Tip #108

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Make Panels float over page content instead pushing the content aside.

By default, opening and closing Panels will resize the web page to make space for the panel. But panels can also be made to float over the page content. Floating panels are useful when you briefly want to check something and don’t need to keep it open while working on the page. For example, Reading List Panel could be floating, since you’d only want to quickly add or open a web page from it, but then it should get out of the way again. While the Mail Panel with all the folders is useful to keep open on the side, without it covering anything.

To make all panels float:

  1. Go to Settings > Panel > Panel Options.
  2. Enable Floating Panel.

Alternatively, Shift + click on the Panel toggle button on the left side of the Status Bar.

To change the floating state only for specific panels:

  1. Right-click on the panel.
  2. Select Floating Panel > This Panel.
Top window with a non-floating panel and bottom window with a floating panel.

Tip #107

— Posted inAndroid, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

View web pages in dark mode on Vivaldi for Android.

Switching content into dark mode on big and small screens alike has become more and more popular and for a good reason. Dark mode is less straining on the eyes and improves readability of texts among other benefits.

To switch web pages into dark mode:

  1. Go to Vivaldi menu > Settings > Theme > Dark Web Pages.
  2. Toggle on Dark mode for Web Pages.

In case you need to “turn the lights on” for the current page, disable Dark Theme from the Vivaldi menu.

Vivaldi browser on two phones. One with the web page in light mode the second in dark mode.

Tip #106

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Keep track of your downloads from Downloads Pop Out.

Downloads Panel is a great way to see past and current downloads. But if Panels aren’t your thing, you can add a Downloads button to one of the toolbars and view the saved files in a pop out dialog instead.

To add the button to a toolbar:

  1. Go to  Vivaldi menu > View > Customize Toolbar.
    Alternatively, right-click on one of the buttons on a toolbar and select Edit > Customize Toolbar.
  2. From Navigation Toolbar components, locate Downloads.
  3. Drag it to a toolbar. For example, to the right side of the Address Bar.

When you want to view your downloads, just click on the button to open the dialog.

Tip #105

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Pause the internet and hide your browser content from others with Break Mode.

Whether you want to take a break from browsing or hide what you’re viewing from nearby people, Break Mode is here to help. Just press the Take a Break button on the left side of the Status Bar* to hide all content from view and display your Start Page background. When you’re ready to return to browsing, press the big play button in the middle of the screen.

Alternatively, use a Keyboard Shortcut, a Mouse Gesture or Quick Commands to enable and disable Break Mode.
* Don’t see the button? Right-click on the Status Bar, select Edit > Customize Toolbar and drag the button to one of the toolbars.

Vivaldi Browser window with break mode enabled.
Vivaldi Browser window with Break Mode enabled. Theme by Romilly.

Tip #104

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Enable horizontal scrolling of tabs to open more tabs without them shrinking in size.

If you have set your Tab Bar to the side of the browser window, scrolling through open Tabs always works. When you have the Tab Bar either on top or bottom of the window, the tabs will get smaller the more you open them. To keep your tabs always the same size and scroll through the tabs, when there are more than fit on the Tab Bar, enable Tab Bar scrolling.

  1. Go to Settings > Tabs > Tab Display > Tab Bar.
  2. Tick the box for Enable Horizontal Scrolling of Tabs.

Once enabled, to view and switch tabs:

  • Hover the mouse cursor over the Tab Bar and scroll.
  • Click the arrow buttons on the left and right edge of the Tab Bar.
  • Long press on the arrows to see the list of tabs that aren’t visible on the Tab Bar.

Tip #103

— Posted inAndroid, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Preview pages on Vivaldi for Android before committing to open them.

Preview page feature comes in handy if you want to quickly check the contents of a page, but don’t want to navigate away from your current page or open the link in a new tab.

To preview a page:

  1. Long press on a link.
  2. Select Preview page from the context menu.

When you want to open the page, tap on the Open in New Tab button in the top right corner of the preview window.

To close the preview, either tap the Close button or swipe down on the preview.

Tip #102

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 2 min read

Customize browser toolbars from Vivaldi menu > View > Customize Toolbar.

In Tip #4 we told you how to move buttons around on the browser Toolbars. That method still works, but since then we’ve added even more flexibility to customizing Toolbars, giving you full control of your toolbar layouts. You can add, move and remove any of the components on the Navigation Toolbar, Status Bar, Mail Toolbar, Mail Composer Toolbar and Mail Message Toolbar. You can even add your custom Command Chains as buttons on the toolbars.

To customize the toolbars:

  1. Go to Vivaldi menu > View > Customize Toolbar.
    Alternatively, right-click on one of the buttons on a toolbar and select Edit > Customize Toolbar.
  2. While the Toolbar Editor window is open:
    • Click and drag new components to the toolbars,
    • Move components around without the need to hold down the Ctrl / ⌘ key,
    • Drag and drop components you want to remove on the background area (area that isn’t a toolbar, nor the editor window).
  3. Click on the background area to close the Toolbar Editor.

Feel free to mix and match components from various toolbars. For example, you can add the Compose New Mail button to the Navigation Bar and Extensions to Mail toolbars.

Tip #101

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Access multiple bookmark folders from the Start Page by creating additional Speed Dials.

Speed Dial is where you can access your frequently visited bookmarks. But instead of cramming your favorite bookmarks into one Speed Dial, you can divide them into multiple folders and display these folders as separate Speed Dials.

To add a new Speed Dial:

  1. Go to the Start Page.
  2. On the Start Page navigation menu, click on Add new Speed Dial folder.
  3. Give the new Speed Dial a name.
  4. Use the Bookmark Panel or Bookmark Manager to move existing bookmarks to the folder and select the folder when adding new bookmarks.
Vivaldi Start Page with "Add new Speed Dial folder" button zoomed in on.

