Tip #390

Mute background tabs automatically by prioritizing audio in the active tab.

Imagine that you have some background music playing in one browser tab, but you come across a video (or some other media with audio) in another tab that you want to watch and listen to. So you go to mute or pause your music and only then start watching the video. And after you’re finished you need to go back to unmute or unpause the music. Annoying isn’t it? Vivaldi has a better solution to offer.

  1. Go to Settings > Tabs > Tab Features > Mute Tab Audio.
  2. Enable “Prioritize Active Tab”.

That way you can just start playing the video in the active tab and Vivaldi will automatically mute the audio coming from other tabs. Once you’re done watching the video, the audio from other tabs will be unmuted. Sweet! 😎

Tab Audio settings in Vivaldi.

Tip #388

Hide the Pop-out Video button from hovering over videos.

Whenever a video can be moved to a pop-out window, a small icon appears on the video that allows you to do so quickly. If Pop-out Video, aka Picture-in-Picture, is a feature you never use, you might want to hide the little icon from appearing whenever you hover over a video.

To hide the button:

  1. Go to Settings > Webpages.
  2. Disable “Picture-in-Picture Button on Videos”.
Video playing in Vivaldi Browser. Pop-out Video button is highlighted.

Tip #275

Make the Pop-Out Video window as big or small as you like.

Moving a video into an independent floating window is a good way to keep browsing the web while glancing at the video from the corner of your eye. Depending on how much space you have on your screen, you might want to make the video bigger or smaller.

To resize Pop-Out Video window:

  1. Move the mouse cursor to the edge of the video window.
  2. When you see a double headed arrow ↔ , click and drag to resize it.

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 #217

Block videos from automatically playing on web pages.

Do you want to have control over when a video starts playing on a web page you’re visiting? If the answer is yes then you’re in luck, because Vivaldi gives you the power to control it.

  1. Head over to Settings > Privacy and Security > Default Permissions.
  2. For Autoplay, instead of the default Allow, select Block.

Next time you load a web page where videos usually start playing immediately, you’ll need click Play when you’re ready to watch the video.

In the foreground, Autoplay settings are open in the Settings window. In the background, there's a Vivaldi window with a YouTube video by Tom Scott with a play button on the video, instead of a video captured mid play.

Tip #144

Cast your browser content to a TV screen with a Chromecast device.

If you have a Chromecast device connected to your TV, you can display audio-visual content, browser tabs or even your computer’s whole screen from Vivaldi on the TV screen.

To start casting:

  1. Make sure your Chromecast is set up and ready to use.
  2. Right-click on the web page or go to  Vivaldi menu > File.
  3. Select Cast.
  4. Choose whether you want to cast a file, a tab or mirror your desktop.
  5. Click on the device you want to cast to.

Some websites detect a Chromecast connection and display the casting option on the website. Look for the  Cast button, for example, on a video player’s menu.

Vivaldi browser window with a Vimeo video about the Vivaldi Community playing in a tab and page context menu open with the Cast option highlighted.

Tip #98

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 #92

Mute Tabs and Web Panels you want to keep silent.

Whether you’re streaming audio or video, getting notifications from a messaging service or browsing sites that make noise, occasionally it’s necessary to silence them to focus on sounds from a single source or to have complete piece and quiet.

To mute and unmute Tabs in Vivaldi, use one of the following options:

  • Click on the speaker icon on the tab, when the tab is currently playing audio.
  • Right-click on the tab and select Mute Tab.
  • Type “Mute / Unmute Tab” in Quick Commands
  • Set a Keyboard Shortcut or a Mouse Gesture for the action.
  • To mute multiple tabs, select the tabs, right-click on one of them and select Mute # Tabs from the context menu.
  • To mute all background tabs, right-click on a tab and select Mute Other Tabs.

When the tab is muted, in place of the website’s logo, you’ll see a muted speaker icon.

Vivaldi window with a muted tab highlighted.

To mute and unmute Web Panels, right-click on the web panel’s icon on the Panels bar and select Mute Panel.

Tip #88

Prevent animated images from playing.

When you load a page, then by default all images are loaded and animated ones play on a loop. If constantly moving images are a disturbance for you, you can prevent it with a simple setting change.

To stop images from moving:

  1. Click on Toggle images and animation on the Status Bar.
  2. For Play Image Animation select either Once, if it’s ok to go through the animation one time, or Never, if you don’t want them to move at all.
  3. Reload the page.
Toggle images and animations menu open over a web page with gifs.

Tip #21

Watch videos in a floating window using the Pop Out Video feature.

The Pop Out Video feature, aka Picture-in-Picture, allows you to display HTML5 videos in a floating window so that you can continue watching the video while scrolling down a page or changing tabs.

To pop a video out from a web page:

  1. Hover the mouse cursor over the video.
  2. Click on the pop out video button that appears at the top edge of the video.

If you don’t see the button, check that Picture-in-Picture Button on Videos is enabled in Settings > Webpages.

Learn more about the feature on our Help page about Pop Out Video.

Pop out Video (picture in picture) window in Vivaldi browser