-to-test’ (low traffic, non-critical). This helps you allocate testing effort.
8. Create your final browser matrix. Write down a table with columns: Browser, Version, OS, Device type (desktop/mobile/tablet), and Priority (High/Medium/Low). Aim for 10–15 combinations as a starting point. For example: Chrome 120 (Windows 10), Chrome 120 (Android 13), Safari 17 (iOS 17), Firefox 121 (macOS 14), Edge 120 (Windows 11), and so on.
9. Review and update quarterly. Browser usage changes over time. Set a reminder to revisit your analytics every 3–6 months and adjust your list accordingly. Remove browsers that have dropped below your threshold and add new ones that have gained traction.
10. Document your list and share it. Keep the matrix in a shared document (Confluence, Google Docs) so your whole team – developers, QA, product managers – knows what’s covered. This prevents ad-hoc testing and ensures consistency.

Common Mistakes

• Testing too many browsers. Including every version of every browser leads to a huge matrix that’s impossible to maintain. Stick to your top 90% of traffic.
• Ignoring mobile browsers. If your analytics show 60% mobile traffic, testing only desktop browsers is a critical oversight. Mobile browsers have different rendering engines and viewport sizes.
• Forgetting about browser engine differences. Testing Chrome and Edge separately is often redundant since both are Chromium. Instead, spend that time on Safari or Firefox.
• Using only the latest versions. Some users are on older versions due to corporate policies or hardware limitations. Check your analytics for version distribution before assuming everyone is up-to-date.
• Not considering the OS. A browser on macOS may behave differently than on Windows due to font rendering, scrollbars, or media codecs. Include the OS in your matrix.

Tips

• Use the ‘2% rule’ as a starting point. If a browser has less than 2% of your sessions, it’s usually safe to skip unless it’s critical for a specific feature.
• Leverage cloud testing tools. Services like BrowserStack or Sauce Labs let you run parallel tests on many browsers without maintaining a local farm. They also provide screenshots and video recordings.
• Automate where possible. Use Selenium or Playwright to run automated smoke tests on your key browsers. This frees up time for manual testing on edge cases.
• Check your server logs if analytics is incomplete. Sometimes analytics scripts are blocked, but server logs still show the User-Agent string. This can give you a more complete picture.
• Consider evergreen browsers. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox auto-update, so you only need to test the latest version. Safari is also mostly evergreen on iOS, but older macOS versions may have older Safari.

Troubleshooting

What if my analytics show a huge long tail of browsers? This is common. Focus on the top 10–15 browsers that cover 95% of traffic. For the remaining 5%, you can rely on progressive enhancement – ensure the site degrades gracefully without JavaScript or advanced CSS.

What if I don’t have analytics yet? If you’re launching a new site, use global browser statistics (e.g., from StatCounter or W3Counter) as a baseline. Then, after a month, switch to your own data.

What if a browser is in my list but I can’t test it? For example, Safari is only available on Apple devices. Use a cloud testing service or a tool like BrowserStack to access it remotely. If you can’t, at least test with a WebKit-based browser like Epiphany (on Linux) or use the Safari Technology Preview on Windows (though it’s not the same).

What if a critical feature fails in a low-traffic browser? Decide if it’s worth fixing. If the browser is below 1% of traffic and the feature is not essential, you might document it as a known issue. If it’s critical, consider a progressive enhancement approach or a polyfill.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many browsers should I test? Typically 10–15 combinations (browser + OS + device) cover 95% of users. Start with the top 5 browsers on desktop and top 2–3 on mobile.

Q: Should I test Internet Explorer? Only if your analytics show significant IE traffic (usually above 2%). Many modern sites have dropped IE support. If you must support it, test IE11 specifically, as older versions are obsolete.

Q: Is testing Chrome and Edge redundant? Largely yes, because both use the Chromium engine. However, Edge has some unique settings and enterprise features, so if you have a significant Edge user base, do a quick smoke test.

Q: How often should I update my browser list? Every quarter is a good cadence. Browser usage shifts slowly, but new browser versions come out frequently. Check your analytics monthly for major changes.

Q: What’s the difference between responsive design and cross-browser testing? Responsive design ensures the layout adapts to different screen sizes. Cross-browser testing ensures the site works correctly in different browsers and engines. You need both.

Q: Can I rely on automated testing alone? No. Automated tests are great for functional checks, but visual issues (e.g., overlapping elements, font rendering) often need manual review. Use a mix of both.

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