To display an existing bookmark folder as a Speed Dial:

  1. Go to the Bookmark Panel or Bookmark Manager.
  2. Select the folder you want to access on the Start Page.
  3. In the bookmark folder information section, tick the box for Speed Dial.
    Alternatively, right-click on the folder and select Use as Speed Dial.

Tip #100

— Posted inCommunity Services, Desktop, Themes, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Select a different Theme for the Private Window.

Private Windows in Vivaldi have a different Theme from regular Windows to make it easier to see which one you’re using. You can set any theme from your Theme Library as the Private Window’s theme by:

  1. Going to Settings > Themes > Private Window Theme.
  2. Selecting a theme from the drop-down menu.

To add Themes created by the Vivaldi Community to your Theme Library, install them from themes.vivaldi.net.

Private and regular windows with different themes.
Private Window with a theme by かつの 悦夫えつお in the foreground and a regular window with a theme by TheJhonX in the background.

Tip #99

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 2 min read

Copy links from the Address Field without additional parameters.

Sometimes web page links have additional information, called parameters, added to the end of the URL. These parameters are used for sorting and filtering, pagination, language options and more. But parameters can also be used for tracking users.

Example URL from Vivaldi Forum with multiple search parameters: 

https://forum.vivaldi.net/search?term=tab%20stacks&in=titlesposts&matchWords=all&categories%5B%5D=32&sortBy=relevance&sortDirection=desc&showAs=posts.

The same URL without parameters: 

https://forum.vivaldi.net/search.

Another example with tracking parameters:

https://www.grammarly.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=cpc&utm_phase=professional&utm_campaign=q222easeofusecampaign-prospecting&utm_content=60s-easeofusecampaignq222-professional&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_e-t0r39-QIVsUmRBR32zAH6EAEYASAAEgI-PPD_BwE.

With the link above, the website knows that I arrived on their page after clicking an ad on YouTube.

The same URL without parameters looks like this:

https://www.grammarly.com/.

While search, filtering and other similar parameters are mostly useful, tracking parameters do not benefit users. So, even if you have navigated to page from a link that has parameters at the end, consider removing them before saving the link for future use or before sharing it further.

To copy a link that you have open in the active tab without parameters:

  1. Right-click on the Address Field.
  2. Select Copy without parameters.

Tip #98

— Posted inAndroid, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Enable Pop Out Video on Vivaldi for Android to check other apps while watching a video.

Pop Out Video, aka Picture-in-Picture, is a popular feature on desktop, but did you know it’s also available on Vivaldi for Android? The main difference is that, on your mobile device, you can’t browse other tabs in Vivaldi while Pop Out Video is enabled, but you can use most other apps.

To enable pop-out video on Android:

  1. While browsing with Vivaldi, find a video you want to watch.
  2. Press play and enable full-screen view of the video.
  3. Tap on your phone’s home button.

The video will continue playing in a small rectangle on your home screen. You can move the video by dragging it around and use the two finger zoom gesture to change the size of the video. Tap on the rectangle to see video controls.

Pop Out video from Vivaldi open on top of the Shazam app.
Pop Out video from Vivaldi open on top of the Shazam app.

Tip #97

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Find debug-level information and controls about the state of Sync on vivaldi://sync.

With Sync, you can keep your Vivaldi browser data synchronized across multiple devices. Meaning, the Bookmarks, Notes, Passwords, etc. you add to Vivaldi, for example, on your laptop can easily be accessed on your mobile device and vice versa.

If for some reason the data doesn’t seem to be synchronized, first check Sync Settings and if everything looks as expected there, type vivaldi://sync in the Address Field and press Enter to check for any errors on that page and see if you can figure out the cause from there. If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to ask for help on the Vivaldi Forum.

Tip #96

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 1 min read

Create new Notes from highlighted text on a web page.

Vivaldi’s Notes is an awesome digital note-taking tool that makes it possible to jot things down right in your browser. You can type up your notes, paste text to notes or quickly create a new note from text on a web page. To make a note of something you’ve found on a web page:

  1. Select the text you want to turn into a new note.
  2. Right-click on the highlighted text and select Copy to Note from the context menu.

In addition to the content, the note will include a screenshot of the page (can be disabled in Panel Settings), source link and creation date.

Tip #95

— Posted inDesktop, Vivaldi Tips — 2 min read

Reopen recently closed tabs from trash.

Whether you accidentally closed a tab/window or changed your mind after closing it, there’s no need to navigate to it from the start. Instead use one of the following ways to reopen closed tabs.

Open the most recently closed tab

  • Right-click on the Tab Bar and select Reopen Closed Tab.
  • Hold down the Shift key and click on the Closed Tabs button on the Tab Bar.
  • Click with the middle mouse button on the Closed Tabs button on the Tab Bar.
  • Use the Keyboard Shortcut Ctrl+Z or Ctrl+Shift+T (Cmd Z or Cmd Shift T on macOS).
  • Hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse ↑ and → to reopen the tab with a Mouse Gesture.
  • Type “Reopen Closed Tab” in Quick Commands.

Keep using the action to reopen more recently closed tabs.

View and open recently closed tabs from the Tab Bar

  1. Look for the Show Closed Tabs button on the right side of the Tab Bar (bottom, if you use a vertical Tab Bar) and click on it.
  2. From the menu that opens, click on the link you want to reopen.

View and open recently closed tabs from the Window Panel

  1. Open the Window Panel.
  2. Scroll past your open tabs and open the folder of Closed Tabs.
  3. Double-click on the link you want to reopen.

View and open recently closed tabs on Android

  1. Open the Tab Switcher.
  2. Navigate to the Closed Tabs tab.
  3. Tap on the link you want to reopen.