Tip #194

Control who can see your Vivaldi Social posts with visibility settings.

By default, anything you post on Vivaldi Social is publicly visible for everyone to see, but you can change posting privacy both for a specific post and for all future posts.

To change post visibility per post:

  1. When composing a post, click on Change post privacy on the menu below the text field.
  2. Select the option you prefer:
    •  Public – visible for all
    •  Unlisted – visible for all, but not shown in public timelines
    •  Followers only – visible only to people, who follow you
    •  Mentioned people only – visible only to users you mention in the post
Vivaldi Social open in Vivaldi Browser. The menu for changing post privacy is open and highlighted.

To change the visibility setting for all posts:

  1. In Vivaldi Social, go to Preferences > Other > Posting Defaults.
  2. For Posting Privacy, select the option you prefer:
    • Public
    • Unlisted
    • Followers only

Tip #193

Set your favorite web page as the Homepage and New Tab Page in Vivaldi on Android.

If you prefer to open a specific web page whenever you open a new tab or tap the home button, instead of the Start Page with your favorite bookmarks, Speed Dials, you can make the adjustment in the app’s settings.

  1. Go to Vivaldi menu > Settings > Web pages > Homepage.
  2. Tap on the second option and enter the web page’s link you want to see as the homepage.
Vivaldi on Android's Settings open at the Homepage settings.

Tip #192

Pay attention to incoming emails and don’t get scammed.

We’ve listed a few tips below to help you be vigilant and not fall for email scams.

  • Look at the sender address. Be suspicious of email addresses containing misspellings, ones that are just made up of gibberish or do not look related to the sender they claim to be.
    Also, be cautious when there’s a different Reply-To address, especially if it matches the descriptions above.
Warning message in Vivaldi Mail: ""Reply-To" does not match the "From" address. Make sure you trust the "Reply-To" address before replying."
In Vivaldi Mail, you’ll see a warning when the From and Reply-To email addresses don’t match.
  • Pay attention to message content. If what the message promises is too good to be true, it’s probably not true (e.g. claiming you inherited or won a large amount of money).
    Also, when an email, seemingly from a reputable company, is written with poor grammar or your acquaintance writes in a style unusual for them, look for other clues.
    Be suspicious of emails that create urgency and ask you to act fast.
  • Don’t trust emails that ask for your personal information (ID number, bank account details, etc.). If you think that a reputable institution is asking you to update your personal information, don’t follow the links in the email, but go to their website directly to check your account.
  • You might be asked to visit a link. Don’t blindly open them. Hover over the links and check the browser’s status bar to see where it wants to take you.
Bottom left corner of Vivaldi Browser window, showing a link with mouse cursor hovering over it and it's URL on the Status Bar.
Hover over the link and check the Status Bar at the bottom of the browser window, to see which website you’ll be taken to.
  • If you don’t fully trust the sender, don’t open files attached to the email.
  • Use other means of communication to verify that the person or company really sent the message. For example, if a colleague asks you to do something (share a password, purchase something, etc.) via email, call them or ask them in person, whether they really made the request.

Tip #191

Take your notes to the next level by adding image attachments.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, as the saying goes. So, instead of making long notes with just text, add an image to make the message clear.

To add an attachment in Notes:

  1. Open the note either in the Notes Manager or Notes Panel.
  2. In the Notes Manager, click on Attachments > Add Attachment on the notes editor menu. In the Notes Panel, click on the Attachments icon.
  3. Locate the image file in your File Explorer/Finder and click Open to add it.
A note open in Vivaldi's Notes Manager. Attachment menu is highlighted on the right side.

Tip #190

Enable search suggestions to get suggestions from the search engine as you type.

Search Engines can show you suggestions as you type the search query in the Address or Search Field. It can make searching faster. The way it works, however, is that everything you type is sent to the search engine. Since it can be quite revealing, in Vivaldi, the setting to show suggestions is not enabled by default. But since we are all about giving users options, you can choose to enable it if you prefer convenience over privacy.

To enable search suggestions:

  1. Go to Settings > Search > Allow Search Suggestions.
  2. Depending where you want to get suggestions, enable the setting for the Address Field and/or the Search Field.
    In the Address Field, to limit what you type from being sent to the search engine, you can enable suggestions to be shown only when you first enter the Search Engine Nickname.

Read more about Search Suggestions and their privacy implications on our blog.

Tip #189

Mark incoming Mail messages automatically as read.

Not all messages you receive are equally important. For example, you might be subscribed to updates or newsletters that are good to have, but don’t need immediate attention. Having less unread messages is less intimidating and important messages will be more noticeable.

To create a filter in Vivaldi Mail to mark messages as read:

  1. Go to Settings > Mail > Mail Filters.
  2. Click  Add Mail Filter at the bottom of filters list.
  3. Give the filter a name.
  4. Define the criteria for filtering. For example, all emails with a certain subject or all emails sent from a specific email address.
  5. Click Add to Search.
  6. If you wish, add additional criteria.
  7. Click Add Action.
  8. Select Mark as read.
  9. Click Add Mail Filter.
Vivaldi Mail settings - new filter creation in process.

Tip #188

Create independent apps from websites by installing them as Progressive Web Apps.

If you like to use web services in their own app, give Progressive Web Apps (PWA) in Vivaldi Browser a try. They can be opened from shortcuts and used in their own window separate from the main browser.

To install a website as a PWA:

  1. In a tab, open the website you want to install.
  2. While the site is open in the active tab, right-click on the tab on the Tab Bar.
  3. Select Install [website name] from the context menu.
  4. Click Install in the small pop up asking you to confirm your action.

