---
title: Browser Link in ASP.NET Core
author: ncarandini
description: Explains how Browser Link is a Visual Studio feature that links the development environment with one or more web browsers.
ms.author: riande
ms.custom: H1Hack27Feb2017
ms.date: 01/09/2020
no-loc: [Home, Privacy, Kestrel, appsettings.json, "ASP.NET Core Identity", cookie, Cookie, Blazor, "Blazor Server", "Blazor WebAssembly", "Identity", "Let's Encrypt", Razor, SignalR]
uid: client-side/using-browserlink
---
# Browser Link in ASP.NET Core

By [Nicolò Carandini](https://github.com/ncarandini), [Mike Wasson](https://github.com/MikeWasson), and [Tom Dykstra](https://github.com/tdykstra)

Browser Link is a Visual Studio feature. It creates a communication channel between the development environment and one or more web browsers. You can use Browser Link to refresh your web app in several browsers at once, which is useful for cross-browser testing.

## Browser Link setup

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-3.0"

Add the [Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink/) package to your project. For ASP.NET Core Razor Pages or MVC projects, also enable runtime compilation of Razor (*.cshtml*) files as described in <xref:mvc/views/view-compilation>. Razor syntax changes are applied only when runtime compilation has been enabled.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.1 <= aspnetcore-2.2"

When converting an ASP.NET Core 2.0 project to ASP.NET Core 2.1 and transitioning to the [Microsoft.AspNetCore.App metapackage](xref:fundamentals/metapackage-app), install the [Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink/) package for Browser Link functionality. The ASP.NET Core 2.1 project templates use the `Microsoft.AspNetCore.App` metapackage by default.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="= aspnetcore-2.0"

The ASP.NET Core 2.0 **Web Application**, **Empty**, and **Web API** project templates use the [Microsoft.AspNetCore.All metapackage](xref:fundamentals/metapackage), which contains a package reference for [Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink/). Therefore, using the `Microsoft.AspNetCore.All` metapackage requires no further action to make Browser Link available for use.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="<= aspnetcore-1.1"

The ASP.NET Core 1.x **Web Application** project template has a package reference for the [Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink/) package. Other project types require you to add a package reference to `Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink`.

::: moniker-end

### Configuration

Call `UseBrowserLink` in the `Startup.Configure` method:

```csharp
app.UseBrowserLink();
```

The `UseBrowserLink` call is typically placed inside an `if` block that only enables Browser Link in the Development environment. For example:

```csharp
if (env.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
    app.UseBrowserLink();
}
```

For more information, see <xref:fundamentals/environments>.

## How to use Browser Link

When you have an ASP.NET Core project open, Visual Studio shows the Browser Link toolbar control next to the **Debug Target** toolbar control:

![Browser Link drop-down menu](using-browserlink/_static/browserLink-dropdown-menu.png)

From the Browser Link toolbar control, you can:

* Refresh the web app in several browsers at once.
* Open the **Browser Link Dashboard**.
* Enable or disable **Browser Link**. Note: Browser Link is disabled by default in Visual Studio.
* Enable or disable [CSS Auto-Sync](#enable-or-disable-css-auto-sync).

## Refresh the web app in several browsers at once

To choose a single web browser to launch when starting the project, use the drop-down menu in the **Debug Target** toolbar control:

![F5 drop-down menu](using-browserlink/_static/debug-target-dropdown-menu.png)

To open multiple browsers at once, choose **Browse with...** from the same drop-down. Hold down the <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> key to select the browsers you want, and then click **Browse**:

![Open many browsers at once](using-browserlink/_static/open-many-browsers-at-once.png)

The following screenshot shows Visual Studio with the Index view open and two open browsers:

![Sync with two browsers example](using-browserlink/_static/sync-with-two-browsers-example.png)

Hover over the Browser Link toolbar control to see the browsers that are connected to the project:

![Hover tip](using-browserlink/_static/hoover-tip.png)

Change the Index view, and all connected browsers are updated when you click the Browser Link refresh button:

![browsers-sync-to-changes](using-browserlink/_static/browsers-sync-to-changes.png)

Browser Link also works with browsers that you launch from outside Visual Studio and navigate to the app URL.

### The Browser Link Dashboard

Open the **Browser Link Dashboard** window from the Browser Link drop down menu to manage the connection with open browsers:

![open-browserslink-dashboard](using-browserlink/_static/open-browserlink-dashboard.png)

If no browser is connected, you can start a non-debugging session by selecting the **View in Browser** link:

![browserlink-dashboard-no-connections](using-browserlink/_static/browserlink-dashboard-no-connections.png)

Otherwise, the connected browsers are shown with the path to the page that each browser is showing:

![browserlink-dashboard-two-connections](using-browserlink/_static/browserlink-dashboard-two-connections.png)

You can also click on an individual browser name to refresh only that browser.

### Enable or disable Browser Link

When you re-enable Browser Link after disabling it, you must refresh the browsers to reconnect them.

### Enable or disable CSS Auto-Sync

When CSS Auto-Sync is enabled, connected browsers are automatically refreshed when you make any change to CSS files.

## How it works

Browser Link uses [SignalR](xref:signalr/introduction) to create a communication channel between Visual Studio and the browser. When Browser Link is enabled, Visual Studio acts as a SignalR server that multiple clients (browsers) can connect to. Browser Link also registers a middleware component in the ASP.NET Core request pipeline. This component injects special `<script>` references into every page request from the server. You can see the script references by selecting **View source** in the browser and scrolling to the end of the `<body>` tag content:

```html
    <!-- Visual Studio Browser Link -->
    <script type="application/json" id="__browserLink_initializationData">
        {"requestId":"a717d5a07c1741949a7cefd6fa2bad08","requestMappingFromServer":false}
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://localhost:54139/b6e36e429d034f578ebccd6a79bf19bf/browserLink" async="async"></script>
    <!-- End Browser Link -->
</body>
```

Your source files aren't modified. The middleware component injects the script references dynamically.

Because the browser-side code is all JavaScript, it works on all browsers that SignalR supports without requiring a browser plug-in.