15 Hacks Every Opera Browser User Should Know
Discover essential Opera Browser hacks including Early Bird experimental features, split-screen multitasking, transparent PiP, and tab volume boosting.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Enable Early Bird experimental features to test AI and new tools early.
- Use the sidebar to pin popular apps like ChatGPT, Gmail, and WhatsApp.
- Open Split Screen for multitasking and adjust PiP video transparency.
The Opera browser you use today has evolved significantly from its predecessors. As a Chromium-based browser, it allows users to install Chrome extensions to fill any missing features, while maintaining its core philosophy of shipping useful integrated built-in tools, such as bypassing unskippable YouTube ads and a built-in volume booster for individual tabs.
For technology enthusiasts who want to stay on the bleeding edge, Opera offers an Early Bird feature to test various experimental capabilities. To access this, click the three-line menu in the toolbar, scroll to the bottom, and select Go to full browser settings. Next, enable Early Bird and select the features you wish to try, such as Browser Connector, which links the browser to ChatGPT or Claude, and Sharing Point, which adds a button to share download links with contacts. Note that these experimental options may change or be removed at any time.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Another major highlight is the sidebar, which lets users install mini applications directly inside the browser. It supports popular services including ChatGPT, Gemini, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Translate, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Bluesky, and music streaming platforms. These services are pinned to the left pane and function just like dedicated desktop applications, appearing in a floating window that can also be pinned directly to your screen.
To significantly improve multitasking capabilities, users can open two tabs side by side. By right-clicking an inactive tab in the tab bar and selecting Create split screen, both that tab and your active view are placed into a side-by-side layout. This proves especially helpful during research, allowing users to keep a lecture open on the main tab while utilizing a search engine, AI tool, or notes app in the secondary section.
Integrating these powerful features directly into the browser core without relying heavily on external extensions helps users optimize system resources and streamline workflows. Mastering advanced built-in configurations like the sidebar and split-screen views is key to maximizing productivity and reducing repetitive switching between separate desktop applications.
Opera also supports bypassing unskippable video advertisements across various websites, including YouTube. When an ad plays during a video, a tiny forward button appears at the top, allowing users to instantly jump to the end of the ad, though manual skipping of YouTube's official button may still be required. Users subscribed to ad-free tiers can disable this feature by navigating to Opera settings > Video and turning off Show Video Skip button on all supported videos.
Picture-in-picture (PiP) video viewing has also been upgraded with adjustable window opacity. To prevent PiP windows from obstructing text and workflow, users can enable transparency by going to Opera settings > Video and toggling Make pop out transparent, or by manually clicking the transparency button in the top-left corner of the PiP video frame.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
For audio control, Opera includes a dedicated volume manager for every single tab without requiring extra extensions. Hovering the mouse over any media-playing tab reveals a floating menu with a slider ranging from 0 all the way up to 500%, making it ideal for boosting low-volume audio sources or playing background music while listening to a podcast.
Finally, users can activate a hidden enhanced privacy mode to block web trackers. By typing opera://flags in the address bar, locating the enhanced privacy settings section, enabling it, restarting the browser, and turning on Enhanced privacy protection under privacy settings, browsing security is significantly heightened.
Source: Lifehacker
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