In case you don’t see the option to install the website in the context menu, the website doesn’t support running as a PWA. In that case, while the site is open in the active tab:

  1. Choose Create a shortcut from the context menu instead.
  2. Tick the box for Open as Window.
  3. Click Create.
Vivaldi Social open in Vivaldi Browser. On the foreground, the tab's context menu has been opened and the option to install the site as a Progressive Web App has been highlighted.

Tip #187

Use an alternative option from Google Play to install Vivaldi on Android.

The most common and convenient place to install Vivaldi on Android is from Google Play. If you can’t or don’t want to use Google Play, there are a few alternative ways to install Vivaldi on your mobile device.

First of all, there are two alternative app stores you can choose from:

The second option involves downloading and installing the APK version of Vivaldi. Before you can install Vivaldi from an APK file, though, allow the installation of APKs either by enabling developer mode on your phone or by giving certain apps (like a browser app) permission to download and install APKs. If you don’t do that before, you’ll be prompted to change the settings once you open the APK file.

To install Vivaldi:

  1. Go to https://vivaldi.com/android/.
  2. On the page, click on “Don’t have Google Play?“.
  3. Download the APK file.
  4. Open the file on your mobile device.
  5. Click Install.

Please note that updates via .apk install are not automatic and you need to download and install the latest version after every new release. To ensure you are aware of the latest fixes and security updates, we strongly advise subscribing to our Newsletter or RSS feed, or following our official social media channels.

Tip #186

Add a new folder to your mail account from the Mail Panel.

Messages can be organized using Filters, Flags and Labels, but the classic option is folders. You can add new folders in the email account’s web interface or in a client where the account has been set up.

To add a new IMAP folder in Vivaldi Mail:

  1. Open the Mail Panel.
  2. In All Accounts section, right-click on the account you want to add the folder for.
  3. Select Create Folder from the context menu.
  4. Give the new folder a name.
  5. Click Create Folder.
Vivaldi Mail with the mail account's context right-click context menu open in Mail Panel to create a new IMAP folder highlighted.

Tip #185

Bookmark posts on Vivaldi Forum to find them easily later.

Whether you’ve come across instructions for something, an interesting argument, feature request you want to keep an eye on or something else, you can bookmark the post on the Vivaldi Forum. Then, when you need it, you can just go to your bookmarks to revisit the post, instead of searching through thousands of posts.

To bookmark a forum post:

  1. Make sure you’re logged in to your Vivaldi account.
  2. Below the post you want to bookmark, on the right side, click on the menu button.
  3. Select Bookmark.

The number next to the menu option lets you know, how many others have already bookmarked the same post.

A topic on the Vivaldi Forum open in the Vivaldi Browser. Post menu with the bookmark option is open and highlighted.

To view your bookmarks:

  1. Go to your Forum profile.
  2. On the bottom edge of your profile’s cover image, on the right, click on the menu button in a blue circle.
  3. Select Bookmarks.

Alternatively, go to https://forum.vivaldi.net/me/bookmarks.

Tip #184

Hover your mouse over the Tab Bar and scroll to switch tabs.

In Tip #53 we told you how to switch tabs with right-click and scroll. In this post we’re sharing another tab switching option using your mouse’s scroll wheel.

To use the feature:

  1. Go to Settings > Tabs > Tab Features > Tab Cycling.
  2. Enable Switch Tabs by Scrolling.

To switch tabs:

  1. Hover your mouse cursor over the Tab Bar.
  2. Use the mouse’s scroll wheel to go through the list of open tabs.

Tip #183

Combine Vivaldi on Windows with Razer Chroma to make browsing more immersive and personal.

If Santa brought you new Razer Chroma gear for your computer, you can include Vivaldi in the color play. When Razer Chroma devices have been connected, your Theme‘s accent color will be reflected on the devices.

To enable Razer Chroma integration:

  1. Make sure your Chroma devices are connected to your computer.
  2. Go to Settings > Themes > Razer Chroma Theme Integration.
  3. Click Enable Razer Chroma Integration.
  4. Select the devices you want to sync with Vivaldi.

Make it more fun by enabling Accent from Page in your active theme’s settings or by setting up theme scheduling.

Tip #182

Follow accounts on Vivaldi Social and other Mastodon instances with Vivaldi Feeds.

If you don’t feel like going to Mastodon regularly to see what people you like post, you can have their posts come to you in the Vivaldi Browser by subscribing to their content with Vivaldi Feeds.

To add a Mastodon account to Vivaldi Feeds:

  1. Open the profile of the account you want to follow. Make sure the profile is open on its own instance. It’s not possible to subscribe to a feed when viewing it through a different instance.
  2. In the Address Field, type .rss at the end of the URL.
  3. On the feed preview page, click Subscribe.
  4. If you wish, update the feed title and refresh interval.
  5. Click Add Feed.

Tip #181

Enable Reader View before printing to remove the clutter and print only the important content.

Many websites, especially news sites, strip the printable page of irrelevant content. In case the web page you’re trying to print doesn’t do that, you can switch to Reader View, which will remove unnecessary sections and lets you print just the article. In addition, by using Reader View, you can adjust the font, font size, and line height before printing.

Here are the steps:

  1. Open the page you want to Print.
  2. Enable Reader View from the button on the right side of the Address Field.
  3. If needed, adjust the text from Reader View settings in the top right corner.
  4. Open the Print menu from Vivaldi menu > File > Print (Ctrl + P / ⌘ P).
  5. Review print settings.
  6. Click Print.
Normal Print preview open in Vivaldi Browser.
Normal Print preview of a web page
Print preview in Vivaldi Browser with Reader View enabled on the page before opening Print preview.
Print Preview of a page that has Reader Mode enabled.