While Opera may not be as popular as Google Chrome or Firefox, it’s still one of the best browsers you can use on your computer.
If you’ve just started using Opera, you’re in for a treat. However, you need to know what you’re doing to get the most out of the browser. Read on to find the best beginner tips and tricks you need to know.
Unlike many other browsers, Opera offers a sidebar with important tools that you’ll probably want to take advantage of. The best part is that you can customize your sidebar to suit all your needs.
To customize your sidebar, all you need to do is:
- Open Opera on your computer.
- Click on the three dot menu in the lower left corner of your screen.
You will see a new menu pop up on the left side of the browser. You can cycle through the different sections and customize your sidebar. For example, you can scroll down and under opera toolsyou can add different buttons like History, downloadsY Markersso they work as shortcuts.
You can even add extensions to take your experience to another level. And of course, if you decide you don’t like the sidebar, you can scroll to the bottom and toggle show sidebar switched off.
2. Create different workspaces
Workspaces are a useful feature of Opera that allow you to organize your browser into different areas of your life.
For example, you might have a workspace for school, work, or leisure with different tabs that you know you’ll need. It’s similar to how you use Safari Tab Groups on Mac.
To create your own workspace, you need:
- Click on the three dot menu in the bottom left corner of the screen to open the sidebar settings menu.
- If you haven’t already, change Work spaces on.
- Low Work spacesclick Add more.
- Select your workspace icon and choose your workspace name.
- Once you’re done, click Create.
Your workspace will automatically appear in the Workspaces section. And if you have workspaces enabled, you should also see the workspace icon in the sidebar.
Now, click on the workspace you created and open as many tabs as you need. When you go to a different workspace, Opera will save your tabs even if you close the browser or turn off your computer.
With that being said, you do need to be careful about how many tabs you use. If Opera stops working and closes itself, you will lose all the tabs you had, which can be annoying.
3. Take screenshots
Opera allows you to take screenshots of whatever is in the browser. This can be really useful if you only need to take a screenshot of a section on a website without capturing the entire screen.
Here is how to do it:
- Open the Opera browser.
- Click on the snapshot icon at the top of the screen (it’s the camera icon in the address bar).
- Select the area you want to capture with the mouse.
- Click Capture to take a screenshot or copy and close to copy that image to your clipboard.
- Click Save Picture to save the screenshot to your computer, or copy and close to copy the image.
If you can’t find the snapshot icon in your address bar, you can always click the opera icon in the upper left corner of your screen and select snapshot. Or you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + 5.
4. Add websites to your speed dial
Opera Speed ​​Dial is a feature that allows you to create shortcuts for any website you want so that you can open them with just one click instead of entering that website’s URL every time.
To add a website to your speed dial, you must:
- Open a new tab in Opera.
- Click on Add a site.
- Type the URL of the website you want to add.
- Click Add to Opera.
The website will go to the bottom of your speed dial list. If you want to move any website, you can click and drag to the place you want and then drop it. And if you want to remove any website from your list, all you need to do is hover over the website and click the button three dot button in the upper right corner. Then select move to trash.
5. Block ads and trackers
While most websites use ads and trackers to keep their content free and provide a better user experience, there is no doubt that some platforms can take advantage of them.
Fortunately, Opera offers one of the best ad blockers to prevent websites from tracking you and displaying ads. To block ads and trackers in Opera, you must:
- Click on the options menu in the upper right corner of your screen.
- Scroll to the bottom and under Privacy & Securityalternate block ads Y block trackers on.
And that is. If you want to customize your settings a bit more, you can click on Go to full browser settings and then click Privacy & Security. So, low privacy protectionYou can customize the type of ads and trackers your Opera browser can accept.
6. Personalize Opera with your favorite wallpaper
Opera allows you to customize your browser with some cool and fun wallpapers. Not only can you use one of the default wallpaper options, but you can also add your own images. This is what you need to do:
- Click on the Option menu in the upper right corner of your screen.
- Scroll down and under Homepagemakes sure show wallpaper is enabled.
- Choose the wallpaper you want to use.
- If you don’t like any of the default wallpapers, you can click Get more wallpapers to go to the Opera store.
- You can also choose Add your wallpaper to upload an image from your computer.
The next time you open your home page, you will see the new wallpaper. Now all you need to do is to find some high resolution wallpapers.
Make the most of the opera
Opera has different features that will make your day to day a little easier. Whether you’re an expert or just getting started with Opera, be sure to try these tips and get the most out of your browser.