How to Load One Style Sheet for Mobile Devices and One for Desktops

How to load CSS just in mobile view?

The best way is to include the css file irrespective of whether a device is a mobile device or desktop device and then using media queries in the css file which works for mobile and desktop devices.

but if you still need the answer then there are two major methods to do this:

CSS WAY

Use the media property of link tag: (Remember this always loads the css but activates it only on screens having max width as 960px)

<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" media="only screen and (max-width: 960px)">

JAVASCRIPT WAY

Use a function to determine if a device is a mobile device and if yes then apply the css:

function isMobile(){
    return (/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows (ce|phone)|xda|xiino|android|ipad|playbook|silk/i.test(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test((navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera).substr(0,4)))
}
if(isMobile)
{
        var head  = document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];
var link  = document.createElement('link');
link.rel  = 'stylesheet';
link.type = 'text/css';
link.href = 'http://website.com/css/stylesheet.css';
link.media = 'all';
head.appendChild(link);
}

Screen and Mobile Stylesheets

According to documents, syntax of loading another file in specific device/condition is like this:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (max-width: 400px)" href="mobile.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (min-width: 401px)" href="desktop.css" />

This will load only one css file for every single amount of width

For iPhone 4 and new generation iPod touch that have Retina display there is something that you should note. iPhone 4 width is 640 pixels that many developers don't count this width as a mobile browser width. If you add this below meta tag in your document problem will be solved

<meta name="viewport" content="width=320">

This meta tag will impact your images quality. If you want to fix that problem then you need to read about this here.

On desktop PC, mobile css loads first, then it switches to the desktop version

There are few approach you can use

1st Approach by using CSS File

<link rel="stylesheet" media="screen and (min-width: 600px)" href="small.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" media="screen and (min-width: 4000px)" href="big.css">

2nd by using Javascript

if (window.matchMedia('screen and (min-width: 600px)')){
  document.write('<link rel="stylesheet" 
                  href="small.css">');
}

I suggest for better one you need use only one css file and define the concept like as below :

@media (min-width:320px)  { /* smartphones, portrait iPhone, portrait 480x320 phones (Android) */ }
@media (min-width:480px)  { /* smartphones, Android phones, landscape iPhone */ }
@media (min-width:600px)  { /* portrait tablets, portrait iPad, e-readers (Nook/Kindle), landscape 800x480 phones (Android) */ }
@media (min-width:801px)  { /* tablet, landscape iPad, lo-res laptops ands desktops */ }
@media (min-width:1025px) { /* big landscape tablets, laptops, and desktops */ }
@media (min-width:1281px) { /* hi-res laptops and desktops */ }

Different stylesheet for different device

You can use these:

// Large devices (desktops, less than 1200px)
 @media (max-width: 1199px) { ... }

 // Medium devices (tablets, less than 992px)
 @media (max-width: 991px) { ... }

 // Small devices (landscape phones, less than 768px)
 @media (max-width: 767px) { ... }

 // Extra small devices (portrait phones, less than 576px)
 @media (max-width: 575px) { ... }

Force mobile CSS on desktop

Most popular browsers offer built-in user agent switchers, and also you can find extensions

Chrome: Developer Tools --> click the phone icon in the top left corner of the console's window.

IE and Edge: press F12 --> Emulation

Safari: Preferences --> Advanced --> click the box next to “Show Develop menu in menu bar”. new “Develop” menu will show up select “User Agent”

Firefox: there is an extension called User Agent Switcher for Firefox

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