Tip #382

Left or right? Choose a side for your Panels.

With Vivaldi’s highly customizable user interface, you can move toolbars around as you like. The Panels Toolbar, hosting your Bookmarks, Downloads, Notes, Web Panels and more can be located either on the left or right side of the browser window. Especially when you prefer vertical Tabs (see Tip #204), you need to think about whether you want to have Tabs and Panels on either side of the window or both on the same side.

To move Panels:

  1. Go to Settings > Panels > Panel Position.
  2. Choose either Left or Right.
Two Vivaldi browser windows, showing Panels on opposite sides of the window.

Tip #379

Always see the latest content by periodically reloading Web Panels.

Following a social media feed, live updates to an event, or changes on the financial market in Web Panels? With periodic reloading of the panel you can always be up to date with the latest information.

To automatically reload Web Panels at your chosen internal:

  1. Right-click on the web panel’s button.
  2. Select Periodic Reload and how often you want the content to reload.

To learn how to set Tabs to periodically reload, check out Tip #120.

Web Panel's context menu open to set up Periodic Reloading of the panel.

Tip #327

Open Panels with Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Gestures.

Whether to check the progress of your downloads, translate something, or check what’s next on your agenda, opening and closing Panels with shortcuts is an efficient way to take a quick look.

First, go to Settings > Keyboard > View and Settings > Mouse > Gesture Mapping to review and add shortcuts.

Then whenever you want to open one of the panels just use the shortcut for both opening and closing the panel. If you already have one open, the shortcut will switch focus to the one you need.

Keyboard Shortcut settings open at Panel shortcuts.

Tip #175

Enable Zoom Controls to change the page zoom level in Web Panels.

Web Panels are customizable Tabs which allow you to keep your favorite sites easily accessible in the side Panel of Vivaldi. And just like with web pages open in a tab, you can adjust the zoom levels for web pages added to Web Panels as well.

To increase or decrease the size of the content in Web Panels:

  1. Right-click on a Web Panel.
  2. Select Toolbar > Display Zoom Controls from the context menu.
  3. Then click on the zoom buttons  and  at the top of the Web Panel to zoom in and out.

Zoom level is retained through closing and reopening of the Web Panel and browser restarts.

A Web Panel open in Vivaldi with zoom controls highlighted.

Tip #167

Add any web page as a Web Panel in Vivaldi the way you want to.

Web Panels are customisable Tabs which allow you to keep your favourite sites easily accessible in the side Panel of Vivaldi. Opening a Web Panel will allow you to simultaneously view its content alongside the tab(s) in your main window.

There are a few different ways you can add a new Web Panel in Vivaldi. Choose the one you like best from the list below.

  • While the web page is open in a tab, click the Add Web Panel button on the browser’s sidebar.
  • Right-click anywhere on the open web page and select Add Page to Web Panel from the menu.
  • Drag the page from the tab on the Tab Bar or from the  Site info button in the Address Field to the Add Web Panel button on the browser’s sidebar. Release the mouse button to create the Web Panel.
Vivaldi browser with Add Web Panel menu highlighted.

Tip #139

Clean up the user interface by leaving only the important Panels visible.

Many of Vivaldi’s key features, such as Bookmarks, Notes, Mail and your Web Panels, can be accessed from the browser’s sidebar. If you’re not using all these features, consider hiding the Panels you don’t need.

To toggle the visibility of a Panel:

  1. Right-click on any of the Panels.
  2. Hover over the Panels option in the context menu.
  3. Click on the panel you want to hide or show, if you’ve hidden it in the past.

Panels and Web Panels that are hidden don’t have a check mark in front of their name.

Top right corner of Vivaldi Browser window with Panels context menu open.

Tip #108

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 #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.