Detect Internet Explorer in PHP

November 3, 2021 - 1 minute read

This PHP function checks whether the user is using Internet Explorer:

function usingIE() {
    if (!!isset($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']) && !!strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'MSIE')) {
        return true;
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

The usingIE() function will return true if the user agent string indicates usage of the Internet Explorer browser, and it will return false otherwise:

if (!!usingIE()) {
    // The user is using internet Explorer!
} else {
    // The user is not using Internet Explorer!
}

Keep in mind that user agent strings can be faked!

Conclusion

What a wild topic to be writing about in 2021!

PHP and Internet Explorer may be relics of the past (at least the latter) - but I did find this particular snippet useful in recent times.

Enjoy!

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Conclusion