Tip #283

Discover all the different ways you can open Private Tabs in Vivaldi on Android.

Private Tabs are a good option when you want to use the same service with two different accounts, hide your browsing activity from someone you’re sharing the device with, or any other reason. But before you can start browsing in a Private tab, you need to open one first.

Take a look at the list below to see the many ways you can do it in Vivaldi on Android:

  • Open the main menu and select “New private tab” (see image below).
  • Long press on the + Tab Switcher button and select “New private tab”.
  • Long press on the + New Tab button on the Tab Bar and select “New private tab”.
  • Open the Tab Switcher > Private Tabs and tap on the + New Tab button in the bottom right corner.
  • In any of the Tab Switcher views, open the ⋮ menu in the top right corner and select “New private tab”.
  • Long press on the Vivaldi icon on your mobile device’s home screen or app library and select “New private tab”.
  • Long press on a link on a web page and select “Open in private tab”.
Main menu in Vivaldi on Android open with New private tab option highlighted.

Tip #279

Make your favorite search engine the default on Vivaldi on Android.

There are a lot of search engines you can use to find information on the internet. Vivaldi on Android comes with a good selection and allows you to set your preferred search engine as the default one, while still allowing you to quickly use others via Search Engine Nicknames.

To change the default search engines:

  1. Go to Vivaldi menu > Settings > General > Search Engine.
  2. Tap on the search engine of your choice to make it the default one.

If the search engine you like most isn’t listed, check Tip #230 to see how you can add more.

Search Engines settings page in Vivaldi on Android.

Tip #272

Reorder Tabs with drag and drop on the Tab Bar of Vivaldi on Android.

The desktop-like Tab Bar in Vivaldi on Android comes with a desktop-like option to reorder your open tabs with drag and drop. The only difference is that instead of a mouse you need to use your finger or stylus pen to do it.

To reorder tabs on the Tab Bar:

  1. Long press on the tab you want to move.
  2. Drag it to the new location.
  3. Release your finger to finish the move.

Tip #269

Scan QR codes with Vivaldi on Android.

QR codes can be found everywhere, both in the physical world and on the web. It’s common to launch the camera app to scan QR codes and then open the scanned link in a browser or app, but if you want to open the link in Vivaldi anyway, why not use the built-in QR code scanner.

To scan a QR code with Vivaldi on Android:

  1. Open the QR code scanner in one of the following ways:
    • Tap on the Address Field to display the icon (see image below).
    • Tap on the QR code icon in the search widget on your home screen.
    • By long pressing on the app icon and selecting “Scan QR Code”.
  2. Place the frame on the phone’s screen over the QR Code or barcode.

If the scanner detects a URL, it’ll automatically open the link in a new tab. In case it detects some other information, it offers to copy the information or to do a search with it.

Bonus tip! Use the QR code generator on desktop to quickly share and open links in Vivaldi on Android. See Tip #14 for instructions.

Vivaldi on Android. The Address Field has been focused to reveal the button to scan QR codes.

Tip #259

Fit more tabs on the Tab Bar in Vivaldi on Android by only displaying the site favicon.

Smaller screens fit less tabs on the Tab Bar. To squeeze in a few more than usual, you can hide the tab titles and only display the website’s logo aka the favicon.

To display only the favicon for each tab:

  1. Go to the Vivaldi menu > Settings > Tabs.
  2. Toggle on “Show Tab as Favicon”.

You can win even more space, if you disable “Show X Button For Background Tabs”. That way only the active tab has the Close button visible.

Vivaldi on Android with tabs displayed as favicons and close buttons hidden for background tabs.

Tip #255

Click on the Vivaldi logo in the corner to access the browser’s main menu.

Are you new to Vivaldi and looking for where you can access the browser’s menu with some of the most useful features. In Vivaldi the menu can be opened when you click or tap on the Vivaldi logo, except for Vivaldi on macOS, where the full menu is always on display.

On desktop the Vivaldi logo is in the top left corner and on Android it’s on the right side of the Address Bar, either at the top or bottom of the screen, depending on your settings.

You can learn more about the menus on desktop and Android on Vivaldi Help.

Vivaldi on desktop and Vivaldi on Android both with the main menu open and highlighted.

Tip #252

Keep Notes organized in Vivaldi on Android by grouping them into folders.

Writing down your thoughts or turning snippets of text from web pages into Notes is a great way to save important knowledge for later. Since Notes can be on any topic, grouping related notes into folders helps to keep things organized and easy to find.

