Screen and Window Protection

Screen dimensions, window properties, and display characteristics are privacy-relevant surfaces. BotBrowser provides full control over these values to maintain consistent display identity.

Prerequisites

Familiarity with Browser Fingerprinting Explained.
BotBrowser installed with a valid profile. See Installation.

Quick Start


chromium-browser \
  --bot-profile="/path/to/profile.enc"

Start with this launch to establish a clean baseline before adding extra overrides.

Overview

Screen and window properties vary across devices and monitor configurations. The combination of screen resolution, available dimensions, device pixel ratio, color depth, and window frame sizes creates a device-specific profile that is accessible without any permissions and stable across sessions. BotBrowser provides full control over these values at the browser engine level.

Configuration

Window Dimensions

Control window size with --bot-config-window:


# Use profile's window settings (default for headless)
--bot-config-window=profile
 
# Use real system window dimensions (default for desktop headful)
--bot-config-window=real
 
# Direct size specification (innerWidth x innerHeight)
--bot-config-window=1920x1080
 
# Full JSON customization
--bot-config-window='{"innerWidth":1920,"innerHeight":1080,"devicePixelRatio":2}'

When using WxH format, outerWidth and outerHeight are auto-derived from the profile’s border definitions to maintain consistent frame dimensions.

Screen Properties

Control screen dimensions with --bot-config-screen:


# Use profile's screen settings (default for headless)
--bot-config-screen=profile
 
# Use real system screen dimensions (default for desktop headful)
--bot-config-screen=real
 
# Direct size specification (width x height)
--bot-config-screen=2560x1440
 
# Full JSON customization
--bot-config-screen='{"width":2560,"height":1440,"availWidth":2560,"availHeight":1400}'

Device Scale Factor


# Disable device scale factor override
--bot-config-disable-device-scale-factor=true

Headful Mode Note

Desktop profiles default to real in headful mode, meaning the browser uses actual system window and screen dimensions. To apply profile-defined dimensions in headful mode, set both flags explicitly:


--bot-config-window=profile
--bot-config-screen=profile

How BotBrowser Provides Protection

BotBrowser controls all screen and window properties at the browser engine level. Screen dimensions, available area, window size, device pixel ratio, color depth, and frame dimensions are all defined by the profile. CSS media queries, JavaScript property access, and Client Hints headers return consistent values.

Common Scenarios

Capture a baseline result using the Quick Start setup.
Change one relevant setting at a time and compare the new output.
Keep your final launch command documented so future checks are reproducible.

Troubleshooting / FAQ

Problem	Solution
Viewport doesn’t match profile	Do not set `defaultViewport` in Puppeteer. Do not set viewport options in Playwright. Let the profile control dimensions.
Screen size shows host display in headful mode	Set `--bot-config-screen=profile` and `--bot-config-window=profile` explicitly for headful.
Frame dimensions inconsistent with claimed OS	Verify the profile matches your intended platform. Frame borders are OS-specific.
devicePixelRatio shows host value	Ensure profile is loaded and `--bot-config-disable-device-scale-factor` is not set.

Next Steps

CSS Signal Consistency. CSS media queries that probe display characteristics.
Navigator Properties. Browser API surfaces that complement screen data.
Browser Fingerprinting Explained. The full fingerprinting landscape.
CLI Flags Reference. All window and screen configuration flags.

Related documentation: Advanced Features: Display & UI Control | CLI Flags: Display & Input

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