Tip #830

In addition to the Panels, Bookmarks, History, and Notes can all be viewed and managed in a full tab view. And since Web Panels are just small mobile versions of websites, they can logically be opened in a tab as well. While there are many ways to open each of them in a tab, the following option is probably one of the quickest ways.

To open a panel in a tab:

  1. Right-click on the panel’s button on the sidebar.
  2. Hover over “Open in” and select your preferred option. For example, open in new tab or in a new window.
Bookmarks Panel's right-click context menu open in the Vivaldi browser window.

Tip #829

Speed Dials in Vivaldi allow you to quickly access your favorite websites from the Start Page. On desktop you can customize Speed Dials to display the title or not, or only show it when you hover over the Speed Dial.

To pick your preferred Speed Dial look:

  1. Go to Settings > Start Page > Speed Dial > Speed Dial Appearance.
  2. Choose between:
    • Show Title
    • Show Title on Hover
    • Hide Title
Start Page with 3 Speed Dials. Each displaying a different Speed Dial title display option (show, show only on hover, hide).

Tip #826

While working in the Vivaldi Calendar, you may occasionally need to jump far beyond the current day/week/month. In such cases, it’s easier to use the date picker to go directly to the target date. You can click on the current time range shown at the top of the calendar, or you can simply press a key on your keyboard to instantly bring up the date picker.

To jump to a specific time range using your keyboard:

  1. Make sure Single Key Shortcuts are enabled in Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts.
  2. Press G when the calendar is open in the active tab.
  3. Use arrow keys to find the date(s) you want to jump to.
  4. Press Enter.
Vivaldi Calendar with the day picker menu open.

Tip #824

Whenever a tab in Vivaldi on desktop plays audio from, for example, a video, a speaker icon will be displayed in various places in the user interface, helping you see which tab the sounds come from.

You can find the speaker icon in the following locations:

By clicking on the speaker icon you can (un)mute the tab.

Vivaldi browser with a tab playing audio. Arrows are pointing at the speaker icons on the Tab Bar and in the Windows and Tabs Panel.

Tip #822

The sheer range of settings can be overwhelming, especially to brand new users, so Vivaldi offers 6 layout presets you can choose as a starting point in your customization journey.

You can pick a layout, either:

  • During onboarding when you’ve opened Vivaldi for the first time (revisit onboarding from the Vivaldi menu > Help > Vivaldi Welcome Tour).
  • From Settings > Appearance > Layout Presets.

The Saved layout is your custom configuration, which gets updated with each restart.

Appearance settings in Vivaldi.

Tip #820

If you have a ton of tabs open, viewing them in a tree-style layout allows you to get a hierarchical overview of all your browser windows, Workspaces, Tabs Stacks and Tabs. See the child-parent relation, reorder tabs, collapse/expand groups, and more.

To switch to a tree-style view in the Windows and Tabs Panel:

  1. Open the Windows and Tabs Panel.
  2. Click on the sorting menu between the search field and the list of tabs.
  3. Select “Sort by Related Tab Tree”.
Windows and Tabs Panel open in the Vivaldi browser window. Tabs in the panel are sorted by the related tab tree.

Tip #818

The sidebar gives you quick access to important tools without pulling you away from the tabs you’re working in. It’s up to you to decide which Panels to display there and which to hide.

To customize the list of Panels:

  1. Click on the + “Customize Panel” button on the sidebar.
  2. Toggle the visibility of the panels on and off.
Vivaldi browser window with the sidebar customization menu open on the left side.

Tip #817

With Themes you can give your browser a unique look. You can pick a ready made theme, edit one or create a completely new theme. When changing the theme’s settings, the Coloring Mode setting will have a big impact on how your browser will look, as it determines how the colors are applied to the toolbars.

There are 3 options to choose from in Settings > Themes > Editor > Colors > Coloring Mode:

  • Accent Color on Tab Bar (window in the foreground)
  • Accent Color on Address Bar (window in the middle)
  • Unified (window in the background)
Three Vivaldi browser windows showing how the different coloring mode options look like.

Tip #816

When you see an email address on a web page that looks like a link, you can click on it to open a mail client and start composing an email to that address.

If Vivaldi Mail is your main mail client, you should allow the browser’s built-in mail client to handle these Mailto links.

To review your preferences:

  1. Go to Settings > Mail > Mail Settings > Mailto Links.
  2. Enable “Handle Mailto Links in Vivaldi Mail” to compose messages in Vivaldi Mail.
    Keep it disabled, if you prefer to open a different mail client.
Mail settings in the Vivaldi browser. An arrow points at the Mailto setting.

Tip #815

User Profiles are a great way to compartmentalize your browsing data (Bookmarks, Passwords, etc.) based on use case (personal, school, work, etc.) or when sharing the computer with someone.

When you’ve created multiple profiles, every time you open Vivaldi, you’ll first see the Profile Manager, which allows you to pick the profile you want to use. Naturally, you can disable it, if it doesn’t fit your workflow.

To view the Profile Manager when the browser is already open:

Additionally, you can switch and manage profiles from the User Profiles button on the Address Bar.

Vivaldi's Profile Manager.

Tip #813

If you want to bring some life onto your Start Page, you can do it with an animated background. You can add your own file to a custom theme in Vivaldi’s Settings > Themes > Editor > Background > Select Image, or download a complete theme with a matching animated background from Vivaldi Themes.

To find and install animated themes:

  1. Go to https://themes.vivaldi.net.
  2. Go into one of the categories (Featured, Popular, Latest, etc.).
  3. In the menu on the left, tick the box for “Animated background”.
  4. Click on a theme you like.
  5. On the theme’s profile, click “Download” to preview the theme.
  6. If you want to use the theme, click “Install” in the dialog window. If not, click “Cancel” and keep browsing.

Since large animated backgrounds can affect the browser’s performance, choosing lighter, smaller files is usually a better option.

Vivaldi Themes page open in the Vivaldi browser. An arrow points at the "Animated background" option in the menu.

Tip #811

Caret browsing allows you to navigate through web pages with the arrow keys on keyboard similarly to Spatial Navigation. The difference is that your place on the page is shown by a visible text cursor (caret) similarly to how it’s done in text editors.

To enable Caret Browsing:

  1. Go to Settings > Webpages > Caret Browsing.
  2. Enable “Allow Caret Browsing”.

To quickly toggle the feature on and off, use the Keyboard Shortcut Shift+F7 / ⇧F7.

When enabled, use the arrow keys to move around on the page. Hold down the Shift /  key and press the arrow keys to select text.

Vivaldi browser's Webpage settings. An arrow points at the Caret Browsing setting.