To organize notes into folders in Vivaldi on Android:

  1. Open the Notes Panel.
  2. Long-press on the first note you want to include in the new folder.
  3. Tap on other notes you want to add as well.
  4. Tap on the Move button.
  5. Select New Folder.
  6. Give the new folder a name.
  7. Tap on Save.

Take a look at the video to see how to create a new Notes folder on the tablet version of Vivaldi on Android.

Tip #247

Long press on selected text in Vivaldi on Android to do a web search with the selection.

We shared how to search with a snippet of text on a web page on the desktop version of Vivaldi in Tip #8. This time we’re sharing how to do the same on Android.

To search with selected text:

  1. Long press on a word you want to select.
    Drag the little bubbles at the bottom corners of the word to select more than one word.
  2. On the menu that appears, tap on the 3 dot menu to see additional options.
  3. Select Web search.

Results will be shown from your default search engine.

A web page in Vivaldi on Android with a few words selected and context menu open.

Tip #239

Swipe left and right to close tabs in Vivaldi on Android.

Swiping left and right is not only for dating apps. In Vivaldi on Android you can use it to close tabs in the Tab Switcher.

Before you start swiping, check that the feature is enabled in Settings > Tabs > Swipe To Close Tab. Then, to close tabs:

  1. Open the Tab Switcher.
  2. Press on the tab you want to close and swipe either left or right.

Tip #233

Long press on the Tab Switcher button in Vivaldi on Android to open a new tab.

There are a few ways you can open a new tab in Vivaldi on Android. Perhaps a less discoverable yet very handy way to open a new tab is the following:

  1. Long press on the Tab Switcher button on the bottom toolbar.
  2. Select whether you want to open a new tab, a new private tab or create a new tab stack with the current tab. You can also close the active tab from there.
Tab Switcher's long press menu open in Vivaldi on Android.

Tip #230

Make use of the browser’s Sync feature to add custom Search Engines to Vivaldi on Android

It’s currently not possible to add a new search engine to Vivaldi on Android directly in the app. That doesn’t mean that Custom Search Engines can’t be added to Vivaldi on your mobile devices. Just follow the steps below.

To add custom search engines in Vivaldi on Android:

  1. Add the Search Engines in a desktop version of Vivaldi.
  2. Log in to your Vivaldi account on desktop in Settings > Sync.
  3. Sync either all data or at least the settings.
  4. Log in to your Vivaldi account in the Android app in Settings > Sync.
  5. Sync the same data types you synced on desktop.

Then you can check Settings > General > Search Engines to see your custom search engines listed among the others.

Tip #224

Reload pages in Vivaldi on Android with a long swipe.

There are a couple of ways you can reload a web page in Vivaldi on Android. If you’re already near the top of the page swiping is probably the easiest.

To reload a web page with a swipe gesture:

  1. Scroll to the top of the page.
  2. Swipe down on your screen as if you’d want to scroll even further up.
  3. When you see a reload icon appear, release your finger to reload the page.

If you’ve been scrolling on a long page for a while, then using swipe to reload is probably not so convenient. In that case, open the Vivaldi menu and tap on the reload button there.

Reload icon displayed over a web page in Vivaldi on Android ind

Tip #221

Keep listening to audio after switching tabs or apps by enabling background audio in Vivaldi on Android.

Want to put on some music while browsing or don’t want to pause a video to respond to a message in a different app? Normally audio and video playback will stop when you switch tabs or apps, but there’s a setting in Vivaldi on Android that, when enabled, will keep the audio in the tab playing, even when it’s no longer the active tab.

To enable media playback in the background:

  1. Go to Settings > General.
  2. Enable Allow background audio playback.
Settings page in Vivaldi on Android, with Allow background audio playback setting highlighted.

Tip #218

Enable “Show Search Engine Suggestion” to see all available Search Engines in Vivaldi on Android during search.

In addition to the default Search Engine, you can also search with all other available ones in Vivaldi on Android. One option to switch search engines for a single search is to type the Search Engine Nickname in front of the search term, but you can also enable a toolbar that displays them all while you search and just tap on the one you want to use.

To see all available search engines while you search:

  1. Go to Settings > General.
  2. Enable Show Search Engine Suggestion.

To switch engines while searching:

  1. Enter the search term in the Address/Search Field.
  2. Tap on the Search Engine you want to see results from.

Swipe left and right on the list to see all search engines.

Vivaldi on Android, with a search term being entered in the Address Field and available search engines listed below it.