What is the term for a software program used to access the World Wide Web?

A web browser is a software program used to access the World Wide Web by retrieving and displaying online resources.

When you enter a URL or follow a link, the browser acts as a client: it requests files from a web server and assembles them into an interactive page. A browser’s rendering engine interprets HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, while also handling images, video, cookies, history, bookmarks, downloads, and security features.

Tim Berners-Lee created the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, in 1990 on a NeXT computer. It was later renamed Nexus. Mosaic, released in 1993, became the first browser to achieve widespread popularity and helped make the Web accessible to a much larger audience. Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer followed during the browser wars of the 1990s.

A browser is different from a search engine. Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge are browsers; Google Search and Bing are search engines accessed through them. A router connects networks, while an Internet service provider supplies Internet access.